On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 11:40:17 -0700, BCC wrote:

Looking for good method to pack long term spare parts on long term
cruise - like a spare alternator, starter, diesel injector pump,
expensive things.

What I'm thinking is a very heavy gauge individual bags - something
like almost 1/8" thick. Taped up with the clear packing tape that's
about 2" wide. You need to be able to see what's inside.

The Seal-a-Meal and other vaccum pack stuff is way too thin to last on
a cruising boat for 6+ years.

I've found very heavy bags on the net - but you need to buy 100 or a
1000 at a time.

Also - looking for something to put in the bag as an anti-rust,
corrosion, etc inhibitor.

Any suggestions?


You might want to look into vapor (or volatile) corrosion inhibitors.
The substance slowly evaporates and deposits itself on the surface of
whatever it's protecting, making a moisture barrier. No muss, no fuss,
no mess. It's commonly used by gun enthusiasts, because some of the
most common and beautiful gun finishes don't resist corrosion worth
beans.

It comes in a variety of forms. I 've seen heavy guage bags (always
blue for some reason) that are impregnated with the stuff. Just drop
whatever you want to protect into the bag and seal it. More commonly,
I've seen it as little yellow tabs you can drop into tool kits, boxes,
etc. Effectiveness goes up radically when the package is tightly
sealed, as you'd expect.

Not all plastic bags seal out moisture well. See this site
http://www.protectivepackaging.net/corrosion.cfm
for a short discussion of what to look for.

Another option is the metal dessicant cans. I use these for my camera
gear. They're reusable, a few minutes in a hot oven bakes all the
moisture out of them. For cameras, corrosion is not the prime
problem. There are funguses that like to eat the coatings on lenses
and keeping the humidity down eliminates the problem. Coin shops
often stock dessicants.


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