Is moisture killing my speakers?

[brianbj46]

I just moved into a new place and the basement is really really damp. There is a dehumidifier going 24/7 but it still smells like mold down there. Well I've been keeping my Mesa PH210 down there, and after a couple of weeks I started hearing a really low level distortion from the speakers when playing at low volumes. I brought the cab upstairs and a week later no distortion. Then after a couple more weeks in the basement the distortion returns.

Obviously i figured out i shouldn't store the cab downstairs, but does anyone know what mechanism may be causing this distortion?

 

[JimmyM]

Moisture + paper = soggy paper

Get it out of the basement.

 

[Oren Hudson]

Moisture is your speaker's worst enemy. Listen to Jimmy.

 

[INTP]

That smell is telling you more than just to not store your bass rig down there.

Check out this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801867304/

 

[bkk130]

What about a guitar? Is humidity bad for it? I had always thought the opposite.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

What about a guitar? Is humidity bad for it? I had always thought the opposite.

Too little will dry it out and it will crack and fall apart, too much will rot and corrode it away. Practice moderation in all things.

 

[georgestrings]

Generally speaking, if an environment is uncomfortable for you, it won't be all that great for instruments, amps, or cabs...



- georgestrings

 

[Charles Fields]

My old acoustic was in a damp basement for quite awhile it worked okay,but one day i was playing in another basement much dryer when all of a sudden my sound got very thin sounding so i took the bolt's out of the side of my old 361 cabinet to reveal a dryrotted cerwin vega 18 it was really funny because it was still working fine except the paper was gone around the outside,i had the 18 reconed but had a show before i could get it back so i picked up a 4 ohm black widow and slapped it in there it sounded pretty good but not as good as the vega,moral to the story keep your powder dry and your cabinet too!

 

[mntngrown]

I was wondering if people in very humid geographical locales ( absent basement storage) have to worry. Anyone wish to venture a relative humidity or dew point absolute after which you need a dehumidifier?