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[Steve Payne]

Summer festival season is here. We have a gig coming up where will need to operate a lot of equipment for approximately approximately 32 hours in a 48 hour period at sustained temperatures of 100+/- degrees.  Looking for suggestions on preventing thermal shut downs.  All racks and consoles have built in fans that normally provide adequate air flow ventilation.  I think the long hours at very high temps are going to prove a challenge.  Seems that the easiest approach would be to provide cooler air at the fan inputs but I am scratching my head over what might be the best way to do this.  Any of my peeps out there come up with an effective solution for cooling gear in the August heat?  Thanks for any ideas.

[Brian Jojade]

The first thing I try to do is keep the sun off of the gear.  Everything in rock and roll is black, but that absorbs massive amounts of heat.  Getting everything in the shade, or covering with a white cover is step 1. 

Second is to keep the air moving. The gear is generating heat, so moving that heat away from the gear is key.  Simple box fans can do wonders to move a large amount of air away from your racks.

I'd advise against artificially cooling the air, as that will increase the humidity, and could potentially result in condensation.  Most gear is rated to function up to at least 105 degrees, so if you stay below that you should be fine.

[scottstephens]

Steve,

         We use consoles from the Yammy CL5 to the A&H QU 16 and sometimes even a tiny little Yammy 6 input MG and all we ever do is make sure that they are in the shade under the tent and turn on a small desk fan sitting on a road case pointing at the console. If it is really warm, we will lift the top end out of the dog house to make sure that air is circulated all around.
        One other thing, if it is going to be dusty, back everything up to a thumb drive or something. It will save your butt, eventually.
Good Mixing.
scott

[Milt Hathaway]

As mentioned, shade and moving air are the best bets. The good part is that the hardware doesn't care about the Heat Index, only the actual air temperature. The only thing I've considered trying would be one of those apartment floor-standing air conditioners, but I've been too lazy so far.

I don't know what gear you are running, but my Yamaha and Shure gear have held up just fine for me on my nightmare July 4th gigs in bottom of a big stone amphitheater in West Texas. The last two years have been the worst: Peaks of 118 degrees ambient last year, and about 110 degrees ambient this year. CL1, multiple Rios, ULXDQ, etc. never missed a beat. The heat's been much worse on me than the gear.

I've attached a photo from this past July just for 'fun'. I'm set up under a good canopy, and I've got 'space blankets' or equivalent shielding items from sun that comes in as the day progresses. Somehow we've survived.

[Dave Garoutte]

I'd advise against artificially cooling the air, as that will increase the humidity, and could potentially result in condensation.  Most gear is rated to function up to at least 105 degrees, so if you stay below that you should be fine.
[/quote]

AC removes humidity, it drains the extracted water.
There are portable AC units with hoses.
An IT friend of mine cools his server rack with one and has never had a problem.
Aim one so the wash ends up on you and you'll be a happy camper.

[Tim McCulloch]

The first thing I try to do is keep the sun off of the gear.  Everything in rock and roll is black, but that absorbs massive amounts of heat.  Getting everything in the shade, or covering with a white cover is step 1. 

Second is to keep the air moving. The gear is generating heat, so moving that heat away from the gear is key.  Simple box fans can do wonders to move a large amount of air away from your racks.

I'd advise against artificially cooling the air, as that will increase the humidity, and could potentially result in condensation.  Most gear is rated to function up to at least 105 degrees, so if you stay below that you should be fine.

There's an anecdote about MD Systems doing a Garth Brooks show in Arizona, Crest 8001 power amps.  The 120° in the shade temps were too much and MD sent out for ice, muck buckets and fans.  They set out a row of those big buckets behind the amp racks and used the fans to blow across the ice.  The show went on and I never heard John McBride (MD Systems owner) mention any condensation problems.  Hey, it's a 'not quite as dry heat'!

In the irony department, one of the folks dragging 60 lbs bags of ice across the stage was John's wife.  Brooks saw her working and told John words to the effect of "you're gonna succeed because you family is 100% behind you".  The irony?  A few years later John sold MD to Clair Bros and you might have heard of his ice-toting wife, Martina McBride. 

[Dave Pluke]

AC removes humidity, it drains the extracted water.
There are portable AC units with hoses.

Correct.  Those things put out a lot of condensate (unless you're in the desert).  The default drain bucket will fill up very quickly and the automatic shut-off will kick in.  Make sure any portable unit for this usage has the option to attach a garden hose to drain the condensate continuously.  Other than that, some custom duct work could be deployed to direct the conditioned air to the amp rack inlets.

FWIW, most I've seen are 110V units, so they can go just about anywhere.

Dave
 

[Scott Holtzman]

Correct.  Those things put out a lot of condensate (unless you're in the desert).  The default drain bucket will fill up very quickly and the automatic shut-off will kick in.  Make sure any portable unit for this usage has the option to attach a garden hose to drain the condensate continuously.  Other than that, some custom duct work could be deployed to direct the conditioned air to the amp rack inlets.

FWIW, most I've seen are 110V units, so they can go just about anywhere.

Dave

I have had very good luck with the Americool stuff http://www.americoolllc.com/products/wpc-3000

[Stephen Kirby]

Correct.  Those things put out a lot of condensate (unless you're in the desert).  The default drain bucket will fill up very quickly and the automatic shut-off will kick in.  Make sure any portable unit for this usage has the option to attach a garden hose to drain the condensate continuously.  Other than that, some custom duct work could be deployed to direct the conditioned air to the amp rack inlets.

FWIW, most I've seen are 110V units, so they can go just about anywhere.

Dave

The condensate is within the system, and yes it has to be drained.  The air output is dry.  That's how most industrial dehumidifiers work.  Run the air over a chiller coil and condense the moisture into a drain.

Yesterday the iPhone 5 I was using for background music overheated in the sun and stopped.  The screen said it was too hot and to cool it down before turning back on.  The Si Expression never missed a beat though.

[Brian Bolly]

Summer festival season is here. We have a gig coming up where will need to operate a lot of equipment for approximately approximately 32 hours in a 48 hour period at sustained temperatures of 100+/- degrees.  Looking for suggestions on preventing thermal shut downs.  All racks and consoles have built in fans that normally provide adequate air flow ventilation.  I think the long hours at very high temps are going to prove a challenge.  Seems that the easiest approach would be to provide cooler air at the fan inputs but I am scratching my head over what might be the best way to do this.  Any of my peeps out there come up with an effective solution for cooling gear in the August heat?  Thanks for any ideas.

Apparently the Ultrasound guys do this trick (never seen it, only heard about it), but a big block of dry ice in a  road case that is appropriately lined with a fan blowing across it - cools off racks, consoles, and the FOH guy.  No water, no cleanup, and an empty roadcase at the end of the night if you did the math right.

[ProSoundWeb Community]