Heatwave (40ºC) - concerned about my records

[Damian]

Hi guys, 

I don't know if this made the news anywhere else but Spain is going through an insane heatwave at the moment with temps reaching 45ºC in some locations (fortunately not where I am, where we have a very sane.. 40ºC!) 

To make matters worse I've recently moved into a small flat that gets quite hot (A/C is off when I'm not here - not sure about leaving it on. I fear that it could leak or catch fire or something.) I'm starting to really worry about the records - I could swear that the outer plastic sleeves already feel floppier and slightly 'tacky' to the touch, I don't remember them like this. Some surfaces in the house just feel 'warm' in a completely wrong way, including parts of the floor. 

I could really use some tips on what to do - just leave the A/C on all day and pray nothing happens? Has anyone else here gone through this, am I right in worrying, can 45's actually take damage from heat like this? Tips? Maybe put all the 'desert island' ones in a small box and ask someone else to keep them for me? 

I pulled out a few of the valuable ones and put them on the platter and a couple of them had a light warp, but that might've been there from the beginning (and they all play). I just want to make sure I won't end up losing a big chunk of money over this heatwave bullsh*t.. 

Cheers.  

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by damian

[Guest Spain pete]

Your platters should be fine, l have lived in Spain now for 10  years now ,  and even though it gets very hot  in all honesty  some of the nighters that l have been to over the years have been just   as hot      and l don't think it has affected my records. Well l hope not ! 🎶🎶🎶😨

[Stompingsevens]

I never put any sort of plastic covers on any of my records, even on the outside of the paper or card covers as they can 'leak' and cause wax dis-colouration or 'film' on the surface of the wax, it usually doesn't sound but nothing can remove it once it's there. I certainly don't use those cardboard sleeves with plastic inners. If the records are in paper or card sleeves and obviously not in any sort of direct sunlight they should be fine. Sometimes moving records from one extreme of hot to cold or vice versa can cause warping so I would beware of sharp extremes of change in temperature - I am thinking about the A/C unit when I mention this.

 

[Damian]

Hi S7's, thanks for your reply.

I don't really like A/C so when I absolutely have to use it, I usually set it to 27-29º. That may seem like it wouldn't even be noticeable but it actually is, it cools down the place but it doesn't feel like you're inside a cold chamber.

Most of the records are in new clean paper or card sleeves, many of them with plastic outer sleeves so the labels don't rub. For the more expensive ones I use poly-lined paper sleeves which actually feel pretty high quality, they don't look like something that'd stick to/damage the records (at least it hasn't happened thus far, not even these days with the relentless heat.) 

And yes, of course they're nowhere near sunlight.  

Cheers! 

 

[Chris L]

Use carton record sleeves, put them carton boxes somewhere in a cupboard.

 

[Mick Boyle]

Send them to me and I will look after them. 

Regards    Mick 

[Mike]

just moved this to 'box' as best fit for 'vinyl' related topics

[Damian]

Cheers Mike wasn't sure where to post it. 

[Cutdown69]

My lack of common sense amazes me

I set up.my decks in the garden yesterday and they were sat in direct sunlight for a good hour before mr f*ckwit decides to test the system and sticks a 45 on...why is it jumping I ask myself as I watch the record curl up like  a dead spider!

I touched the metal platter afterwards and you could fry an egg with it

I put the 45 back in it's sleeve and took it somewhere cool...miraculously it has gone back to.It's correct shape

Proper numpty

Edited July 18, 2017 by cutdown69

[dean jj]

Slightly off subject but related...It amuses me when LP collectors obsess about having complete shrink wrap which, over the decades, cannot be good for the record inside the sleeve.

dean

PS. overseas chaps don't realize that shrink isn't really a UK release thing either. Now I'm getting very irrelevant.

[Billy Jo Jim Bob]

On ‎14‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 23:29, damian said:

Hi guys, 

I don't know if this made the news anywhere else but Spain is going through an insane heatwave at the moment with temps reaching 45ºC in some locations (fortunately not where I am, where we have a very sane.. 40ºC!) 

To make matters worse I've recently moved into a small flat that gets quite hot (A/C is off when I'm not here - not sure about leaving it on. I fear that it could leak or catch fire or something.) I'm starting to really worry about the records - I could swear that the outer plastic sleeves already feel floppier and slightly 'tacky' to the touch, I don't remember them like this. Some surfaces in the house just feel 'warm' in a completely wrong way, including parts of the floor. 

I could really use some tips on what to do - just leave the A/C on all day and pray nothing happens? Has anyone else here gone through this, am I right in worrying, can 45's actually take damage from heat like this? Tips? Maybe put all the 'desert island' ones in a small box and ask someone else to keep them for me? 

I pulled out a few of the valuable ones and put them on the platter and a couple of them had a light warp, but that might've been there from the beginning (and they all play). I just want to make sure I won't end up losing a big chunk of money over this heatwave bullsh*t.. 

Cheers.  

 

I lived in Dubai for a few years and it didn't do my black treasures any harm when outside temps in summer have gone way above 50 C . Just keep them indoors out of direct sunlight. Anyway I think the melting point would be around 100 - 120 Deg C for vinyl. BTW I kept the A/C on all day with no issues either.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Andy Mac

[Benji]

From my own experience, Andy Mac sums it up correctly: "Just keep them indoors out of direct sunlight".

[Damian]

Thank you to everyone who's contributed. Don't really have much to add myself but I've been reading all the comments. I've started to figure out what the hotter spots in the flat are, and moved the records away from there (sadly at least one of them is what looked like perfect storage space for records  .) 

Also bought a thermometer to see just how hot it gets and I have 30-32ºC inside with no A/C (so most of the day) and 25-26º when I do turn it on. I thought it was worse, to be honest, but I still wish this goddamn heat would just go away! 

Cheers, 

 D 

[Steve L]

4 hours ago, damian said:

 I still wish this goddamn heat would just go away! 

Cheers, 

 D 

Just come back to the UK and it will..............