Am I damaging my Equipment + Media??

[technoplayer]

Its August and 100+ outside, and the A/C unit for my studio space has failed. All the gear is powered off. temperature in the studio is probably 90 degrees, kept from getting higher by forced air circulation (fans) from a cooler area of the building. No hope for repairs on the A/C near term.

Question/ opinions: Will my gear / media sustain any damage from this?
I would guess not, but looking for guidance. I could move some of this sfuff, but not easily as studio is on the second floor

 

[jjones1700]

Just my guess, but I would imagine that the pinch rollers and belts are probably taking the biggest beating. I'm not sure how tape (DAT or open reel) would hold up in that environment. That sucks man. Hope you can get it fixed fairly quickly.

 

[miroslav]

90 degrees is pushing it...but as long as you are not operating the equipment under those temperatures...the gear will be OK (except if there's anything real delicate).

The thing to worry about is the humidity!

Run a dehumidifier even if you can't cool the space.

 

[sweetbeats]

In other discussions on this topic (at both temperature extremes) I've gotten the understanding that your gear is just fine. My understanding is that sub-zero temps and extreme heat (maybe 110F+) for extended durations are not the best and the biggest thing is taking care when moving equipment from one of those extremes into a more temperate environment...it needs to be done with care and in stages so that there is a chance to adjust. You can find out more by looking in your service manual(s) and looking up some of the components in the guts and then Google spec sheets on those components. There is usually somehting about environmental conditions or starge conditions and typically the conditions are quite outside of what is tolerable for the human body. I think your gear is just fine sitting in 90+ degree temps for some time. When the temps get extreme you don't want to run gear, but I would thin even at 90+ it would be okay. Not the best mind you, but part of that is the risk of you sweating all over your gear.

Food for thought, companies build mixers to "withstand the rigors of the road" and lots of gear gets built around those expectations...live outdoor shows in the Summer, console sitting in the sun for hours on end and it keeps running year after year.

My 2p.

 

[technoplayer]

I can (and will ) remove the pinch rollers and take them to a conditioned area. If the belts bite it, well, they are replaceable and relatively cheap. Fortunately the Ampexs, Revox and a few others are direct drive. The humidity ought to be fine ...actually if anything a bit low on the RH scale since the place is sealed up quite well and the only makeup air its getting is from the de-humidified (read that *air conditioned*) lower level area. This isn't a garage or shed, but a fully finished upper level wing of my house. No environmental issue except, well, its hot and stagnant. Keeping the ceiling fans on full time just to move the air.

Yeah, come to think of it most of this stuff probably runs at some elevated temperature when its turned on, so maybe not a problem. Its just that EVERYTHING is being heat soaked.

Maybe if I run a dehumidifier as well, I can un-sticky all of my old tapes!!!

THE SILVER LINING!!

 

[Herm]

Ah I cant imagine anything being a problem. I would bet that on a hard session your gear gets that hot inside all the time. Back in the tube days things got alot hotter than then that. The inside of your car gets 40 degress hotter then that and when was the last time your radio quit cause it was hot.
Or howbout a fender tube amp
Forget about it.

 

[Beck]

As others have said, just don’t run your equipment until you get the temp down.

The ambient room temp is the key because it impacts how well components dissipate heat while operating. Thus components and devices will have different max heat ratings… one for storage and one for operation. The max storage temp is always higher.

By the way, the recommended max storage temp for Ampex/Quantegy 456 is 90 degrees F. You can fudge that a bit as long as the RH is low.

 

[Herm]

But one thing to think about Tim is we bake tape at 135 degrees so that it can be used again without any damage.
So I cant imagine anything happening in the 100 degree area.

 

[dodgeaspen]

That's hot. Like all the others have said just don't use the equipment until the ac gets fixed.

 

[Beck]

But one thing to think about Tim is we bake tape at 135 degrees so that it can be used again without any damage.
So I cant imagine anything happening in the 100 degree area.

Yeah you're right, Gary... that's why I qualified it by mentioning the relative humidity (RH). It's best to treat tape with TLC, but I'm sure the Quantegy recommendations are conservative. IMO, the biggest concern is the long-term storage environment. Exceeding min and max recommended temps in the short term won't kill your tape, but my general rule is, be nice to your tape and it will be nice to you.

 

[Richard King]

I would move the tapes to avoid the potential of mold growth. I have many old masters (from the '70's) that have become moldy over the years. Don't know how long it takes for mold to "take root" on a tape, but it does happen. When I was a remastering engineer for Pickwick records (in the '70's also) all masters were kept in an enviromentally controlled storage room independent of the studio.

 

[technoplayer]

Ok, pinch rollers are out of the space.
As I indicated, humidity is not an issue at this point. Its hot and relatively dry outside, and the building is well sealed.

It's probably not warmer inside than the warehouse they store all this stuff in when its new.

The real tough part is not being able to use the gear until I get this resolved.
Maybe I should fill my time by buying more gear

 

[sweetbeats]

Not that you can't find those answers here, but you might also want to post in the guitar forum...might be a better place. It is here:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/forumdisplay.php?f=23