How to Recharge Ammo Can Desiccant Without Burning It

The desiccant sold by CleanAmmoCans.com is a premium moisture absorption solution that is specially sized for the volume of small arms ammo cans to ensure your expensive ammo stays protected from moisture during long-term ammo storage. But what do you do if you need to open the ammo can at some point to put additional ammo inside or pull some ammo out, introducing new moisture into the can? In contrast to cheaper desiccant products or silica-based moisture absorbers, our clay-based desiccant is reusable after a simple “reactivation” process. However, the instructions printed on the packets are specifically written for military applications and may not provide good results for home use with a consumer grade oven. Read on to learn how to reliably reactivate your desiccant at home!

The clay based, Tyvek wrapped desiccant packets provided in the Clean Ammo Cans ammo can desiccant kits are manufactured for military applications and meet or exceed the MIL-D-3464 Type I & II, MIL-D-3436, MIL-I-8835 and J-STD-033D specifications. This is great in most cases because you get military grade moisture protection for home use, but there is one catch. Each packet is labeled with the following recharge procedures, “Reactivation time in bag 16 hours at 245 degrees.” These instructions are intended for military applications where industrial grade, precision ovens are used that keep strict temperature. 

The Tyvek packet that holds the clay-based desiccant is resistant to moisture and is more durable than  paper wrapped desiccant alternatives, but it melts at 250 degrees or greater. Most consumer grade ovens do not have precise enough thermostats to meter the temperature to the prescribed 245 degrees without the possibility of going over temperature. For consumers attempting to recharge their desiccant with a consumer grade oven at 245 degrees, melted or shrunk packets are a common result. If the packets are heated to 250 degrees or greater, the packets will melt and become deformed.

The printed reactivation instructions on each packet will restore the packet to full, mil-spec moisture absorbing capability. For consumer use, the manufacturer recommends reactivating the packets to 95% of their original capacity by curing at 200 degrees on a cookie sheet for 3 hours. The size of the desiccant packets provided in our kits provide moisture absorbing capacity in excess of the requirements for small arms sized ammo cans based on volume and will still allow excess moisture absorbing power when recharging to the recommended 95% evaporation rate. It also requires 13 hours less and eliminates the possibility of burned desiccant packets due to excess temperature.

In addition to being properly size for ammunition storage, the ability to reactivate the desiccant for continued long-term ammo storage use is one of the main differentiating factors between our ammo can desiccant kits and the cheaper silica, and paper based, one-time use alternatives. CleanAmmoCans.com desiccant is a premium product and will continue to provide protection many times over as well as provide the peace of mind that the desiccant is doing its job!