semi-OT: drierite

[Paul R. Higgins]

I've been following the water-cooling/computers discussion, and while it is not 
really applicable to my situation, I was intrigued by Harry B's mention of 
Drierite (silica gel dessicant).  I have a couple of huge speaker stands, 
designed by yours truly and custom-built by a friend, which have a hollow 
chamber as part of the pedestal.  The concept is to fill this chamber with sand 
in order to acoustically decouple the stand from the floor and prevent huge bass
waves from being transmitted down the column (thereby avoiding p!ss!ng off the 
neighbors at 2 AM, getting evicted...).  However, my studio is in a basement 
which sometimes is a bit damp, and I'm a little concerned about the 50+ pounds 
of sand in each speaker column absorbing water, rotting the glue joints, etc.  

My friend who built these behemoths suggested putting a bunch of those little 
desiccant packages (the ones you find packed with cameras, etc.) in with the 
sand.  He also suggested lead shot, but the idea of 100 pounds of lead in my 
basement studio doesn't strike me as particularly environmentally responsible.  

So I have three questions:

1.)  Does anyone know where you can find those little desiccant packages in 
quantity?

2.)  Can you just mix Drierite with sand?  Or is the cobalt chloride (the 
moisture indicator) hazardous stuff?  

I'm assuming you can get Drierite at chemical supply houses, as I remember using
lots of it in my organic chem labs.  If anyone knows of other suppliers for 
Drierite, please let me know.

Sorry for the semi-OT posting, but I knew that someone from DIY would have the 
answers on this one.  Please respond privately.

Thanks,
-PRH

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Paul Higgins
email: higg0008 at tc.umn.edu
University College, University of Minnesota
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