tip for winter storage-condensation

[jzanni]

In order to prevent condensation forming and rusting metal in the engine room and moisture thruout the boat during the Fall-Winter-Spring layover in the Northeast I have found the following useful. I put a plastic spaghetti collander over an empty 5-10 gal plastic bucket and put Magnesium chloride hexahydrate ( MgCl-h20) crystals in the collander in various parts of the boat and engine room. These crystal are what a lot of ice melting salts are made of. I use Safe Step at Home Depot and it is the active ingredient in it. Don't use ice melting products unless they have the MgCl-H2O as the active ingredient or it wont work. It's cheap for a 10-20 lb bag.
West marine charges a fortune for the same thing in little containers.
The crystals absorb the moisture and it drains into the plastic bucket and won't freeze. Replenish it as it is used up thruout the layup. Most moisture forms during the early fall and late spring.

 

[Bob Bradley]

You're correct about it absorbing water vapor. I had a bucket of it in the back of my store left over from last winter. This weekend I found it rock hard, with about an inch of water on top.

 

[jzanni]

It certainly works well Bob.
Compared to the cost of the stuff at West Marine it's dirt cheap and works well. I like it especially because it prevents further rusting in the engine compartment, but also works great in the salon etc.
The important point is to get the right active ingredient because other ice melts don't work.