Dry cabinet for housing?

Generally, dry cabinets are recommended for camera bodies and lenses.

For housings, ports, etc, should they be kept in dry cabinets too? If not “should”, is it okay to store them there if you have a dry cabinet anyway?

would it affect o-rings, etc?

In theory yes, but in practice I doubt that a lot of people use them, their usefulness likely depends a lot on the humidity where you live and how much you use your gear.  If it's out in the sunshine a lot and not locked away fungus is less likely to grow.

As for housings and ports there is probably little harm in storing them in a dry cabinet  as long as you thoroughly soak your gear and work the buttons, low humidity will accelerate the evaporation of trapped water in all the controls and if it's salty - then salt crystals will form and if the humidity is low they will be hard and possibly more likely to damage the o-rings than otherwise. In humid ambient air salt tends to attract moisture so may not be quite so hard.

The main requirement to preserve your housing IMO is a thorough soak and then dry everything off - either blow the water off or wipe it away with a towel like a microfibre cloth or similar.  If water evaporates it leaves behind small amounts of salts which can become quite corrosive.

12 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

In theory yes, but in practice I doubt that a lot of people use them, their usefulness likely depends a lot on the humidity where you live and how much you use your gear.  If it's out in the sunshine a lot and not locked away fungus is less likely to grow.

As for housings and ports there is probably little harm in storing them in a dry cabinet  as long as you thoroughly soak your gear and work the buttons, low humidity will accelerate the evaporation of trapped water in all the controls and if it's salty - then salt crystals will form and if the humidity is low they will be hard and possibly more likely to damage the o-rings than otherwise. In humid ambient air salt tends to attract moisture so may not be quite so hard.

The main requirement to preserve your housing IMO is a thorough soak and then dry everything off - either blow the water off or wipe it away with a towel like a microfibre cloth or similar.  If water evaporates it leaves behind small amounts of salts which can become quite corrosive.

I’m from the Philippines where the humidity is quite high. Cameras and lenses are generally kept in dry cabinets to be safe.

Your explanation about housings and salt makes sense. I think I’ll leave everything that touches saltwater out of the dry cabinet.

Thanks!!!

I live on an island off the coast Belize where the humidity and salt air can cause corrosion in a very short time. While it’s not possible for everyone, I keep my camera, lenses, computers, monitors, and any other electronics in a continuously air conditioned room. I have seen brand new laptops and TVs completely corroded in less than a year where windows and doors are kept open. 

No doubt very humid places will give problems.  I suspect you'll be fine to use it for housings is they are thoroughly soaked, but then again is the housing is stored closed with o-rings in place it will stay dry inside which is where damage might occur to flash triggers or moisture alarms.  The outside of the housing I expect will be fine and the humidity may prevent any residual salt from drying completely.

Just use a sealed plastic bag with some Silica Gel inside. This works fine for mine and I live on a dampish, temperate island. Indicator Silica Gel is readily available (eBay), can be dried out and refused, and is a very effective solution for ensuring equipment stays dry. Its also a cheap solution. Make sure that the Silica Gel is checked and replaced/reactivated every so often.