hi
i have to move from my studio (well, not exactly a studio, but the place where i make sounds).
i have one cellar and is the only place inside my (our) house where i would like to put inside all the gears (read down)... the problem is that it got 60% humidity, not very good for the machine (and a pc also). someone told me that they exist some little machines to put humidity out.
anyone of you got experience in making/building a little stuido in a cellar?
thanx

Try reading this..http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air/dehumidifiers/dehumidifiers/overview/dehumidifiers-ov.htm

I'm still not sure I would put all my gear in a environment like that unless these dehumidifiers work wonders.

Humidity is not a harmful environment for electronics. In fact it is preferable because it decreases build up of electrostatic charge. Electronics production facilities typically regulate the humidity from 40-60% for ESD mitigation. What you need to be careful of is condensation. You will need good temperature regulation in your cellar. If there is a rapid transition from hot to cold in a high humidity environment then you will risk condensation build up which can cause electronics to malfunction. You absolutely do NOT want to move electronic devices from a cold environment to a warm humid environment.

what ESD stand for? electro static something?
do you think that 60% is too much for samplers, keyboard , pc and other gears?

ESD = Electrostatic Discharge. Sounds like as long as the temps don't fluctuate dramatically, the humidity shouldn't really be a problem.

Keep the temp at 70F and above and electronics will be fine. But if you sample off records then you don't want to store your collection in high humidity. The organic material of sleeves and covers are susceptible to mold and fungus growth.

tape mold is making me sick, so i got rid of these 2 moldy boxes of tapes.

luckily cellars are usually well insulated and have stable temperatures... thats what they were invented for in the first place,
a place to keep wine & other things at consistant temperatures.

so sounds like you will be ok unless it is a not-very-underground kinda cellar.

You might have trouble if you want to use a heater down there though

Be very careful putting gear in a cellar. A couple years ago I was using one for a practice room for my sax. Good sound insulation right? Instead of putting it away I liked to leave it on the stand. Then it rained for two days straight and everything in the basement (for some reason) got covered with this white mold. Ruined my pads, and I'm sure as hell not putting my mouth on anything moldy. Bottom line, my lazy ass still hasn't gotten around to having the sax cleaned and repadded. Heads up man.

70f=? what the conversion to europe?
@ig9: i know about those stories of rain water, yes it's the shit man.

21.11111111 degrees C

Google has this great feature, if you just type in '70 degrees F' it will return at the top of the results page "70 degrees farenheit = 21.11111111 degrees celsius"


As far as keeping gear at that temperature.. I think it would be optimum, but I dont think there's much of an issue going a bit lower.

my room is regularly down to about 10 degrees C, my gear has always been fine

wow, 21°...i think it's nearly impossible for me to arrive lowing to that...from 60° to 21°...wow, very difficult...
anyway, have you ever heard of silica gel? it's used also in the professional studios to keep humidity far. negative point: it's toxic.

i realize it won't help you as far as managing moisture, etc, but you should flip through that book "behind the beat", cuz it shows you aw sorts of studios of hip hop producers. there are a couple that are shoved into pretty funky places and they make it work. maybe inspire you on the set up?

what's this book? easy to find on the net? or, have you got a pdf of?
@ cartesia: sorry i misunderstanding your 70f, because in the cellar the temperature is about 19°, not bad.

this is the book i'm talking bout:

http://www.crookneck.com/btb.html

the lil images don't do it justice tho...