Sweating tools

[Jay lyons]

Hi everyone, I am wondering how I can keep my tools from sweating in the winter. My shop {pole barn} is not insulated very well and only has a wood stove for heat I have invested a lot in these tools and hate to see them get all rusty & crappy looking. Any suggestions? Thanks !

[Chevynut]

What is your source of moisture? Do the tools sweat as you heat the shop up? Air should get drier as it heats up. Usually problems like this are caused by burning in the shop, like with an unvented exhaust.

[Jay lyons]

Well as far as I can tell it is from the humidity in the air. I live about 50 miles from the coast and it does tend to rain alot here. I notice it the most after it gets cold then warms up a little. I dont build a fire in the stove very often, only when I can spend most of the day out there, not often enough! I also didnt mention I am lucky enough to have concrete floors dont know if that makes a difference. Thanks for the response!:happy0030:

[Chevynut]

Ok, so it's a weather change causing it? I don't think there's much you can do except to keep your shop temperature above the dew point. As the weather heats up, the air absorbs more moisture, and the cold tools condense the moisture out of the air. If you use a salamander type heater, you put a lot of moisture into the air and that can cause it too. Just heating your shop air with a vented heater shouldn't cause condensation like that.

[daves55]

In a similar but slightly different situation that may answer what is happening to your tools;

I occasionally will bring a hammer or wrench in the house form the garage (not heated and can get very cold) and within a couple of minutes the tool will be covered in what I can only describe as a light coating of dew.

The reason behind this is not that different than when your glass of ice water developes condensation on the outside. The reason for this is because of the difference in temperature from the tool to the ambiant air temp. If there is a great enough difference then condensation will develope. I hope this helps.

Dave

[angs1957]

Have you tried spraying them lightly with oil, can be messy but they will stop them from rusting out :anim_25:

[bowtieblue57]

i have the same problem here in canada my concrete sweats all of the time and i found out that if i leave my ceiling fan going full all of the time that it has stoped my floor from becomimg wet and all of my tool and engine parts from rusting this has worked both winter and summer as the humitity in the summer causes the same problem i have had thiis going for 5 years
hope this is helpfull to you
thanks bowtieblue57bowtie-trifive

[Five 7]

Have you tried spraying them lightly with oil, can be messy but they will stop them from rusting out :anim_25:

I agree,

for me this has always been standard practice. when ever i am done with a tool I spray a little CPC(corrosion prevention compound) on a rag and wipe down. same for air tools, always put a drop or two in, pull trigger and put away.

[G.R.]

Until I moved to Bainbridge Island, WA I never had tools rust. And many of mine, both construction and auto tools were just in the toolbox in the shop or in my pickup. We were only about 2mi from the waters of Puget Sound, lots of rain and moist salt air. After complaining about what the moist salt air was doing to my tools a friend of my wife's said her husband put those little moisture prevention packets you get with like new shoes and such into his tool box. So I got as many of them as I could find from my wife and friends and placed them in all the drawers. Once I cleaned up the rusty tools and put a film of oil on them the rusting quit.

Home Depot, Lowes and Ace hardware had commercial "moisture" prevention packets, 6 of them, about 3x3, for use in truck type toolboxes...at least they carried them in our local stores in WA...I used those in my truck toolbox and they worked.

[DONZIE]

If warm moist air hits cold metal tools (as stated, below dew point) condensation will surely form.
You can keep the tools warm by heating but that gets expensive.
The easiest & cheapest way to prevent this condensation is to change the temperture of the tools as soon as the air temperature changes... or as soon as possible. Fans fans fans... keep the air moving to keep the tools the same temperture as the air. Whatcha think?