I wouldn't worry about temperature for storage.

Humidity OTOH isn't good. Simple cooling systems will give condensation and will make things worse. Pack mics into an airtight bag on a dry day?

I use this sort of thing (with the divided insert) to carry 3 mid-sized video cameras and all of their accessories (chargers / batteries / HDMI converters). It might work for some of your smaller items. They're gasketed, pressurized, and moisture resistant and come with an in-case dehumidifier. I have the version with the 'fabric insert' and a version that's only got a thin foam liner on the bottom. They're not too expensive at regular price ($109 / $99), but they seem to put each of them on sale once or twice a year. Right now (next 2 days) the one without the insert is on sale for $59 (and I bought the lined version on sale for $69 last summer). The build-quality is good and it's a lot better for me than juggling 3 individual pressurized hardshell camera cases.

Case only

Case with liner

They make a decent line of Ruggard dry cabinets too, but that doesn't really apply to your current problem.

Good luck, Kyle!

cyrano, post: 461264, member: 51139 wrote: Humidity OTOH isn't good. Simple cooling systems will give condensation and will make things worse. Pack mics into an airtight bag on a dry day?

Thanks. Good to know about temps. I could get some silica gel packs to add into the airtight bags. The local dollar store has these huge ziplock type bags like 2' x 2' with an 8" depth. That's what the computer parts are in now, as well as in the totes.

I was under the impression that the standup a/c functioned as a dehumidifier by default. Am i wrong? It has a drain plug and little tank built in, although after a whole summer there was nothing but a drip or two when i pulled off the drain plug. It ventilates heat thru essentially a plastic dryer hose, and a window attachment.

Just to clarify, even the car and car trunk is no problem or the enclosed trailer made from plywood covered by sheet metal?? Not doubting, just paranoid.

Im now concerned about the parts since the shipping box got rained on before i could take it in. I was under perhaps the wrong impression that salt water was a killer, and humidity was a culprit when the gear was powered up. I know techs use ultrasonic cleaners, and ive heard a story by remy where she soaked a neve in a bathtub for a week with soapy water. I know drying it out was a critical step.

Fingers crossed i didnt ruin 800$ in chips and 300$ in motherboards. I have a bit more confidence that the ram and psu's were not wet. Ahhhh anxiety.

dvdhawk, post: 461265, member: 36047 wrote: I use this sort of thing (with the divided insert) to carry 3 mid-sized video cameras and all of their accessories (chargers / batteries / HDMI converters). It might work for some of your smaller items. They're gasketed, pressurized, and moisture resistant and come with an in-case dehumidifier. I have the version with the 'fabric insert' and a version that's only got a thin foam liner on the bottom. They're not too expensive at regular price ($109 / $99), but they seem to put each of them on sale once or twice a year. Right now (next 2 days) the one without the insert is on sale for $59 (and I bought the lined version on sale for $69 last summer). The build-quality is good and it's a lot better for me than juggling 3 individual pressurized hardshell camera cases.

Case only

Case with liner

They make a decent line of Ruggard dry cabinets too, but that doesn't really apply to your current problem.

Good luck, Kyle!

Thanks dave good to here from ya!. Im gonna check out those cases and try and snag the sale price if i think itll work for something. Ive been looking for something on that idea for a while since things are messy around here.

Cheers!

Is there any gear more sensitive to humidity, i.e, does certain gear merit better cases like dave linked vs just a bag and regular tote? The theadripper processor was the most pricy @ 450$, and the eleven racks discontinued now and have an lcd readout. Not sure if any stuff is ectra sensitive, the nvme drives or ram or psu's or motherboards.

Also does the fully assembled acer pc require anything special since its fully assembled? I might just start using it instead storing it.

I've got tons of stuff in unheated trailers and storage without it being a huge concern. Back when I was gigging a lot regionally, the gear (speakers, power amps, mixer, drums, guitars, keyboards, lighting) all stayed in the big truck year round and it really never presented much of a problem.

Wintertime was worse than summertime because the gear would roll into a warm venue from the sub-zero temps in the truck. We'd make sure to open all the racks and cases and let them acclimate as best we could, but still sometimes you'd see condensation dripping off the metal faceplates of the power amps etc. and there was no reason to think there wasn't as much condensation inside the amps. The good news is, condensate is basically distilled water that is naturally free of mineral impurities, so there's not much risk of it conducting any significant electricity (unless it picks up impurities elsewhere). Like I said, we'd let things acclimate as much as possible, but we had a show to set up for and had to press on. So we'd power the PA up as soon as possible and let it play very gently (barely audible) while we set up everything else. Even while idling, power amps produce a little heat and have fans in them, so between the heat, the fans, and the warm air of the venue - it didn't take long for the water droplets to evaporate. We were careful not to blast the PA to full soundcheck / show level until the speaker cones and everything else had a chance to dry out and get a litte air moving. The airgap around a speaker voicecoil may only be a few 1/1000ths of an inch and most cones are paper, so you just can't overdo it right away. While other bands and sound companies were replacing / reconing speakers left and right, our speaker mortality rate was almost zero.

