Water damaged loudspeaker and drum kit

[LeadPaint]

We had a big leakage in our repetition room today. Brought all kind of stuff home to let it dry. I opened the electronic devices and luckily water did not get inside.

The entire drum kit got wet. We separated the heads and metal components from the drums to dry everything with cloth. Right now I have the bare drums in my garage, to prevent the wood from drying to quick and warping.

I have one loudspeaker from a bass amp that got very wet, it's made of a paper-like material which is partially soaked. What is the best why to dry this? Slowly in my cold garage or fast in my warm house? I have a load of dehumidifying bags you get with devices, can I use these?

Also the wet wooden enclosures from the amp and active monitors are in my garage. Please advice my how best to dry my gear.

 

[moresound]

Just how cold is your garage?

 

[LeadPaint]

The same as outside, which is currently a few degrees above freezing. There is no frost expected until monday.

 

[moresound]

Put a fan blowing on the stuff then.

 

[LeadPaint]

Same for the wet loudspeaker? Leaving it in the garage and no dehumidifying bags?

 

[mjbphotos]

If it gets colder than 32F, any moisture in the devices/wood is going to freeze and expand. Any plywood is going to warp and delaminate if it got truly saturated. Fans going constantly on everything will help.

 

[LeadPaint]

One tom and the bass drum got really soaked. I have put a fan on them. It's not going to freeze the next days.

This is what happened. A large water pipe has been frozen and broke right above the ceiling of the one room we use to practice, imagine the amount of water coming down. Our neighbour came home and discovered the leak. He brought the amps, speakers and drum kit to a dry room. The damage would have been a lot worse if someone didn't discover it a couple more hours...

 

[stevieb]

...I have a load of dehumidifying bags you get with devices, can I use these?

I assume you are talking about silica gel bags? FYI, those things work by absorbing the moisture near them- so they can get "full" or saturated. Fortunately, it is possible to re-activate them. I got a bunch with some military-surplus cases I bought- some are printed with this:

REACTIVITATION TIME 16 HOURS AT 250 DEGREES FARENHEIT.

16 hours! I can tell you, that's a loooonnnnggggg time to keep your oven running. I wondered what my gas bill was going to be that month...

I keep some of them in a Pelican Case with my un-used guitar strings, others in another Pelican Case with my microphones.