Anyone who owns photographic equipment will appreciate the importance of protecting them from the environment conditions – especially so in hot and humid Singapore where the relative humidity (RH) values often are often above 80%.
The EDC 51
Dry cabinets are especially important investments to permit expensive equipment to be inexpensively stored at the right levels of humidity (RH below 50%) to prevent the growth of fungus and mould on susceptible optics and moisture from ruining electronic components.
While many will appreciate that the use of dry cabinets is especially effective in doing so, many will not realise that it is also important to choose the right dry cabinet and there is good news with respect to this, with the reappearance today (1 October 2013) of the Eureka Dry Cabinet back in the Singapore market.
I got my hands on a Eureka EDC-51 prior to today’s official launch – an offer to try it out was made by the distributor Uni-Stat Technology which I certainly couldn’t of course refuse. The Eureka is of course well known for its superior and highly efficient technology when it does come to dry cabinets – a “Dry Unit Module” its uses involves the use of “Multi-porous Molecular Sieves” to trap and absorb moisture by means of van der Waals’ force (which relates to the attraction forces between molecules). Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are also used in the control the valve shutter which allows moisture to be expelled from within the cabinet.
This compares favourably to the traditionally used Thermal Electric Cooling chip – requiring one side of the electrically powered chip surface to be cooled for the condensation moisture in the air into. A fan and transformer to dissipate heat and expel vapour out from the cabinet – requiring moving mechanical parts, increasing power consumption and which do at some point require maintenance and are not completely silent.
A big advantage of the Eureka’s technology would be seen in the event of a power outage – the outer valve of the Dry Unit Module shuts immediately. This prevents moisture from getting in, while the molecular sieves continue to do their work – certainly a big advantage compared to the traditional means with which the ability to collect and expel moisture is lost immediately with a power failure. This advantage was quite clearly seen with the cabinet in its as-delivered condition – the hygrometer had a reading of 40% on it.
The Eureka EDC-51 which I did get my hands on is a 51 litres capacity cabinet with a single adjustable shelf – an ideal size for a camera user like me with a handful of lenses and two camera bodies, as well as SD and CF cards to store. Control of humidity values is possible between 25%-55% through adjusting a dial on the Dry Unit Module – it is recommended to keep levels between 40-50% to protect photographic equipment – you don’t want it too dry to avoid rubber and plastic on the camera becoming brittle.
It is also compact in size to find a spot in the constraints of our space challenged dwellings and offices most of us find ourselves in, measuring 40 cm wide, 44 cm in height and with a depth of 43.7 cm.
Another great thing about Eureka dry cabinets is that they do come with a 5 year limited warranty – more information on the dry cabinets can be found at http://consumer.drycabinets.com.sg. Orders may be made online at the E-Store and specially for readers, you may use a discount code ‘jerome019’ when purchasing online during the launch month of October 2013 which will entitle you to a 12% discount.
The Long and Winding Road 
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