SAC in the truck

[erlohr]

I was wondering...has anyone ever had a problem with their SAC system because it sits in a hot or cold truck between gigs? Do I need to be concerned with taking the rack with the computer in it and the LCD monitor out of the truck and store it at a more stable temperature? I'd hate to show up at a gig with a fried system.

[erlohr]

The only problem we've encountered to far is that the cold looks to drain the CMOS battery at a faster than normal rate.

I guess that would apply to the UPS battery as well.

[Russell Landwehr]

I don't worry about my stuff getting too hot in the vehicle, however, the extreme cold does freak me out.

The way I figure it, the internal temp of the gear is gonna get hotter (when operating) than the inside of my vehicle so no problem. However, I can see a couple of problems with extreme cold. The contracting and expanding of components and PC boards could cause deterioration of connections. Also, there is an issue of condensation forming when a really cold piece of gear is used in a hot and humid room. Condensation+Electronics=Problem. Also, when I think of a hard drive's spinning mechanism I wonder if any of that could be adversely affected by cold (i.e. coagulated lubricant.)

So I don't leave my critical gear anywhere really cold.

Oh, and one other thing... once I had gear stolen over-night from my (unlocked) vehicle...

So now I unload my critical stuff even if I am staying overnight in a hotel.

rl

[RobertV]

My day job is Engineering Computer support for a large Car Manufacturer. We've had issues with Laptops Batteries failing due to overheating when they are used in vehicles to record temperatures during heat soak tests in desert conditions (vehicle running at high speed, then placed in a confined space exposed to direct sunlight) where the inside vehicle temperature can exceed 70 degrees Celsius.
I am not sure if this would also happen if the laptop is not actually on and working.

Replacing the batteries fixed the issue. So yes they can fail, but I suppose that is pushing the boundaries.

Robert V.

[Brent Evans]

I haven't had any problems, and my gear has been stored in non-climate controlled buildings for as long as I've had it. Being inside racks helps a lot, I think. There's very little circulation of air, and the heating/cooling cycles aren't very rapid. Most of the time when I open my rack after it being in the heat or cold, there is a discernible difference in temperature between the inside and outside of the case (to the touch, I've never measured it).

I would say unless you're storing in environments with very rapid drastic shifts and high humidity, you're probably OK.

[hkmorgan87]

Shouldnt be to big of a concern to let it sit in hot or cold areas for days on end. my only recommendation would be in cold situations. let the gear warm up to room temp before turning it on. other wise you might have condensation build up inside your computer or preamps.

[gdougherty]

Shouldnt be to big of a concern to let it sit in hot or cold areas for days on end. my only recommendation would be in cold situations. let the gear warm up to room temp before turning it on. other wise you might have condensation build up inside your computer or preamps.

+1, I pull my electronics from the truck in the winter so they don't get as cold to warm up later. I don't worry as much in the summer other than I pull it for potential theft reasons. I do pull my mic's out of the truck for sure though. Capsules are less forgiving of the temp swings.

[gdougherty]

Almost forgot. I did have an issue with my ssd and booting when coming out of the truck and not having pulled it from the truck overnight. Finally had it come back to normal after it warmed up but it scared the crap out of me considering I didn't have an image or spare on hand.

[jlklein]

Shouldnt be to big of a concern to let it sit in hot or cold areas for days on end. my only recommendation would be in cold situations. let the gear warm up to room temp before turning it on. other wise you might have condensation build up inside your computer or preamps.

Agreed. I have had issues with this in the winter where my ice-cold PC refused to start up until it warmed up. Got all kinds of errors in POST and funky screen designs. It took 3 or 4 tries to get it started up and running right, but luckily no lasting damage. That's probably one of the reasons 7th Voice decided to go with a Presonus StudioLive for our rig after demoing SAC in a joint church/7th Voice rig. Still using SAC for the church portable and permanent systems, but we store our portable system inside. A foam insulated rack would probably help, though, ours was just a simple plastic SKB rack with no insulation.

You also don't want to store mics in extreme temps...

Jeff