As we all know, it is very humid at the moment (for the UK), especially so here in the south.
Last night, whilst finishing off work, I reduced volume on an Audiolab amplifier in rotation. It made an audible beep with every volume reduction ( which is definitively not a feature) and when changing inputs there was continuing beeping.
I took precaution and switched it off at the mains. This morning it worked as normal.
Of course, something could be on the way out but I wondered if it is possible the high humidity could have caused this by creating some short on the board by way of condensation?
Have to day I have rarely experienced such humidity down here but am aware this is entirely normal elsewhere.
I know many brands put these little silicone moisture absorbing sachets in boxes. I guess this serves a similar purpose for stored equipment.
I had recent trouble with the fire angel smoke alarm. It issued its distress warning and switched off. I’m outa here.
Reading the instructions I decided to dry it off with a few bags of desiccant and gently vacuum a couple of years household dust through the grills.
It’s fine.
Perhaps the humidity and dust combined to make a glop that covered sensors and other connections.
My living room (UK) has a humidity of 61% so not that different to winter. I did however powered it all off a couple of days ago, and will power up again when it cools as it generates 70Watts of heat which I could do without. In its place is a dinky JBL bluetooth player.
Both the 300B and the Rega back up are simply off and unplugged at present. Nothing to do with humidity. Just a simple “it’s too hot to enjoy” thing. Ditto the plasma TV. Far more pleasant to read a book and play acoustic guitar in the shade outdoors.
I live in Perth, Western Australia and have found that the sound quality of my Main and Second Systems sound so much better in the cooler seasons of autumn, winter and spring rather than the very high heat in the summer.
Humidity, does not seem to be a problem as winter feels quite damp with all the rain, but the HiFi still sounds excellent and better than the hot and sometimes very humid days in summer.
I should probably have added “amongst the weeds” as I’ve insufficient strength to address the state of the garden since my latest spell of Bursitis. It can wait.
Unlikely in the extreme. Temperatures are unusually high, and for condensation to occur on the boards they would need to be cold. It’s the sort of thing that could possibly happen in very cold weather if say an amp has been stored in the loft and is brought down into a centrally heated room. In winter if ever I’ve had new equipment delivered, I always allow a few hours for it to warm up to room temperature before even thinking of plugging it in for just this reason.
100% this. Condensation would only be a potential issue if the amp was at a lower temperature than the air, the opposite of normal (unless the amp has just been brought in from a much colder place, or has been sitting with the output of a nearby airconditioning unit pointed directly at it.)
Thermal overload might be an issue, e.g. if your room is excessively hot and the amp in a position with poor ventilation - why not seek information about whether the amp has a thermal overload audible warning device?
The UK is in general very humid but not that hot in normal times so it’s usually called “damp” but it is often high.
That said it’s largely academic. Much of the hi-fi buying world lives in places that as hot as the UK is now for months and months on end with 90-100% humidity. Far in excess of the rated tolerance for nearly every electronic item we can buy but it doesn’t cause a problem.
