keeping gear in a van in a garage

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nextgen1

nextgen1

Mac Daddy DJ
Sep 23, 2006
3,178
784
65
Waterford, CA.
www.tngdj.com
Ok guys I need a little advice. I'm thinking of buying a cargo van. What I would really like to do is store our gear in it. And keep the vehicle garaged. The question would be how bad would this be for the Bose and my mixer etc etc. Sometimes it can be about 102 degrees in the summer. But I'm really getting tired of loading and unloading all the time. Let me know your opinions please.
 
We stored all are band equipment in a van for 20 years,nothing happened,hot or cold.I
have stored my dj stuff in the van for 12 years nothing happened ,hot or cold.In the cold weather you just got to let it get to room temperature before you fire it up.Some people will have some scientific data saying you shouldn't but don't sweat it!
 
I also keep mine in the Van in the Gararge

no harm has come to my gear
and we get a lot of different temps here from very hot to cold and wet!
 
in the days of vinyl I would be concerned about my library but never lost any of mine over the yrs. You play in hot weather with it powered up and cold weather powered up. Have you had issue in either condition? Besides just because it is hot outside and possibly inside. You have it inside another container ala the van it likely isnt gaining the same heat or cold.
 
I \don't know how it is there, but here we have a lot of humidity. I left my gear on carts in the garage and two weeks later had mold/mildew on the speaker covers and even on my sub (under the cover).

I put a dehumidifier in the garage; that seemed to resolve the issue...
 
If you think its getting too hot in the van while its in the garage, just open the van's windows.
 
I have also stored my gear in a van or trailer for over 30 years now and never a problem.
Also long as the van or trailer is fairly air tight.
 
102 is NOTHING! I play in FL, and sometimes it is 102 in the shade, LOL!! No extremes are great for gear, but storage in a van in a garage will be NO PROBLEM, other than the aforementioned humidity...but if you are gigging semi regularly and using the van and have airflow once in awhile, that is a non issue as well. Buy the van, store the gear in it and give no other thoughts to heat. As for cold, no brainer that if the gear is cold, to simply give yourself enough set up time to allow the gear to be at room temp with no sweat on it before firing up the electrical...
 
I've had mine in my Van from day one of getting it.... year round.... never had any problems with temperatures cold or hot.... since it's an open cab once ya get going the heater will warm up the gear in the back or the ac will cool it off... If you're truely worried you could hang a single 75 watt lightbulb in there durring the winter and a portable dehumidifier in the summer.... but.. to me you'd be wasting money and effort.
 
Dave,
I keep mine in the trailer, in the garage all the time.

Another thought is that when all this equipment is shipped to us from the maunfacturer, most rides over in a boat, then sits in an unairconditioned warehouse, then rides in the back of a semi before it ever makes it to our dealer.

None of this is climate controlled. That being said, I would think that sitting in a dry warm/hot garage would be just fine.
 
I have had many friends who were short in space and stored their gear in truck with no issue. The only advantage that one has to bringing it down and using it at home is that you will not find out that something is malfunctioning until you connect it at your event. It happened to this same guy, luckily he always went to the gig early and had enough time to provide a backup amp.
 
I've lived in Raleigh NC for 15 years. I've always kept my gear garaged, and boxed.

I have 2 CDmixes going on 9 years, three mixer systems for karaoke, two lightshows, and 4 mackies. Currently, I have an insulated amish buikt barn, and everything stays in there.

No gear malfunctions ever. it snows here and we just finished 97 days of 90 degree heat.

I think if everything is boxed or cased, you should be fine. You can buy a portable dehumidifer and run that to reduce humidty which really causes the most issues.

Nextgen, is your garage insulated and drywalled? If so, you should be just fine presuming everything is racked cased and covered.

If not, this presents the biggest argument to get a dehumidifier.
 
nextgen1 said:
Ok guys I need a little advice. I'm thinking of buying a cargo van. What I would really like to do is store our gear in it. And keep the vehicle garaged. The question would be how bad would this be for the Bose and my mixer etc etc. Sometimes it can be about 102 degrees in the summer. But I'm really getting tired of loading and unloading all the time. Let me know your opinions please.
Click to expand...

My Bose are stacked up in a garage with no van... no issues. Same with all my gear. Only issue was once, a mouse got in my mixer case.
 
Humidity is your enemy more than temp. It would be fine in the van, especially if you park in a covered garage.

Now just make sure your garage is secure from theft.
 
Audio One said:
Now just make sure your garage is secure from theft.
Click to expand...


Kinda already past that point, this is posted in a public forum -- Google the title (or a variant of it), and it shows up on top of the search... ;)
 
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