Topic: Dehumidifiers

[audBall]

Since this is regarding caps, I'm assuming this is the correct place...


Would owning one of these in a relatively humid region put your mics at more of a risk to being 'shocked' (and condensing) when they leave the room?

How dry to they actually make the rooms?

I want to sustain the health of my old mics for as long as possible.

[Church-Audio]

Since this is regarding caps, I'm assuming this is the correct place...


Would owning one of these in a relatively humid region put your mics at more of a risk to being 'shocked' (and condensing) when they leave the room?

How dry to they actually make the rooms?

I want to sustain the health of my old mics for as long as possible.

I don't have the exact level of humidity but lets just say more is bad. Condenser mics do not like humidity much. But things have come a long way we now have condenser mics that can be used in sub zero temperatures. I would say never store your mics in a humidity of more then 70% and you should be fine. I would also put in one of the crystal packs. for your mics as well check this ebay add out this looks like a nice thing to put into your mic box. ( besides antistatic foam )     PELICAN 1500D DESICCANT DEHUMIDIFIER FOR CASE & CAMERA Item number: Ebay Item # 180034160414

[it-goes-to-eleven]

You might be better off storing them in a cabinet which has desiccant material rather than trying to keep the whole room dry. Sort of the opposite of a cigar humidor.  You'd just refresh or change the desiccant once in a while.

Running a whole room humidifier is a bit expensive due to the power costs.. It is basically an air conditioner. And you'd need to empty the humidifier or have it setup to run into a drain. And you'd hear it running....

In terms of shocking.. a dedicated cabinet would be better.  If you walk across a dry room with carpet, you'll build a charge.  But if the room is normal and the cabinet is dry, you won't tend to generate a charge just by moving through the room.

Charcoal will suck moisture out of the air and may be a better choice for larger cabinets.  But I'd only use a very pure charcoal with mics because you wouldn't want any byproducts to gas off into the enclosed space.  Don't use kingsford or anything like that.  I'd be very careful about the desiccant choice.  Different materials can absorb moisture at different rates.  Charcoal can absorb a lot of moisture quickly.  I believe silica absorbs moisture much more slowly.  So for a bookcase size cabinet, silica might take a long time to bring the humidity down (not certain).

Either way, keeping the mics in a dry area would not result in increased static damage risk when they 'leave the room', as you asked.

Either way, an electronic temp/humidity station will keep you updated on the conditions in the cabinet or room.  My house is 27% right now which is pretty damn dry.

[audBall]

an electronic temp/humidity station

Any rec's for one of these?

Would a cheap silica pack in a rig bag be a bad thing? Even if the mics are stored in a pelican?

Thanks for the replies.  +T's!

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Silica pack in a bag rig can only help but I don't know how much.  I'm sure some bags breathe better than others.

If you go from venue to car and it is raining hard, how much does the moisture on the outside of the bag penetrate the contents?   Even if the bag doesn't feel wet, I'm thinking the nylon could be damp enough to create a very humid environ once you get home and things warm up..


Haven't done biz with either of these places:

http://www.vavolo.com/productdetails.asp?mode=1&ProductID=3491
http://www.hardwareworld.com/Temp--Humidity-Meter-pYB7JVQ.aspx

[F.O.Bean]

audball, we need to hit a show together in da burgh so we can try each other's mics out id love to give those 1k's a spin