Drying poly drums

[Dale Seeley]

I've nearly given up, I'm begging ya here...

I've got 55 gal poly drums with the tops still bonded on that originally contained Simple Green. The Simple Green is out of the drums, and I'm left with my very own little climate simulators.

The water won't leave the barrel. With just the two ports in the top, even when the water evaporates, it just recondenses inside later.

I'm tempted to put a couple gallons of alcohol in them, then drain the alcohol and hope for the best.

Hopefully somebody has a better idea....
Regards,
Dale

[HORSEMOVER]

Where are the drums located (garage/shed/basement)? I can't believe they wouldn't dry out inside your home under a constant temp. for 24 hours or so.

[Dale Seeley]

I've got them in a heated room of the house... they just don't seem to want to dry out. Eventually, over time they I'm sure they will, but a week hasn't done it. Having the tops intact on them doesn't help, with just the two ports for airflow.

[HORSEMOVER]

I understand the climate simulator situation but have only seen it with extreme temp. changes and partially filled/empty/non-sealed drums. I wouldn't think that you would get that inside your home. Are you getting the condensation when you take them out in the cold after being in the home? Sorry for all the questions - just trying to understand your situation.

[powerstroke73L]

It's damn near impossible to dry them out because of lack of airflow. I left a couple sitting in the sun in August for DAYS and still had a small puddle in the bottom. Here's what I ended up doing. Go to your local auto parts store and get the super absorbent blue shop towels. They're basically very thick paper towels that suck up water like crazy. Pull 4 or 5 out but don't separate them. Stuff them down through the bung and let them fall to the bottom. Then get something to stick down into the bottom to swish the towels around. I long thin (like a brazing rod) metal rod works best. It takes some manipulating, but you can cover the whole bottom of the drum and the towels will suck up all of the standing water. Pull the rod out and bend the end into the hook and fish the towels out-they're pretty tough so they'll stay together. There might be tiny droplets of water left, but these will evaporate easily.

[lancaster,pa]

I've nearly given up, I'm begging ya here...

I've got 55 gal poly drums with the tops still bonded on that originally contained Simple Green. The Simple Green is out of the drums, and I'm left with my very own little climate simulators.

The water won't leave the barrel. With just the two ports in the top, even when the water evaporates, it just recondenses inside later.

I'm tempted to put a couple gallons of alcohol in them, then drain the alcohol and hope for the best.

Hopefully somebody has a better idea....
Regards,
Dale

Dale,
I pretty much did the same thing as powerstroke73L and then followed up by using my shop vac to dry out the droplets. I put my barrel and shop vac in the furnace room where the air is warm and stuck the hose in one hole to near the bottom of the barrel. With the other hole also open, warm air was pulled down to the bottom of the barrel and removed the droplets. This should work pretty good as long as you remove the puddled water first. Pick a good day with low humidity. - Patrick

[tanya]

Okay so I guess only a woman would think of using a hair dryer. Just stick it in one hole leaving the other hole open. Use medium heat as they burn up on high heat if left on too long.

Just for useless information hair dryers also work to dry out boots and mittens.

Tanya

[Tampa450]

Okay so I guess only a woman would think of using a hair dryer. Just stick it in one hole leaving the other hole open. Use medium heat as they burn up on high heat if left on too long.

Just for useless information hair dryers also work to dry out boots and mittens.

Thats similar to what I did.....Except Im a dude so I dont own a haidryer.

I have a small electric heat gun that i used.

I just left it going for like 1/2 hour or so.......

[SwellMel]

rock salt absorbs water and will not dissolve in oil, it's cheap and you can use it on the driveway after. The shop vac will suck up almost all of it first, if you go to home depot they have an adapter to reduce to the smaller size wand, or pick up a piece of pvc to reach the bottom.

[Dale Seeley]

Thanks for all the ideas. I've already played the heat gun game without a lot of success, never even thought of the simplist solution, the blue towels mechanical absorbsion.

Plan for tonight is to go with the blue paper towels, after shopvac-ing what I can get, then use the shopvac to retrieve the towels afterwards.

I really appreciate the advice, all of it. It's easy to get fixated on one method that just doesn't work in a particular situation.

[Clay]

Okay so I guess only a woman would think of using a hair dryer. Just stick it in one hole leaving the other hole open. Use medium heat as they burn up on high heat if left on too long.

Just for useless information hair dryers also work to dry out boots and mittens.

Tanya

That was my first thought when i read this. Havent ever had this problem my self though so wasn't sure it would work or not. The shop towels combined with a hair dryer would likely get em dry fast.

[BruceM]

ever though of using 80mm computer fans? I know that you can usually find them for $1-2 each at computer shows or a couple of bucks for them on ebay, or $4 brand new for stupid ones with LEDs in them (http://www.xoxide.com/80mmfans.html) Wire a few together and position them over one of the drum's openings. Prolly enough airflow from that to dry them out in the course of a day. could easily hook them up to a 10amp battery charger and run 5-10 of them all day long.

I know some places for computer parts sell 120vac fans in sizes that would work for drums too. But low budget would be to get a bunch of used 12v ones.

80mm ones usually move 25 to 40 CFM which should be plenty to aid in drying out your drums.


I use a staple gun to tack a small bath towel to a broom handle and stuff it into a drum or tote to dry out remaining moisture. Then just drape the towel over the clothesline and let the stick hang.