Hi Gracie, I sympathise as the UK is not the driest of places and I can't resist irons and pallasites.
I try and tackle the problem from as many angles as possible and am still working on improving things after the trauma of seeing early pallasites as a pile of rust and olivine after being rather naive in the beginning. My main angle of attack is to keep them at a constant temperature in a glass cabinet (as you say, they do need to be 'Admire'd...pardon the pun). I keep the temperature constant by just leaving the lighting on constantly which works well. I am still working on making the cabinet more air tight and considering some other smaller better cabinets for the more unstable pieces. I also use several rechargeable silica gel units that can be recharged by plugging them in out of the cabinet and rotating them in sequence when the blue indicator crystals turn pink. These are the plastic units that make sure the silica does not get near your meteorites and are made to hang in damp wardrobes. I have had problems with silica gel bags in riker mounts actually getting damp and helping to rust the contents. Similar units here... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rechargeable-wireless-dehumidifier_W0QQitemZ200444502184QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories?hash=item2eab6c60a8 I use Vapour Phase Corrosion Inhibitor methods aswell. There are various sprays similar to WD40 around that contain in addition VCIs which have worked well for me...I use small amounts of this to clean and coat polished/etched pieces. I avoid hard coatings as they nearly always let some moisture in that then creeps throughout. Unstable pallasites are the most difficult to me as adding anything oily can change the colour of the olivines. Stones seem to be ok just being kept dry...don't use anything oily on them! I also use VCI paper which is used in industry to wrap such things as tools in shipping to protect them from rust...the vapour given off coats the objects in all areas and repels the moisture. I cut up stips, fold them up and put them hidden in the back of the small gem boxes, rikers etc. They have to be replaced once in a while. You can get sponge emitters to put in cabinets, but I have never bothered with those....but they may help with pallasites. The big old irons/Campos etc have had the galvanic treatment and I have a couple that I think I will soak in a caustic solution to extract the chlorides for a while soon as they continue to ooze small droplets. Hope some of that helps. Moving to the desert may help and then you can hunt for 28lb lumps like Guido too...that an option I am tempted by. :-) Regards, Graham E, UK ---- gracie <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Met List! > > Quick background info: > > About six or eight months ago, I began a meteorite collection. (I am so > completely hooked.) I store them primarily in Riker boxes and some in the > jewel cases they arrived in. I live in north central Florida and except > for my air conditioned home, I don't have the meteorites in any other > climate controlled container or cabinet. I'm noticing a few of the irons > (Miles especially) and one or two of the stony irons to appear a little > rustier than when they arrived. > > I've read the good information here > (http://www.meteoritemarket.com/preserv.htm), but still have some > questions. > > Given my location, is it unreasonable for me to expect that simply > purchasing (and consistently replacing) desiccant for each Riker box and > jewel box will stave off rust? I love having my meteorites on display and > the notion of squirreling them away in airtight tupperware makes me sad. > That being said, I would prefer to protect them than have them ruined by > humidity. > > There are a number of places I can purchase desiccant online. Is there a > preferred or recommended location? > > Finally, is a kit like this worth my time and money? > http://www.bhigr.com/store/product.php?productid=453 > > Thanks so much for your help! > Gracie > > > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