Meanwhile, in the summertime we could have made a fortune as drought-busters. There for a while, if we played a gig or did a soundjob outdoors it was going to rain. (oh the stories we could tell) No matter how clear blue the sky looked, no matter how sunny the forecast was, we had everything ready to cover within a few seconds of the first raindrops. Promoters NEVER want to cancel an outdoor concert - or worse yet, move it indoors. The horn of a monitor wedge makes a perfect funnel to collect rain water and pour it straight into the throat of the driver. And the snake stagebox is sitting there connectors up, waiting to gather water too - even if it's just dew at a multi-day event. So we were always prepared to ride out even the most torrential rain and never had anything ruined despite working in what I can guarantee you was 100% humidity. On the next dry day we'd try to open up the doors on the truck and open up some cases to let some of the moisture escape. That's all you can do in the real world.

Obviously, sudden drastic changes in temperature and humidity should be avoided if possible, but if I were you, I'd be mostly worried about condenser mics. I would think the other stuff you've mentioned will be pretty resilient given any reasonable level of care. I would think vacuum-sealed storage bags, or even ziploc bags should be plenty for PC boards and components.

If I was really paranoid about it, I'd rent a commercial storage unit that had conditioned air.

My only issue following many years of international travel, shipping containers on deck for a couple of months sometimes. I found the display of my pod hd500x had some of its lcd display stuff permanently in a scribble on top left corner. I suspect being near my dt50 212 in same box caused that.

I even had acoustic guitars in those :). All was fine. Computers you name it, all perfectly fine.

Tony

dvdhawk, post: 461269, member: 36047 wrote: I've got tons of stuff in unheated trailers and storage without it being a huge concern. Back when I was gigging a lot regionally, the gear (speakers, power amps, mixer, drums, guitars, keyboards, lighting) all stayed in the big truck year round and it really never presented much of a problem.

Wintertime was worse than summertime because the gear would roll into a warm venue from the sub-zero temps in the truck. We'd make sure to open all the racks and cases and let them acclimate as best we could, but still sometimes you'd see condensation dripping off the metal faceplates of the power amps etc. and there was no reason to think there wasn't as much condensation inside the amps. The good news is, condensate is basically distilled water that is naturally free of mineral impurities, so there's not much risk of it conducting any significant electricity (unless it picks up impurities elsewhere). Like I said, we'd let things acclimate as much as possible, but we had a show to set up for and had to press on. So we'd power the PA up as soon as possible and let it play very gently (barely audible) while we set up everything else. Even while idling, power amps produce a little heat and have fans in them, so between the heat, the fans, and the warm air of the venue - it didn't take long for the water droplets to evaporate. We were careful not to blast the PA to full soundcheck / show level until the speaker cones and everything else had a chance to dry out and get a litte air moving. The airgap around a speaker voicecoil may only be a few 1/1000ths of an inch and most cones are paper, so you just can't overdo it right away. While other bands and sound companies were replacing / reconing speakers left and right, our speaker mortality rate was almost zero.

Meanwhile, in the summertime we could have made a fortune as drought-busters. There for a while, if we played a gig or did a soundjob outdoors it was going to rain. (oh the stories we could tell) No matter how clear blue the sky looked, no matter how sunny the forecast was, we had everything ready to cover within a few seconds of the first raindrops. Promoters NEVER want to cancel an outdoor concert - or worse yet, move it indoors. The horn of a monitor wedge makes a perfect funnel to collect rain water and pour it straight into the throat of the driver. And the snake stagebox is sitting there connectors up, waiting to gather water too - even if it's just dew at a multi-day event. So we were always prepared to ride out even the most torrential rain and never had anything ruined despite working in what I can guarantee you was 100% humidity. On the next dry day we'd try to open up the doors on the truck and open up some cases to let some of the moisture escape. That's all you can do in the real world.

Obviously, sudden drastic changes in temperature and humidity should be avoided if possible, but if I were you, I'd be mostly worried about condenser mics. I would think the other stuff you've mentioned will be pretty resilient given any reasonable level of care. I would think vacuum-sealed storage bags, or even ziploc bags should be plenty for PC boards and components.

If I was really paranoid about it, I'd rent a commercial storage unit that had conditioned air.

Interesting stuff. If you were touring in California theyd declare you a national hero! Rocking out and watering their lawns guilt free.

Id end up trying to design marine grade stage box, and covering the speakers in plastic, and those would short out, not the regular ones. Lol.

Makzimia, post: 461271, member: 48344 wrote: My only issue following many years of international travel, shipping containers on deck for a couple of months sometimes. I found the display of my pod hd500x had some of its lcd display stuff permanently in a scribble on top left corner. I suspect being near my dt50 212 in same box caused that.

I even had acoustic guitars in those :). All was fine. Computers you name it, all perfectly fine.

Tony

Good to know. Imperfect lcd readouts make my skin crawl, ill be careful.