effect of cold on my gear

[zildjohn01]

my studio is located in a basement with no insulation and little heat. as winter comes, will any of my equipment get damaged? i'm mostly worried about the condensers. i decided against keeping my instruments, esp. my acoustic guitar, in there, but i can't move my drum set and it's already been through one winter like this. i'd estimate it gets down to 40 or 50F. what gear could this damage?

 

[boingoman]

It's not the heat, it's the humidity, like the old saying goes. Gradual temperature changes aren't usually a huge deal.

 

[zildjohn01]

so i'd assume it gets too dry as it gets colder? a humidifier and i'd be fine?

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

so i'd assume it gets too dry as it gets colder? a humidifier and i'd be fine?

Don't quote me on this, but I believe it's mostly acoustic guitars that are really affected by humidity. I could be wrong though!


*Edit: From what I found on the web, the consensus seems to be something like this:

"Drums aren't as sensitive as other instruments to humidity and temp changes because they have rims and a tensioned head keeping the drum round and in shape. You will hear about drums going 'out of round' but this mainly happens when the heads are off the drums (or the heads aren't tensioned) during humidity changes. Of course, they are still musical instruments made of wood, so don't mis-treat them just because they 'aren't as sensitive as other instruments.'"

 

[punkin]

In what part of the world do you live?

Mics will get bummed when big humidity changes happen. Many (if not most) will suggest that you put mics back in their pouches or cases with the silica packs to keep them dry and free from condensation when not in use.

Electronics, asside from static electricity, you'll most likely be fine. Really not to worry unless you've got some really exotic and/or collectable gear. Today's stuff is very robust.

Wooden instruments, a whole different deal. Wood lives even after we cut it down. It moves it breathes, the paint and finishes crack but they live. A constand humidity (and closer to the humid side) is desirable.

 

[gtrmaker1]

In what part of the world do you live?

Mics will get bummed when big humidity changes happen. Many (if not most) will suggest that you put mics back in their pouches or cases with the silica packs to keep them dry and free from condensation when not in use.

Electronics, asside from static electricity, you'll most likely be fine. Really not to worry unless you've got some really exotic and/or collectable gear. Today's stuff is very robust.

Wooden instruments, a whole different deal. Wood lives even after we cut it down. It moves it breathes, the paint and finishes crack but they live. A constand humidity (and closer to the humid side) is desirable.

My experience with electronics is that if they go from cold to hot to cold often, you will experience intermittent problems with connectors (usually solder joints getting hairline cracks in them) and any potentiometer will start to corrode much faster, which leads to "crackles" when they are turned.

Not much you can do for the connector problem except to try to keep the gear at a more stable temperature. Also, probably would be best to not unplug/plug in things to it while it is cold. The "pots" though, you can "exercise" them often, and clean them once every few months with Deoxit.

 

[xstatic]

If it gets cold enough that any of the electronics start to get condensation or too cold to the touch, I would just leave them on all winter so they stay pretyt constant. Constant cycling in power of electronics may actually be more damging then just leaving it on all the time.

I leave my console on in my control room during the winter here. Even when it is -10 outside and would be 30 in the studio without a heat source, the console never lets it get below 65 degress and usually doesn't even get that low. Awesome for the winter, sucks in the summer though.

 

[SonicAlbert]

Yes, you don't want to be cycling your electronic gear from cold to hot every day. This is *not* good for it. As xstatic and others have said, it's better to leave the gear on all winter so that it remains at a constant temperature.

You are also right to keep your acoustic instruments and mics in a more controlled temperature environment.

 

[Freudian Slip]

It's mainly tempeture changes that cause problem. Warm air is able to hold WAY more moisture than cold air. Moisture in warm air is drawn to cold surfaces. So you don't want to store your microphones in the cold if you are going to be pulling them into a warm enviroment to use them. A cold microphone could collect alot of moister from someones warm breath too. I would rather take a warm mic into a cool room to use it than visa versa.


F.S.