Reloading room: Climate controlled or not?

[Clay]

Ok, about the only place I have to reload would be in my detached garage. There is plenty of room for me to setup a place out there, in fact there is already bench I could use.

My problem is my garage is not climate controlled. IE hot in the summer, cold in the winter.

I know from some of the work I do in my everyday job that environmental (temperature, humidity, etc) changes play hell with precision work.

SO, what are your thoughts about doing this kind of thing in my garage? Ive always thought if I kept everything in the garage except for the powder and primers, I should be ok. What do you think?

 

[Aszerigan]

I have my reloading room in a garage as well, and with a little work, it's not difficult to keep climate controlled - within reason.

Keep in mind, its a 2 car garage. In the summer, I use a 10k BTU air conditioner and a separate dehumidifier to keep the temperature and humidity down. In the winter, I use a Kerosene heater with a pot of water on top to keep the temperature and humidity up.

Summer gives you rust, winter gives you static. Go to Home Depot and buy a greenhouse thermometer/hydrometer combo. Try to keep the humidity at 50% and the temperature around 70F. It's not too difficult to do (with a little practice), even with a drafty garage door like I have.

When I'm not in the reloading room a.k.a. garage, I only keep the AC going in the summer. No need for anything else. As long as you keep an eye on the temp/humidity, you're good to go. Even in the winter, the ambient heat from the house shouldn't let the garage get below about 54-degrees.

 

[patience0830]

Mine is in the basement. Conditioned space makes maintenance issues with rust easier to deal with and fewer worries about whether the loads will go boom when required.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

While I am just a beginner I have this same problem. From what I have been able to learn, your digital scales may be impacted by temperature change. If I am looking at this correctly, beam scales are not affected nearly as much. Aszerigan may be able to shed some more light on this.

 

[Clay]

The other thing Ive thought about is breaking up the critical vs. non-critical functions into different areas. IE priming and powder items inside the house at a small desk I could utilize, everything else out in the garage.

 

[japartridge]

I am in the same boat, only place I could pull this off is in my non-heated/non-cooled garage.

 

[shibumiseeker]

My shooting shack is a small concrete building that doesn't get hot, but it does get cold. Rust is a constant problem so I have cabinets with dessicant packs for some things and a dehumidifier when it gets really bad out which I run sparingly since I am off-grid.

Realistically though, unless you are completely anal retentive and need .0001" precision, the temperature isn't an issue. Humidity is as Aszerigan said, rust in the summer, static in the winter.

It won't affect your powder and primers to any noticeable effect unless you are planning on storing them for decades. None of it is that sensitive unless you are out there on the ragged edge of precision or hot load development.

 

[The Keymaster]

I work in the basement. I do run a dehumidifier in the summer. I don't notice any static issues in the winter. I have noticed that digital scales are temperature sensitive. If I were workin in the garage, and using a digital, I would keep the scale in the house, and try to keep the temperature in the area do the scale consistent. My basement is cool, but consistent. I let the scale warm up for 15 minutes before using it to be sure it is ready.

 

[Aszerigan]

From what I have been able to learn, your digital scales may be impacted by temperature change. If I am looking at this correctly, beam scales are not affected nearly as much. Aszerigan may be able to shed some more light on this.

I notice this as well. Best as I can figure, your body stores up small electrical charges when you move around through the air. This is especially noticeable in the winter when dry air builds static much faster. You can change the zero tare reading on a digital scale just by hovering your open hand an inch or two above the scale. This occurs in carpeted rooms all year long, but is most prevalent in the winter.

The other (and probably more dangerous) problem is that, in winter in high static environments, the powder will not drop properly out of the casing into the powder pan for weighing. It climbs the edges of the powder pan, sometimes over the sides, and makes getting accurate readings problematic. RCBS makes heavy brass powder pans for this reason. Also, warm scales don't have as much of a problem.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I notice this as well. Best as I can figure, your body stores up small electrical charges when you move around through the air. This is especially noticeable in the winter when dry air builds static much faster. You can change the zero tare reading on a digital scale just by hovering your open hand an inch or two above the scale. This occurs in carpeted rooms all year long, but is most prevalent in the winter.

Electrostatic attraction (and repulsion) can be significant. This is what can stick a balloon to the wall in the winter after you rub it against your hair or the carpet. When you start talking about devices capable of measuring to the tenth of a grain it becomes a significant effect. The microgram scales used in labs can be affected by someone walking by in the hallway outside.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

The other thing Ive thought about is breaking up the critical vs. non-critical functions into different areas. IE priming and powder items inside the house at a small desk I could utilize, everything else out in the garage.

This is exactly what I do.

I punch the primers and resize the brass. I then bring those cases inside. I reprime them using a hand primer and load powder using a Lee Perfect Powder measure that I C-clamp to my kitchen table. There is no carpet in the kitchen and I've never noticed a problem.

Once the cases are charged, it's back to the garage to bell the brass, seat the bullet, and crimp the round.

I've been on a reloading tear lately because I know I won't want to be spending significant time in the garage during the worst of winter. I did the same thing in the spring to avoid the worst of the summer heat.

This process works out great for me.

 

[Aszerigan]

HDSilvrStreak has his process down. Safe and secure, and obviously successful.

 

[slow1911s]

I don't think it matters much unless

• You're loading at MAX for published data
• You're experiencing dramatic swings in climate (e.g. you start loading and it's 32 F, and when you're done in the next hour it is 68)
• You shoot benchrest

Temp swings are not things I would be worried about. Rapid humidity swings, I would. If you're worried about static bridging your powder, etc., put a piece of fabric softener dryer sheet in your powder measurer and on your bench.

 

[Aszerigan]

Temp swings are not things I would be worried about. Rapid humidity swings, I would. If you're worried about static bridging your powder, etc., put a piece of fabric softener dryer sheet in your powder measurer and on your bench.

Humidity swings go hand in hand with temperature swings in Indiana weather. For people that don't use a progressive press with a closed powder dispensing nozzle, powder measures can be a major problem - dryer sheet or not. It's not just what is dispensing the powder, it's what the powder is being dispensed into.

Dryer sheets are a great idea, but they're not a 'be all, end all' solution. Letting your equipment warm up to 70-degrees and using outside humidity control is much more effective.

 

[noylj]

During summer I set the thermostat for 90°F max temp. and in the winter I set it for 50°F min.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Electrostatic attraction (and repulsion) can be significant. This is what can stick a balloon to the wall in the winter after you rub it against your hair or the carpet. When you start talking about devices capable of measuring to the tenth of a grain it becomes a significant effect. The microgram scales used in labs can be affected by someone walking by in the hallway outside.

At my job we use ESD (electro static discharge) mats so we can set computer chips or other things sensitive to static electricity on them and not need to worry about them getting fried. ESD Mats not sure if this is something some of you would want to look into, but they are out there

 

[mjrducky]

I reload in my garage and haven't had any weather issues with the ammo.
I use three electric space heaters in the middle of winter to bring temperature up then only 1 is needed to maintain a 70 degree garage. I only use a portable Fan in the summer (which can effect the digital scale if its blowing on it).

I dont reload or get any of the powder or primers out of their storage containers until temp is warm or cool enough and that seems to work well. I have concrete floor so no real issues with static just yet.