Leaving keyboards in cold car

[metromike]

Hi all -

I've been in a bad habit lately of leaving my rig in the car for the week (since we have been gigging every weekend). It's been getting pretty cold here in Michigan and I'm not sure if the cold is bad for the keyboards. So far, I have not noticed anything bad.

 

Anyone have any thoughts/stories?

thanks!!!

[mate stubb]

Should be fine, if you let the instrument acclimate to the room before you fire it up.

[OB Dave]

Only caveat I would add is that you should be careful if the keyboard had previously been in a warm and humid place. You don't want condensation to form on the electronics.

[CEB]

It should be fine. My rig used to stay outside in a trailer and before that in the cargo bays of a silver eagle.

 

Condensation sweat is an issue but I never had it lead to component failure.

[tompass]

I did this just recently and did not have time to get keyboard to acclimate to room temperature. Had all kinds of issues that eventually resolved themselves but since then, I occasionally have a few minutes of panic experiencing those same problems while on gig. It could be contributed to condensation or also thinking a bad AC/DC power supply.

[hurricane hugo]

I'd be more concerned with said gear getting jacked.

[Lone Stranger]

I'd be more concerned with said gear getting jacked.

 

+1

[DanL]

I leave my gear in an unheated garage, except for my Moog which is more sensitive to cold.

[VLH]

I've never had a problem with this and I live in MN. for many years my keyboard lived in the garage until a gig. Still not problem. It's now probably more than a decade old.

[J. Dan]

This comes up this time every year.

 

I'd be most concerned if you have one with a built in Hard Drive (not SSD). Some LCD displays can have issues as well, but it has to be REALLY cold.

For an example, CLONK. Note that the storage temperature range is wider than the operating temperature range. However, the biggest issue I've seen at very low temperatures is just that it gets hard to read or reacts slowly until it warms up. I think it has to be far outside the specifications they list on that link to cause permanent damage. I've never had an issue. But as said, it is good advice to let it acclimate to the room before powering up.

[Sven Golly]

This comes up this time every year.

 

Sure does.

 

2007 thread

 

2003 thread

 

That from a 2-second Google search:

 

keyboards cold car site:forums.musicplayer.com

 

[opdigits]

Having been a member of these forums since practically the whole time Sven has been missing, I now feel privileged to have actually experienced a true svengle, as opposed to the many svengle clones that have been done in his absence. I kinda feel complete now.

[eric]

You need to get heated keyboard cases. Everyone is doing it.

[Sven Golly]

Having been a member of these forums since practically the whole time Sven has been missing, I now feel privileged to have actually experienced a true svengle, as opposed to the many svengle clones that have been done in his absence. I kinda feel complete now.

 

It's all in the delivery.

[Michael W]

I, too, have been lazy and left my keys in the car between gigs here in Chicago. I have never worried about it, nor had problems during the winter. But I've never let my stuff sit out in a car in the summer heat - figured that probably wouldn't be good.

[Joe Muscara]

I, too, have been lazy and left my keys in the car between gigs here in Chicago. I have never worried about it, nor had problems during the winter. But I've never let my stuff sit out in a car in the summer heat - figured that probably wouldn't be good.

I thought Chicago was a tough town - I would never do that here in Houston. My car would be gone.

 

[SpaceNorman]

I'm in Michigan as well - cold temps are a reality. My keys have spent plenty of extended stretch in extreme cold - without any noticeable adverse affects. I do try to ensure that I leave a little time for the unit to warm up when I bring it in from the freezing cold before powering it up. I've never had any problems.

 

Like others have opined - I think you're at far great risk of have gear stolen from a vehicle than having it succumb to cold temperatures.

[J. Dan]

I, too, have been lazy and left my keys in the car between gigs here in Chicago. I have never worried about it, nor had problems during the winter. But I've never let my stuff sit out in a car in the summer heat - figured that probably wouldn't be good.

 

I've done it in both summer and winter. St. Louis temperatures are similar to chicago - you guys get just a little bit colder. Never had a problem (outside of theft - though never had a keyboard stolen from the car, just speakers...only had keyboards stolen from my house)

[CEB]

Summer is brutal on guitars. I've seen guitar come out of trucks with wax stuck to the front because they got so hot the paraffin in the pickup potting melted. If you are going to do that to guitars you better bring truss rod wrenches on the road with you.

 

Biggest keyboard gear issues I see is due to cold. Sometimes the Leslie does not want to run at full speed because lube on the spindle cab get stiff. I sometimes put the leslies on fast and just let it run before the show.

[brenner13]

Fantom X6 display sometimes did not like to come on in extreme cold...15 degrees and lower. A couple of restarts always got it going, though.

[bourniplus]

...yeah, this subject comes back every year at this time, but don't we need traditions?!

 

I once lost all my user presets when I turned on my cold Kurzweil PC2 on a gig. (Didn't have time to let it warm up). The battery was good, so I can only guess that there was condensation inside.

[ADino]

When I lived up north, I used to occ leave my keys in a car overnight, but never fired it up until it had a chance to come up to room temp..now I live in Fl, and after having problems w/ heat in the past, I never leave anything in the car. Peoples dashboards melt down here.

[JeffLearman]

I lived in Michigan until age 43. I usually brought my gear inside, but sometimes left it out. Here in NC I leave it out a lot (older and lazier).

 

Best is to bring it inside, leave it in the case, and let it warm up. If you don't have time to let it warm up, then turn it on as soon as possible after pulling it out of the case. Otherwise, if it's warm and humid inside, condensation can collect. Fortunately, in the winter, it's usually fairly dry indoors, so you have a bit of time before condensation starts.

 

That's my theory, anyway.