Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Dorm tip #312 - humidity

Humidity can be problem for electrical devices because the moisture can short out circuits. That's why manufacturers always include desiccants to absorb moisture in the packing box. After you unpack the device, if moisture causes a problem, then that's your problem. Here is the typical descant package of silica gel.

When Florence and I went to Thailand last year, the humidity was so high that two of our cameras conked out and we had only an iphone to take pictures. One of the cameras was a Lumix DMC-TZ1:


It was a great camera, easy to use and a 10X zoom. But the moisture made it dark, very dark, it wouldn't turn on. When we got back to Seattle in warm room, it started working again. But then in humid Cancun it didn't work just like in Thailand. Thinking the problem was moisture in the camera I thought of ways to desiccant the camera.

I saved a bunch of desiccant packets and put the camera in a plastic baggie with the packets. This worked once in awhile but the camera would still intermittently not turn on. (Intermittent bugs are the worst to track down.) The solution that I hit on now is to store the camera in a bag of white guozi.

White guozi are white pumpkin seeds that are soaked in a flavor and then dried. They are dried so that they crack easily and then you can eat the insides. Because they are so dry they work as a desiccant. Now the Lumix camera is OK as long as I store it in the bag with the white guozi.

I'm sure other natural desiccants can also work, like peanuts or dried watermelon seeds. It can't hurt and it beat throw out the whole camera.

1 comment:

  1. You have the opposite problem that we do with dryness in the desert. Fabric, thread, and wood seem to dry out much faster here in Tucson. Then, of course, my skin and hair are much dryer. I have to use lots of conditioners to keep from itching. I guess Seattle is the best of both worlds, humidity-wise. It usually does not seem too dry or too humid!

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