Road & Stock SALT problems

[m***@UNLISTED.com]

I have a few bags of rock salt from last winter in my garage, and a
few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the barn. No matter where I
put it, water leaks out of the bag and onto the floor, then the bag
gets soaked and breaks. There has got to nbe some sort of way to dela
with this problem. Both the garage and feed rooms have cement floors.
I have tried everything. I left the bags on the cement, tried to put
boards under the bags, moved one bag to another shed with a wooden
floor. place a bag in a plastic pail and more. No matter what I do, I
always end up with a soaked floor and broken bags, During the winter,
this is not a problem. During a summer heat spell the water was
minimal, but still noticable. Lately we have had quite a bit of rain,
and dew every night. Now my floors are soaked, in fact there is an
actual puddle in the garage, and coming from one plastic "rock salt"
bag. It's almost hard to imagine that this much water can just come
out of the air......

This is getting real annoying. I am sure others have the same
problem, but there must be some sort of method to stop this.
The question is WHAT?

Can anyone offer any tips, please.

Thanks

Mark

[n***@ece.villanova.edu]

Post by m***@UNLISTED.com
I have a few bags of rock salt from last winter in my garage, and a
few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the barn. No matter where I
put it, water leaks out of the bag and onto the floor, then the bag
gets soaked and breaks. There has got to nbe some sort of way to dela
with this problem... It's almost hard to imagine that this much water
can just come out of the air......

You might put each bag into a plastic trash bag and seal it up tight.

Nick

[Louis Boyd]

Post by m***@UNLISTED.com
Now my floors are soaked, in fact there is an
actual puddle in the garage, and coming from one plastic "rock salt"
bag. It's almost hard to imagine that this much water can just come
out of the air......

It's harder to imagine that much water is comming from anywhere else.
Condensation occurs on any surface which is below the dew point
temperature. If the bags are only a little cooler than the ambient air
temperature in your garage and your garage isn't sealed it can pull lots
of moisture out of the air. The salt bags have a large thermal mass so
they don't track the daily warming and cooling inside the garage. The
bags get cold at night, the the inside heat up in the morning but the
bags are still cold.

Solutions include sealing the garage so there's a limited amount of
moisture in the air to condense out, or warming the salt bags a few
degrees during the night to raise their plastic surface above the dew
point inside your garage.

[enigma]

Post by m***@UNLISTED.com
I have a few bags of rock salt from last winter in my
garage, and a few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the
barn. No matter where I put it, water leaks out of the bag
and onto the floor, then the bag gets soaked and breaks.
There has got to nbe some sort of way to dela with this
problem. Both the garage and feed rooms have cement
floors. I have tried everything.

salt is hydrophylic. we put salt in plastic totes with
locking lids. not perfect for keeping the moisture out, but at
least it keeps the floors dry. that salt isn't good for your
cement floors.
lee

[Jmagerl]

Post by enigma

Post by m***@UNLISTED.com
I have a few bags of rock salt from last winter in my
garage, and a few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the
barn. No matter where I put it, water leaks out of the bag
and onto the floor, then the bag gets soaked and breaks.
There has got to nbe some sort of way to dela with this
problem. Both the garage and feed rooms have cement
floors. I have tried everything.

salt is hydrophylic. we put salt in plastic totes with
locking lids. not perfect for keeping the moisture out, but at
least it keeps the floors dry. that salt isn't good for your
cement floors.
lee

...

Salt will draw moisture out of the air. Thats what hydrophylic means. Ever
see these dehumidifiers where you hang a bag in your basement and then put
a bucket underneath to catch the drips (as seen on tv)? Same principle. Its
also why you use salt to cure meat. Some fertilizers are the same way. The
only way to prevent it is to keep the humid air away from it. which is
usually impossible

[Goedjn]

Post by m***@UNLISTED.com
I have a few bags of rock salt from last winter in my garage, and a
few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the barn. No matter where I
put it, water leaks out of the bag and onto the floor, then the bag
gets soaked and breaks. There has got to nbe some sort of way to dela
with this problem. Both the garage and feed rooms have cement floors.
I
This is getting real annoying. I am sure others have the same
problem, but there must be some sort of method to stop this.
The question is WHAT?
Can anyone offer any tips, please.

...

Is the water coming out of the bags, or condensing on them
because they stay cooler? If it's condensation, locking
them in a dead chest-freezer or other sealed box, or even
wrapping them in plastic should help.
Are you using sodium salt, or potassium salt? doesn't
pottasium salt heat up when it gets wet?

--Goedjn

[Ann]

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 04:34:31 -0500, maradclif wrote: <...>

This is getting real annoying. I am sure others have the same problem,
but there must be some sort of method to stop this. The question is
WHAT?
Can anyone offer any tips, please.

I have a similar problem here that I didn't have other places. Apparently
the garage floor (and the basement floor, for that matter) were poured
directly on the soil, without any thermal break. The floors (and anything
with a significant contact area with the floor) are in effect big old
dehumifiers. Get the bags well up off the floor so they're the temperature
of the air, not the floor.

[George Willer]

That's simply just what salt does. It should be no surprise except to those
who didn't learn their lessons in 7th grade science. Keep the humid air
away from the salt by whatever means and it won't be a problem. Can you say
plastic bag (with low permeability)? Seems to me we need to educate our
science teachers before allowing them to teach and we won't continue have
these simple problems.

George Willer

Post by Ann
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 04:34:31 -0500, maradclif wrote: <...>

This is getting real annoying. I am sure others have the same problem,
but there must be some sort of method to stop this. The question is
WHAT?
Can anyone offer any tips, please.

I have a similar problem here that I didn't have other places. Apparently
the garage floor (and the basement floor, for that matter) were poured
directly on the soil, without any thermal break. The floors (and anything
with a significant contact area with the floor) are in effect big old
dehumifiers. Get the bags well up off the floor so they're the temperature
of the air, not the floor.

...

[Susan (CobbersMom)]

<***@UNLISTED.com> wrote in message >I have a few bags of rock salt
from last winter in my garage, and a

few bags of stick salt in my feedroom in the barn. No matter where I> put
it, water leaks out of the bag and onto the floor, then the bag> gets
soaked and breaks. > This is getting real annoying. I am sure others
have the same> problem, but there must be some sort of method to stop
this.> The question is WHAT?
Can anyone offer any tips, please.

Maybe store in a big air tight container such as an old freezer? With a BIG
bag of rice? I remember my mom used to put rice kernels into the salt
shaker to absorb moisture and keep the salt free flowing.
Sue
Minocqua, WI
Yamaha '00 VStar 650 (old reliable)
'04 TW200 (mud = fun)
Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 (new friend) V#15937

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