Need info on gunsafes

[backupr9]

Need some help.  Moving to Florida to smaller abode.  One gunsafe will need to be in the garage...not air conditioned!  There are apparently safes that have electrical connections and built-in dehumidification.  Is this what is meant by a power docking system?  Someone educate me.  Suggestions for a 24 rifle safe?
Thanks,
John

[cargaritaville]

I live in Florida (Sarasota ), and putting a safe in a non air conditioned garage, I think , is going to be a problem. First, the safe is probably going to rust. The insides will be like an oven. A dehumidifier can help with the moisture, but the intense heat? Where does the water go? Air conditioned safes? A safe with a PDS hookup, I thought, was nothing more than an electrical hookup with an ethernet hookup, for alarm purposes. I was looking for a safe recently also, and decided against it...no room in the house. Check this out...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=463893321

[backupr9]

Thanks, that's what I thought the PDS represented.  There are safes with dehumidifier units instrinsic to the design, but I'm not sure how the water is drained or removed.  I have just used the canisters and replaced them regularly with the safe in my TN garage...worked OK there but Florida summer is a different environment for sure.

I like the shelf unit and may get one for in-home quick access, but need something that will hold at least 8 long guns and an array of other items as well.  I need to get to Shooter's in JAX and check out what's available before making decisions.

[Phsimone]

Hi, I too live in Florida the east coast 300 feet from the intercoastal and I can hear the ocean from my house. Probably less than a mile away. It really does not get that hot in the garage, maybe upper 80s. I would contact CE Safes. Give him a call he is very knowledgeable about safes and is very happy to talk to anyone about them, at length so be prepared. He sells real safes not security fire safes like you see in many of the big box stores. Made of real steel measured not by gauge but in fraction of inches. He even has safes custom built if that fits your needs or he sells Fort Knox, Grufunder and several other brands. He has one store in Deerfield Beach and another in Fort Myers I believe. I have alot of tools, a fairly expensive Italian Sports car which have been stored in my garage for twelve years, no rust issues anywhere. I had an AC drop run to my garage that I can open when I work out there. The dehumidifiers, as you might know, are  primarily installed to help absorb the moisture which is present in the fireproof drywall which is installed in the walls and door of the safe to give the safe a fire rating, it is very moist not for moisture in the surrounding open air. Keep you firearms in gun socks and take them out now and then, inspect and care for them as needed and you will not have a problem. Of course bolt the safe down with a minimum of three bolt into the concrete.

[DDGator]

I have a large safe in my garage.  It had a hole in the bottom so I could put in a "goldenrod" type dehumidifier -- basically a heater.  I also put a desiccant product inside.  I've never had a problem with rust in or outside of the safe.

[backupr9]

Thanks for all the info guys.  I have a safe that I've used for some years...may just keep putting dessicant units inside for a while.  CE safes sounds like perhaps the way for me to go...I'll definitely check them out and give them a call.

[Richard S]

John:

I tuned in late and can't add much of value to the preceding excellent posts other than to state the obvious - be sure to bolt that safe in the garage to the floor, which will probably be concrete. These days the BGs will simply cart off an unanchored gun safe to be cut open elsewhere at their leisure.

[backupr9]

Thanks Richard...always do.