Can freezing temperatures damage solid state equipment?

[spdracer]

I have a Nad amp,pre-amp and tuner, a Denon cd player and a teac cassette deck in my unheated garage that will see freezing temps this winter. In years past I have brought it indoors,but I would prefer to leave it out to avoid the work and to have the ability to use it if we get some warmer days through the winter.Also will it hurt speakers?
Thanks.

 

[repo_code]

Cold shouldn't hurt electronics. Condensation could be a problem though, so you may want to wrap them up in plastic or seal them in the original boxes, if the garage is prone to moisture. Keeps bugs and dust out too.

Don't know about speakers. To take a total BS guess, it could be a problem for surrounds? Cold will make them brittle, and speaker drivers never completely stop moving unless the environment is perfectly quiet. So they could go crumbly if stored cold.

You can immobilize speakers by shorting the input terminals together. Try it! Just be sure to disconnect the amp first, amps do NOT like being shorted.

 

[Montycat]

How cold does it get where you are? If we are talking a few degrees below I would not be concerned at all. If you get to -40 maybe...but even then it's just the foam that I think might be an issue. That and the potential for condensation as repo mentions, but that should only be a problem when the temperature changes fairly quickly such as turning things on cold and running them hard.

 

[satellite65]

I've always left my pioneer sx-850, CD player, and large advents in my unheated garage year-round with no ill effects... they have been there for about 10 years.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Temperature affects everything.

Most transistors(non mil spec) are rated for operation down to about freezing, while they will continue to operate at lower temps, some ratings can change significantly.

Low temperature can even affect connectors.

That said, the two caveats that come to mind from experience are that freezing temps will ruin LCD displays, and they can make some switch contacts become intermittent and unreliable.

With speakers, the cold can change the compliance of the suspensions which alters their parameters, probably audible in some and not others.

 

[BuddhaBob]

Cold shouldn't hurt, generally speaking. Extreme cold could possibly crack an LCD indicator screen, viewfinder or display panel. The main problem is temperature cycling. You may get condensing humidity again and again. If it gets cold and STAYS cold, not a big deal. But up and down temps can cause real corrosion problems. I try to bag stuff up on a very dry day and remove as much air as possible if it is going to an unheated area. Plastic covering in which humid air is trapped can be much worse than unwrapped gear where any condensation can evaporate easily.

 

[spdracer]

I should have clarified that the equipment will not be used during the winter. It is located at our cottage and any listening would be done in the cottage during the winter. So would any harm be done if it just sits in the cold? If we get a winter like we did last year it was brutally cold and it stayed that way for almost all winter. I live in southern Ontario just south of Detroit.

 

[BillyBatts]

Normal Cold temperature does NOT damage electrical components. HUMIDITY and MOISTURE can, as can excessive HEAT.

I had a cottage for years where I left an older Tube TV, and some tube and solid state equipment over the winter. Temps well below zero. No issue, except for mice trying to take up residency inside the TV.

Your greatest enemies are moisture, critters, and dust/dirt. Not cold.

 

[Turnergande]

I have a vintage solid state Dynaco SCA-80Q upgraded & modified receiver, a stock Sherwood S-2300 USA made tuner and a Denon 600F CD player out in my unheated shed. After 3 years there in winter temperatures down to 30 below they all still function well. I don't use them much though in the winter months unless a room heater gets turned on. Not much humidity here in this part of Montana. Summer heat might reach 85 degrees in the shed.

 

[Duke58]

I've had my stereo out in a detached garage that is unheated for about 10 years. No affects to anything yet. I do go out during winter, use one of those heaters that attaches to the same tank I use for my outdoor grill and heat the area and play the stereo.

 

[ConradH]

Capacitors last longer in storage when refrigerated! Just don't power up cold equipment. Condensation can short things out and caps may have very high series resistance.

 

[fred soop]

Keep in mind that when this stuff is originally shipped from wherever to your local store, they don't control the environment beyond keeping it from falling into the ocean.

There seems to be some consensus that LCDs might be damaged at -20 or lower but someone also points out that the LCD displays on outdoor gas pumps seem to be ok, even in International Falls MN.

The bigger issue is that any of this equipment in cold storage should be allowed to warm up to room temperature and any moisture allowed to evaporate completely before powering up.

Apple specifies 32 degrees operating and -4 degrees storage as minimum temperatures for the iPad, but that is back lighted LED, not LCD.

 

[whoaru99]

I've had an Onkyo receiver with digital display in my garage for many years, at least 10 maybe closer to 15, surviving Western MN winters @ double digits well below 0F, and summer temps up to ~100F and well over that in the garage.

Still worked fine as of yesterday. Generally, though, it's not used at the extremes of those temps.

 

[mdross1]

Should not bother it at all. Here in Maine we have temps -20 and colder, stereo has never given me any issues. Never use the CD player in the cold,just because. That stereo has been in use 20+ yrs.

 

[spdracer]

Thanks all for your replies. I'm now wondering if wrapping it in plastic would be a good idea or if it would just trap moisture inside.

 

[ramzilla]

No plastic.
Do not want any moisture trapped inside.
Just throw a sheet or the like over it to keep dust out.