BillFitzmaurice.info

I'm reaching the point with my system where I am considering purchasing a trailer. One of the main reasons is that I would like to not have to carry everything up/downstairs to and from my storage room for shows. Especially now that I am building a pair of 28" wide T39s!

I live in Iowa. It's pretty cold in the winter and pretty humid in the summer.

Are there any concerns with leaving gear in a trailer for a couple of weeks at a time in these climate conditions? I imagine the cabs would be fine, but what about mixers, amps and outboard gear.

Can anybody put my mind at ease?

In below 32 or above 110 I'd be moving the electronics into a more friendly environment. I would be concerned about the LCD's freezing and cracking. Another big concern is bringing very cold equipment into a warm room causes condensation.

wallywally wrote: Another big concern is bringing very cold equipment into a warm room causes condensation.

That affects speakers in a bad way as well. I'd only leave it in the trailer if the trailer is in a garage, preferably heated. The other issue with a trailer is theft.

If you consider the trunk of a car a trailer like environment I think you'd be just fine with a couple of precautions. Not sure what your idea of cold is, but up here in Canada -40 is quite common in the winter and in the summer +40 C (probably +60 C in the trunk of the car). I use a dcx2496 and multiple power amps and processing for my car audio and not once in 23 years has the cold ever given me greif on the electronics or displays (summer heat and the amps is another story, they work fine until they overheat then cut out until they cool down enough to kick in again, no permanent damage). The dcx, amps, and processors power up every single time i start my car even with 1/8" frost completely covering the displays and cases. No issues on the electronics ever. However, like was mentioned, condensation could form when said electronics are brought into a warm humid environment. Usually in the winter the heated venues won't be that humid anyways, we've never had a problem with that up here in Canada ever.

Twice I've had issues with speakers affected by the cold if driven hard without time to warm up. Once I've had a glue failure between the spider and the basket in -40 when the speaker was driven hard without time to warm up. It was a dynaudio 6.5" midbass . The other time was when I brought in 2 JBL SRX715's in from -40 and ran pink noise through them at extremely high volume levels (by accident, damm faders) without time for them to warm up. The titamium compression driver diaphrams turned into confetti literally. The biggest piece of titamium in one piece was smaller than a hole punch. JBL service department said that was only the second time ever that they seen that. They wouldn't cover it under warrantee

The freezing cold I think is easier on stuff than the extreme heat.

We commonly have winters that get down to 30 below zero (F) and I've yet to have a problem as long as things are properly warmed up before using.

I do leave my trailer in my heated shop, but drive time for some gigs, leaves the equipment freezing cold before arrival...

Sounds like it's kinda down the center on opinions. Even if gear was stored in the cold, wouldn't sitting in a bar for about an hour before firing it up allow stuff to warm up enough?

I don't have a heated space to keep a trailer.

I really don't want to have to keep hauling all that stuff up and down stairs for every show. I also would like to take on a few more shows, but the extra two hours of loading and unloading makes it difficult for me to get motivated.

You don't have to even let it sit...just run some tunes at a moderate volume....and that will help the internals to warm up.

The heat is bad: It softens glues and dries out electrolytic capacitors. Cold isn't that bad, but the accompanying condensation that occurs when you bring cold gear into a warm room is bad. It causes corrosion on contacts and variable resistors, causes oxide buildup on sockets, edge connectors, IC sockets, can create leakage paths on printed circuit boards if powered up when wet, etc...

Best to keep your gear in a room temperature, dry place when you can.

I live in Virginia......hot humid summers, fairly cold winters. I leave my equipment in my 6x10 trailer year around. I keep my laptop and DJ controller in the house.
I have never had issue with my BFM speakers or amp rack. Maybe I am lucky, but I dont have any other place to put my equipment. Unloading the trailer would
defeat my purpose of having a trailer. I get home from a gig and take out my laptop, UPS, and DJ controller and I am good to go.

I've been doing this for about 20 years with professional PA gear...keep in mind this stuff was built to handle being on the road, where alot of "semi-pro", DIY, or consumer gear isn't ...the most important advice I can give is:
If it was cold or frozen, plan sufficient time to let it warm up completely before powering up, because condensation can cause electrical problems. Also, let it warm up SLOWLY if possible...for instance bring it into loading area first, later into fully heated area...and DO NOT open cases or rack covers right away...wait at least half an hour or so. I find it takes a good hour or so for "cold" stuff to warm, and 2 full hours for "frozen" stuff to warm enough so that the condensation is minimal and not solid chunks of frost.
My outboard power supply for my mixer is the worst problem I have, sometimes takes 3 hours to finish warming up...and of course the CD player won't work until the tray has been left open long enough to warm up the fog on the lens...I try to bring those rack cases indoors the night before a gig, but it's a PITA and sometimes the drive is so long they're frozen again by the time I get there anyway.

As for excessive heat and humidity, I try to vent the truck and trailer occasionally during the hottest days...I find that humidity is less of an issue in the truck or trailer than it is in the garage or house.

Hello fellow Iowan (Des Moines)

I pack my mixer and rack that has my tube preamps and driverackPA and subsequently all other "delicate" electronics last and roll that into a climate controlled area. Ohh and I take my amps in now too because they are type H and have digital electronic stuff on board too. The rest stays, even the speakers, just let them warm up before you run em or the glue and cones will give out.

Where are you located in Iowa?

chenry78 wrote:Hello fellow Iowan (Des Moines)

I pack my mixer and rack that has my tube preamps and driverackPA and subsequently all other "delicate" electronics last and roll that into a climate controlled area. Ohh and I take my amps in now too because they are type H and have digital electronic stuff on board too. The rest stays, even the speakers, just let them warm up before you run em or the glue and cones will give out.

Where are you located in Iowa?

Thanks for the reply (everyone else too).

I could live with hauling in the electronics and leaving the cabs. How long you let your cabs warm up before using them?

I am from Center Point, ten minutes north of Cedar Rapids.

Do you know anyone locally with garage space to rent cheap? Maybe someone retired and living alone without a car? I'd be advertising to find such a place. a trailer is just too easy to hitch up to a vehicle once the perp knows you're out of town.

wounded horse wrote:Do you know anyone locally with garage space to rent cheap? Maybe someone retired and living alone without a car? I'd be advertising to find such a place. a trailer is just too easy to hitch up to a vehicle once the perp knows you're out of town.

That's why they make locks.

Bruce Weldy wrote:

wounded horse wrote:Do you know anyone locally with garage space to rent cheap? Maybe someone retired and living alone without a car? I'd be advertising to find such a place. a trailer is just too easy to hitch up to a vehicle once the perp knows you're out of town.

That's why they make locks.

41UieH3EInL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

and boltcutters and cordless metal saws...

Chicken/Egg scenario.

Personally I leave my trailer locked (door and hitch) inside my (locked) shop.