Leaving amps in a hot car?

[Woody Sound]

Is it harmful to amps to be left in a hot car? The electronic components, caps, etc? Tube vs SS? The solder points? Or how about the speaker cones? I've always wondered, especially about paper cones.

[st.bede]

People have told me that components will dry out. Until the last 20 years, I never lived anywhere super hot or super dry. I have had more scratchy pots on guitar since I moved to the CA central valley, then the proceeding 20+ years of music in happy(ier) climate places.

I worry about my amps in my garage but not enough to move them indoors. Maybe I am making a mistake. So far everything has been fine.

(As a side note, I have had equipment fry because of the heat, while in use. Heat is bad for electronics during use).

[EastwoodMike]

Hi mate
Consider how many ICs and electronic screens and components sit in the dashboard of the modern car. If it is hot enough to melt anything, the car is probably on fire.
A car audio’s speakers are often situated just under the front and rear windows. The hottest parts. Again no issue.
Amp valves- Get hot by design. They are a cross between a lightbulb and a toaster.

Seriously though, I doubt you will have any issue at all. the worst that could be the vinyl on the amp tolex shrinking and splitting. If left for years.
EM

[deacon Mark]

Just don’t leave a kid in the car for any time alone, or you be in serious trouble. No joke!

i personally would not leave amp in cars or such.

[wintermoon]

as a general rule, if you're comfortable in your environment your equipment is too.

[rpjazzguitar]

I read that cars can reach about 170 degrees F.

And, I read that amp components are commonly rated to about that temperature.

I don't know if any of that is true and I doubt that they included the paper speaker cone as a "component".

Turns out that speaker cones may be paper or plastic. Paper isn't usually wood based, but includes wool and felt (which can be made from animal fur". It can gain or lose moisture. So, I'd think a nice full day in a trunk at 170F in a dry climate might change the sound a bit. But I'm guessing. Plastic sounds like it could melt, but car parts usually don't.

[starjasmine]

My primary concern would be theft, which is why I almost never leave gear in the car. That aside, it can't hurt to park in a shaded spot if possible.

[Eck]

I live in the tropics. I don’t think the heat is a real issue when you’re not using the amp. The humidity is a horrible terrible thing though. Everything rusts at lightning speed. In a car there’s also a big chance of condensation on your amp. If you store amps in a garage build a big box and put a powered dehumidifier in there.
In my experience the rust affects pots (like in my 20 year old Les Paul junior no sound at all after years of thinking the p90’s were getting more and more noisy which was rusting pots too). Heat - possibly aided by humidity- kills capacitors.
Still even to think how much damage heat and humidity have done is upsetting.


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[Peter C]

My main concern would be the car getting impounded.

On a more serious note, people leave backup amps in the car boot/trunk all year round and I haven't heard of anything untoward happening, although they're more likely by nature to be SS rather than tube.

[Eck]

My main concern would be the car getting impounded.

On a more serious note, people leave backup amps in the car boot/trunk all year round and I haven't heard of anything untoward happening, although they're more likely by nature to be SS rather than tube.

Except tubes are much more resilient than SS amps.


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[Peter C]

I would imagine that there are a lot of guitarists who are unaware of that last fact..... However, come to think of it, tube amps do have a rep for being somewhat delicate. I no longer play tubes anyway.

[sgosnell]

Theft is an issue. But the primary damage from high heat is likely to the Tolex. That can come unglued, and perhaps the glue holding the cabinet joints together.

[j4zz]

Hi mate
Consider how many ICs and electronic screens and components sit in the dashboard of the modern car. If it is hot enough to melt anything, the car is probably on fire.
A car audio’s speakers are often situated just under the front and rear windows. The hottest parts. Again no issue.
Amp valves- Get hot by design. They are a cross between a lightbulb and a toaster.

Seriously though, I doubt you will have any issue at all. the worst that could be the vinyl on the amp tolex shrinking and splitting. If left for years.
EM

Well, we used to have problems with speaker boxes and grills (the kind you mount on the rear parcel shelf of the car) melting in the Summer sun. I guess it depends where you live.

As for electronics, components come with temperature ratings, both for in-use and storage conditions. Parts can/should be selected for operating conditions, and those in a car dash might be different spec to those in a guitar amp.

[Eck]

I would imagine that there are a lot of guitarists who are unaware of that last fact..... However, come to think of it, tube amps do have a rep for being somewhat delicate. I no longer play tubes anyway.

Actually true. And modern tube amps are full of solid state regulation as well. (I had not realised how agitated I would get writing about what the climate has done to my amps, keyboards and guitars. And my sound meters!!!)


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[marcwhy]

Realistically, though, are we talking about one afternoon in a hot car, or "daily storage" in the car over the summer months?? I think the former would be fine.

[Woody Sound]

Realistically, though, are we talking about one afternoon in a hot car, or "daily storage" in the car over the summer months?? I think the former would be fine.

Thanks, OP here, I was thinking of a few days here and there between gigs in the hot sun. Not long-term.

[citizenk74]

I always kept my amps and guitars in a "climate controlled environment" - that is, my house. Pre-warmed the car in the winter, at home and after the gig. Result of my obsessive concern: 1 (one) blown fuse in over a half-century of gigging. I also transported amps on several inches of foam rubber, and eschewed the use of casters on amps, opting for hand trolleys instead. Thermal shock is a real problem in Pa.'s sub-arctic winters, so, covers as well.

On a side note, I have observed that days of high humidity seem to alter the amp's response. I don't believe that the speakers get soggy, but the increased moisture makes the air literally heavier. It may just be my fevered imagination.

[sgosnell]

Air density differences from temperature and humidity seem to alter the flight of a baseball struck by a bat, so altering the movement of sound waves doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

[JohanAbrandt]

Air density differences from temperature and humidity seem to alter the flight of a baseball struck by a bat, so altering the movement of sound waves doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

It does, but if it can be heard is something else

[citizenk74]

It does, but if it can be heard is something else

My brain melting?

[sgosnell]

The speed of sound in air varies with the air density and relative humidity, and AFAIK different frequencies are affected slightly differently. I don't think it's impossible for subtle variations in sound with temp and humidity changes. Certainly not dramatic, but possible.

[JohanAbrandt]

My brain melting?

You cant hear your brain melting, but people around you might hear a slight sizzling sound, like bacon on a medium hot pan

[Herbie]

There is a long joke about a guy who leaves an accordion to the backseat of his unlocked car and when he comes back to the car, the worst has happened: there is two accordions in his backseat.

Interesting answers here. I believe there is no acute danger.

[Jonathan0996]

[Jonathan0996]

There is a long joke about a guy who leaves an accordion to the backseat of his unlocked car and when he comes back to the car, the worst has happened: there is two accordions in his backseat.

The version I heard involved a banjo.