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temperature and gear

wraub

wraub

Apr 9, 2004
7,761
10,630
ennui, az
#1
Me and some guys play music in my garage. Amps are often left in there, sometimes long term.
The weather where I am is variable. Winter time usually is low 20s, summer is 110 plus. Usually pretty dry but not always.

I have a tube pre, solid state power set up with a 1x12 cab. Other cabs tend to come and go.
Will leaving cabs/amps out there do any harm?

wraub
 
#2
Generally electronics have a non operating min. temp. This is usually below zero. My amp's is -15.

Operating mins. are higher, but electronics make a certain amount of heat so it's usually not an issue.

When they get real cold they need to warm up slowly, especially in humid environments, because the heat they generate can cause condensation (water) to form internally. Depending on the amp and pre it may be protected against moisture buildup which would cause a shut down fault.

Water is your enemy

The Tube pre you have the glass issue. If glass heats up to fast it can crack or shatter.

Speakers are like muscles you want to warm up before you exert yourself. Be gentle on speakers until they get warm as a precaution.

In extreme cold the main thing you may notice is the glue that holds the dust cover (that little bubble in the middle) of the speaker may come loose.

Best bet, treat them like water pipes. Put a small space heater near them to keep them near above 32 degrees.

Extreme heat is less of an issue when off. I don't know of one amp that does not have thermal shut off protection when on. I've never had an issue and I live in the desert and played lots of shows on black stages, in the summer.
 
#3
wraub said:
The weather where I am is variable. Winter time usually is low 20s, summer is 110 plus. Usually pretty dry but not always.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a similar climate to the high altitude desert that I live in. I've been using gear in garages out here since 2004... cold/heat never gave my tube amps/cabs any problems. I keep my instruments in the house during the cold seasons. At least I do now, after having a few of them set up.
 
#4
Not high desert but close enough. Definitely gets very hot and quite cold.

Thanks for the advice. I never leave my basses out there, but the bass amp, guitar amp, the pa, etc. live out there.

Anyone else?

wraub
 

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