Storing Audio/Video Equipment at Home

[Record Player]

Please can you share your best practices in storing your Audio/Video Equipment at home in your attic or lofts? I have a set of Vintage Amplifiers and Speakers that I am currently not using however I would like to store them safely and use them again in time to come without any major technical issues.

A few points I am aware of are:

Before storing, clean the equipment thoroughly of dust and dirt if any as this can cause deterioration
Ensure equipment is not stored on one top of the other
Detachable wires to be stored separately
Plastic should not be used as they prevent air circulation and moisture gets trapped and can cause mold and mildew
Batteries / CDs / Tapes to be removed if any when storing


Looking forward to advice and best practices used by our fellow members in this area.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

A few months ago, I came across the site of a London (well, Harrow, actually, I think) hifi repair guy. How I wish I'd known about his business during the decades in which I lived in London. Anyway, his site absolutely seethes with good advice, some of it focussed on how to avoid the need for a hifi repairman!

London Sound

In the loft

Please, please, please DO NOT put unused or unwanted hi-fi equipment in the loft, garage, shed, or any other place that suffers extremes of temperature or dampness.

The damage caused by storage for years in a loft is often very expensive to put right, and it is so unnecessary. If equipment is to be stored out of use for a long time, put it somewhere in the house - under the bed, on top of a wardrobe, behind the settee - anywhere that has a similar environment to its normal "home" in your hi-fi system.

Important to not that he is writing in the context of the British climate, and that, to him, loft would mean the roof space between the top floor ceiling and the sloping roof itself, and not the high shelf built around the walls of rooms as her [at least in this part] of India. However, the message would seem to be, store equipment in the same environment in which you would use it.

 

[Record Player]

An excellent read Thad E Ginathom. Thanks for this.

 

[Shivam]

Some more pointers -

Wrap the equipment in cloth / plastic sheets with large 'holes'.
Never use thermocol / styrofoam in direct contact with equipment.
Use shrinkwrap (like the one used in kitchen) to cover any displays after cleaning them with a microfibre cloth
Don't let fingerprints remain on any painted surface of the equipment meant for long term storage. Sometimes the oil from fingerprints can spoil the paint.

 

[apk]

Or better still, loan them out to someone you can trust to take care of the equipment. That way, they get used - which is better for it in the long run, and some needy soul gets to hear good music.

 

[Record Player]

Or better still, loan them out to someone you can trust to take care of the equipment. That way, they get used - which is better for it in the long run, and some needy soul gets to hear good music.

That's actually a good suggestion Apk. In-fact maybe I can setup something in my fathers room as well as he loves music. Space maybe a constraint as the Vintage loud speakers are really big . Ill give it a thought.

Cheers...

 

[hydrovac]

That is a very good suggestion

 

[Santy]

?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Moths eat PCBs these days?

Mind you, the longer I live here, the less I'd be surprised to hear that they do

 

[Santy]

Moths eat PCBs these days?

Mind you, the longer I live here, the less I'd be surprised to hear that they do

I guess they can also keep mice away which do like wires and speaker cones too may be
No harm if the equipments have two balls each.