When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

In either case, stable temperature and low humidity are the key.
Component degradation/aging will still occur, as you would expect, but
you've minimized it via an optimized environment. The solid-state
equipment will fare the best, of course. If you could seal-pack each
unit, it would be an order of magnitude better.

wrote:
When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

Why would solid state equipment fare better than tube equipment? This be a
true statement, but has nothing to do with tubes v. transistors.

Aluminum cabinets probably fare better than steel cabinets. Older tube
equipment sometimes has rubber for dials or tuning mechanism which wear out
after 60 years. And, things that are 60 years old sometimes become brittle.
But surprisingly, often replacement parts can be found for the older tube
equipment with less energy than the more modern gear.

Humidity is more of a concern than temperature. And, rodents can do an
excellent job of destroying stored equipment.

Best to store your furniture and move the old equipment into the living
room.

Colin K7FM

Last I packed up and headed down south for the winter.

I drained the pipes, filled the traps with antifreeze and turned the gas
off.

I have a house full of BA gear in Northern Ohio

Nothing was worse for wear. Wooden radios, Collins A line, war surplus etc.
all fared well.



wrote in message
oups.com...
When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

On 21 Dec 2005 16:15:08 -0800, wrote:

When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

Awhile back I stored a bunch of solid state gear in Houston. High
humidity. Hot summer. Cold winter. Put two sealed plastic garbage bags
around each item. Everything came through fine, stored in unheated,
uncooled storage unit.

The individual parts in vacuum tube gear may be more subject to aging,
compared to the internalized components of solid state gear (thousands
of transistors embedded in a single chip).

bob
k5qwg

Personally I have had more problems with solid state gear coming out of cold
versus uncontrolled storage than I have had with tube gear. I stored a huge
lot of vintage and newer gear for 5 years in an uncontrolled environment and
some other gear in cold storage (sealed but not seal-packed in visquine with
silica gel packets inside). In both cases the only problems I had were with
the solid state stuff ..those infernal, goll-durned phenolic circuit boards.
I'll put my money on the old tube stuff. I liquidated the solid state stuff
and kept the tube stuff and its all been working flawlessly for 3 years at
this QTH.

Vern Weiss W9STB
Minocqua, Wisconsin
All CW - All boatanchors, just as the Bible says it should be.

wrote in message
oups.com...
When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

wrote:

When using a cold storage site, will Solid State sets (circa 1980) hold
up better than Vacuum Tube sets (circa 1930-1950) ?
Anyone had experience with this sort of thing?
rgds,
Mark S.

If the tube stuff is working then my experience is that the 80s electrolytics
in the SS stuff will die long before those older ones in the tube stuff.

best

Andy