Thanks for all of the suggestions.  This afternoon I went to the nearby national crafts store chain. (Michaels, "The arts and crafts store" as the bag says.) 

After trying to convince two different sales people that yes, dried flowers are indeed "arts and crafts" (go figure) they each pointed me to the same place, the basket isle. Close, but no cigar.

Being stubborn, I started walking up & down the isles around there and found two sizes of silica gel for (GASP!) drying flowers in the dried flower area next isle over.  (Hello??)  The two sales folks must have been trainees. 

"Flower Drying Art" by Activa Products Inc. out of Marshall Texas, USA.  Stock #2604 Silica Gel.

Link:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=fl0161&channelid=


The two sizes are 1.5 lbs (quart) for US$8.99, and 5 lbs for about US$15.99.  Cheap enough for me.  I'll sew up a cotton pouch & put some in before I close up and seal  the geophone housing. Probably 200+ times what I need but hey, I'll find a use.

 Thanks again for the suggestions.  The list once again come through.

Dave Willey


Timothy Carpenter  wrote:                 Silica gel is also used for drying flowers – craft shops and some florists should carry supplies.
   
     
  Regards,
    -Tim Carpenter-
   
  
  -----Original Message-----
 From: psn-l-request@.............. [mailto:psn-l-request@............... On Behalf Of Dave Willey
 Sent: Saturday,  December 09, 2006 6:03 PM
 To: psn-l@..............
 Subject: Source for Desiccant Packs?
   
   Does anyone have a source for small amounts of desiccant packs such as bentonite clay or silica gel?  (Something non-corrosive.)  Similar to the canisters/capsules  found in the bottom of some medicine pill bottles.  I've found a bunch of suppliers on the web.  But I only need 2 or 3 , not 4000 per 25 lbs pail!!
 
 I'm trying not to hit up the local druggist/chemist if I can help it.  But I will if I cannot find another source
 
 I'm about ready to seal up a 2" PVC container with three Mark L15b's geophones & bury it 10 feet down.
 
 As an aside:
 As Chris pointed out in a separate e-mail to me, don't forget to seal the OTHER end of the cable.  Water and air can still enter inside the "sealed" container via the inside air space between the wires in cables.  
 
 I used to work/run a engineering reliability lab & have autopsied 100's of marine shore power cables that boaters had carelessly dropped one or both ends into the water.  Water gets wicked up inside the cable amazingly far.  Even after only a very brief dunking.  
 
 Water traveling 10 to 30 feet or more inside a 50 or 100 foot long cable wasn't all that unusual with some of the fiber twine used in power cable.  Many of the data cables I've looked at often use some sort of thread added along with the individual wires in the bundle. Perfect path for water and damp air to travel down.
 
 So the desiccant packs would be a great last ditch effort to keep things dry around the geophones..
 
 
 Dave Willey
 
 
 
 
  
  
Thanks for all of the suggestions.  This afternoon I went to the nearby national crafts store chain. (Michaels, "The arts and crafts store" as the bag says.) 

After trying to convince two different sales people that yes, dried flowers are indeed "arts and crafts" (go figure) they each pointed me to the same place, the basket isle. Close, but no cigar.

Being stubborn, I started walking up & down the isles around there and found two sizes of silica gel for (GASP!) drying flowers in the dried flower area next isle over.  (Hello??)  The two sales folks must have been trainees. 

"Flower Drying Art" by Activa Products Inc. out of Marshall Texas, USA.  Stock #2604 Silica Gel.

Link:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=fl0161&channelid=


The two sizes are 1.5 lbs (quart) for US$8.99, and 5 lbs for about US$15.99.  Cheap enough for me.  I'll sew up a cotton pouch & put some
 in before I close up and seal  the geophone housing. Probably 200+ times what I need but hey, I'll find a use.

 Thanks again for the suggestions.  The list once again come through.

Dave Willey


Timothy Carpenter <geodynamics@.......> wrote:
             
  
Silica gel is also used for drying flowers – craft shops and some florists should carry supplies.
  
 
    
 
  
Regards,
  
  
-Tim Carpenter-
  
 
  
  
-----Original Message-----
 From: psn-l-request@.............. [mailto:psn-l-request@............... On Behalf Of Dave Willey
 Sent: Saturday,  December 09, 2006 6:03 PM
 To: psn-l@..............
 Subject: Source for Desiccant Packs?
  
 
  
 Does anyone have a source for small amounts of desiccant packs such as bentonite clay or silica gel?  (Something non-corrosive.)  Similar to the canisters/capsules  found in the bottom of some medicine pill
 bottles.  I've found a bunch of suppliers on the web.  But I only need 2 or 3 , not 4000 per 25 lbs pail!!
 
 I'm trying not to hit up the local druggist/chemist if I can help it.  But I will if I cannot find another source
 
 I'm about ready to seal up a 2" PVC container with three Mark L15b's geophones & bury it 10 feet down.
 
 As an aside:
 As Chris pointed out in a separate e-mail to me, don't forget to seal the OTHER end of the cable.  Water and air can still enter inside the "sealed" container via the inside air space between the wires in cables.  
 
 I used to work/run a engineering reliability lab & have autopsied 100's of marine shore power cables that boaters had carelessly dropped one or both ends into the water.  Water gets wicked up inside the cable amazingly far.  Even after only a very brief dunking.  
 
 Water traveling 10 to 30 feet or more inside a 50 or 100 foot long cable