# Storing Gear



## Esoteric (Mar 30, 2012)

Hey guys, so I have a lot of portable church clients. I found out yesterday that many of them are keeping their gear in trucks 24/7. Now of course for conventional lights, moving lights, truss, speakers, etc I don't think that is a big deal. But with summers where the temperature inside a box truck could approach 150+ degrees and no ventillation, we always remove our projectors and consoles and store them either in a temperature controlled environment or in a well ventilated warehouse.

But maybe I am over cautious?


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## Morte615 (Mar 30, 2012)

Anything that is temperature sensitive (IE consoles, projectors, LED's) should be stored in a controlled environment. Though if you still want to store them in trucks you could add vents and fans to the trucks to create air flow. I don't think that would be all that difficult to do and could probably be done in an afternoon. I would run both 120 volt and 12 volt power throughout for the fans though, so they can be plugged in on site (with no shore power) or at storage.


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## JohnD (Mar 31, 2012)

You might take a look at this thread from soundforum.net
Water damage... causes
It looks like a lot more than consoles and projectors should not be stored long term in trucks and utility trailers.


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## FMEng (Mar 31, 2012)

Not overly cautious at all. Heat and humidity will cause all kinds of problems for electronic equipment. Just a tiny bit of invisible oxidation can cause a switch or connector to fail. I would insulate the truck and install some kind of air conditioner for heating, cooling, and humidity control. It could be plugged into "shore power" when the truck is parked in its storage location.


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## len (Apr 6, 2012)

FMEng said:


> Not overly cautious at all. Heat and humidity will cause all kinds of problems for electronic equipment. Just a tiny bit of invisible oxidation can cause a switch or connector to fail. I would insulate the truck and install some kind of air conditioner for heating, cooling, and humidity control. It could be plugged into "shore power" when the truck is parked in its storage location.



If you're going to that kind of effort and expense, it might be more cost-effective to build an addition, or to use a temp-controlled storage facility. No guarantee, but something to look at.


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## soundman (Apr 7, 2012)

IMO heat is the smallest issue I would worry about when storing gear in a truck. Theft would be my biggest concern. Someone looking to steal a truck gets a truck and a whole lot more. Next on the list would be water damage. When Nashville flooded a few years ago not only were the shops in town affected there were 53' trailers from tours on break packed in yards that got submerged. If the truck isn't moved and emptied often something could put a hole in the roof or in the side that would let water in during the next rain storm. 

When tours jump continents or gear ships from an international manufacturer it usually rides in a sea container. From first hand experience I can tell you when you crack a container after a 5 week trip it is warm inside. But when you pull the gear out and fire it up more damage is from vibrations and shock than heat.


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