55 gal barrel buried, testing for food storage or battery fire protection.

William Bronson wrote:Cool experiment!
For what it's worth, my experience as an electrician and plumber makes me think that condensation in a sealed container is inevitable.
I would want a drain, maybe with a check valve.
Speaking of which, I wonder if you could pull a vacuum on the entire barrel?
That would reduced the possible condensation and reduce possible growth of most pests and pestilence.

Ben Zumeta wrote:Great idea. I have considered doing this with a refrigerator that still has a seal but no longer cools (assuming that means it leaked out its freon). However I do not know how to confirm it actually has leaked it all out already. This seems much simpler. What about charcoal as a moisture absorber?

Timothy Norton wrote:Would a desiccant be some insurance in the barrel? I know there are silica based packets one can get their hands on but I wonder if a 'natural' material version exists?

Like Bentonite Clay? I'm not sure however how to contain it within the barrel.  

bruce Fine wrote:not all barrels are created equal. i have some stuff stored in barrels outside. I recently opened them looking for something and found two of them with severe moisture damage one was 3/4 full of water everything inside ruined. they all have rubber seal lids with clamp rings that hold lid on with big bolt to clamp them shut and the screw in bungs but they are clearly different manufacturers.
on the one filled with water the bungs were screwed in tight but rain must of gone past the threads of the screw in bungs.

Angela Wilcox wrote:Here’s a thought… perlite for absorbing moisture. Put perlite in the barrel first, vacuumed sealed goods inside the contractor bag, now bag goes on top of perlite, pour perlite in to surround the contractor bag on all sides and top.

Seal barrel, plastic in top. Though from my experience, condensate forms under the plastic.

Best wishes!

Bryan Elliott wrote:Mart,
You mentioned the contents of the barrel are staying at 80 degrees.  What part of the world is this experiment taking place at?

Mart Hale wrote:

Bryan Elliott wrote:Mart,
You mentioned the contents of the barrel are staying at 80 degrees.  What part of the world is this experiment taking place at?

This is in Florida..

Do note....

1)   this is the hottest part of the year  temps reach around 95 +   this time of year so this temp is not bad.

2)   for me to have the thermometer in the barrel there is a small gap with the lid so it is not properly sealed.

3)  there is only 3 inches of sand on top of this.        I am planning to go 1 foot deeper with this,   which means I will need to do more planning on how I will get my food out of the barrel ;-)

William Bronson wrote:Cool experiment!
For what it's worth, my experience as an electrician and plumber makes me think that condensation in a sealed container is inevitable.
I would want a drain, maybe with a check valve.
Speaking of which, I wonder if you could pull a vacuum on the entire barrel?
That would reduced the possible condensation and reduce possible growth of most pests and pestilence.

Trace Oswald wrote:

Mart Hale wrote:

Bryan Elliott wrote:Mart,
You mentioned the contents of the barrel are staying at 80 degrees.  What part of the world is this experiment taking place at?

....
If I were doing this, I would dig the hole as deep as possible, hopefully at least 3 feet deeper than the top of the barrel.  After I put the lid on the barrel and a trash bag over it, rather than covering with sand or soil, I would put a trash bag, or bags, full of leaves or something like that for insulation.  If you had small loops of rope tied around your bags of food, you could reach in and pull them out with a broom handle or the like that had a metal hook screwed into the end.

If digging that deep is too hard, you could build some sort of enclosure around the barrel above the surface and fill that with the leaf bags.

Yeah...    I have been looking at different options.....

For storage of grain in vacuum sealed bags the temp readings I am getting at the hotest time of the year being 80 degrees I am happy with.  

When my batteries for my old usb thermometer get here I plan on going down to 1 food deep instead of the 3 inches they are now.

Yes I have put a trash bag over the closed barrel after it is closed we think alike :-)  


Since I am considering doing 10 barrels I had an idea of digging a trench using my electric roto tiller and shovel out after each time I dig deeper and till...


Another idea I had was to use an engine block hoist to remove the barrels out of the ground........

Yes berming up around the barrels is another good idea.....


At present the temps are going from 77 deg to 79 deg     very constant.    I like that.

Rebecca Norman wrote:Condensation can come from within. It's because warm air can hold more moisture. When it cools it can no longer hold as much moisture so the excess water vapor condenses into liquid water.

Don Fini wrote:Would filling in under the false bottom with charcoal help any?

Michael Cox wrote:You mention that this is to provide battery fire protection. As an ebike user I'm quite cautious of this myself. How do you see yourself using something like this for that purpose?

I do like that it gives a degree of temperature regulation - I'm currently charging my bike in an unheated greenhouse, and it gets substantially colder than optimum charging temperatures would be. I'm concerned about plastic construction for something that is supposed to give a degree of fire protection. Am I misunderstanding your intention on this issue?

Mart Hale wrote:

Timothy Norton wrote:Would a desiccant be some insurance in the barrel? I know there are silica based packets one can get their hands on but I wonder if a 'natural' material version exists?

Like Bentonite Clay? I'm not sure however how to contain it within the barrel.  

I do have silica packets, I re-use them by putting them in the freezer to remove the moisture in them.

Timothy Norton wrote:Would a desiccant be some insurance in the barrel? I know there are silica based packets one can get their hands on but I wonder if a 'natural' material version exists?

Like Bentonite Clay? I'm not sure however how to contain it within the barrel.  

C. Letellier wrote:

Mart Hale wrote:

Timothy Norton wrote:Would a desiccant be some insurance in the barrel? I know there are silica based packets one can get their hands on but I wonder if a 'natural' material version exists?

Like Bentonite Clay? I'm not sure however how to contain it within the barrel.  

I do have silica packets, I re-use them by putting them in the freezer to remove the moisture in them.

How doe the freezer dry them??  I am familiar with putting them in the oven at just over boiling and removing the water that way by boiling them mostly dry.  But I have never heard of freezing and I can't find it with a quick google.