[meteorite-list] Silica Gel Drying

From: James Tobin <jimmypaul_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:49:01 2004
Message-ID: <001301c13fbb$5518afc0$5ea61e3f_at_default>

Hi Michael,

I would not personally use the type of silica gel you have described. The
pink bead are beads with indicator. The indicator is normally cobalt
chloride, all chlorine compounds are usually treated by meteorite collectors
as being bearers of the plague of lawrencite disease.

Non indicator silica gel is very cheap from a wholesale supplier. Often the
one near me will just give me a one gallon can since he uses tons literally
of the stuff. For finding out the condition of the gel I use humidity
indicator cards which have blue spots for a range of relative humidities,
the spots turn pink when that level is reached. The cards are available from
many sources including the gel suppliers. But you can get them from
Dessicare or Humidial Corp. who make them.

Just look in the yellow pages for Desiccant suppliers.

Hope this helps,
Jim Tobin
jim_at_meteorite.com
The Meteorite Exchange
www.meteorite.com
PMB #455, Post Office Box 7000
Redondo Beach, CA 90277-8710 USA
Received on Mon 17 Sep 2001 04:57:06 PM PDT