Tony Balls Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 this may not be the right board for it, but i'll give it a shot.... A buddy of mine in Western Massachusetts has a house that is too small to hold all of his amps, and so he's considering constructing a separate practice space/storage space for them. It'd be a barn-like/garage-like structure. What he's curious about is if the cold weather will be damaging to the amps, or if he would have to keep the room at a regular temperature. I'm tempted to say that it won't matter much, and if anything you might see a shortness of life from the tubes. Anyone agree? Have any input?? Quote
Paul Marossy Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 If he keeps it around 50 deg. F min., it should be fine. Just my opinion. It could probably be colder still. Quote
Batfink Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 Not that i know much about amp electronics but i would say that temperature isn't the main problem but humidity is - hot/cold and dry not a problem but hot/cold and damp is a major problem. Jem Quote
Paul Marossy Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 Yes, humidity could also be a problem. Not so much in the winter, but at other times of the year, it could be... Quote
tasty Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 I agree with all the above. Temp is not a major consideration, except with condensation/moisture when dealing with Tube Amps. You also want to try to let your amp warm up to room temp before turning on the power to the heaters because anything stressed from extremely cold to extremely hot takes a beating. You may cause stress fractures/cold solder joints that sort of thing. I store some of my tube amps in an outside shed type of thing and have had no problems, but you do want to be careful of moisture and condensation problems. The same would apply when shutting down your amp. Try to turn it to standby for a few minutes. Then shut down the power/pack up the rest of your gear and then after the amp cools it is better to move it then. A hot amp doesn't like to take a lot of hits, as does a cold amp. Indeed you are correct, the hot/cold cycles will most likely affect tube life. Peace! Quote
JoeAArthur Posted January 11, 2006 Report Posted January 11, 2006 Interesting... I wouldn't worry about the tubes. It's not like the amp would be used in extreme cold. At any rate, the tubes could be easily removed and stored "inside". My concern would be the electrolytic caps. Quote
haggardguy Posted January 12, 2006 Report Posted January 12, 2006 Ya.... I moved my hot amp that had been running for hours outside into a Canadian winter...it still seems fine but how worried should I be? Quote
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