Perhaps the wrong place to post this, but I feel the people here are most familiar to me. And certainly knowledgeable in a wide variety of topics

I currently store my audio equipment (mics, recorders, etc. and also camera stuff) in a cupboard in a room that I use mostly for storage. I am contemplating moving my washing machine and dryer into that room (they are currently taking up a lot of space in my small bathroom). I am not concerned with the washing machine. If it were to flood then the audio equipment is on a shelf 50cm above the floor (and on two shelves above that).

However, the dryer is a condenser dryer and blows warm (and presumably dry) air into the room. It has occurred to me that this would be somewhat similar to the air duct from an HVAC system blowing warm air into a room in the winter (not the way my apartment works by the way; I get heat from hot water radiators). And for that reason probably no risk to my equipment. But is that a valid assumption? A dryer that vents to the outside would be highly impractical in my situation.

Regards, Christine

P.S.: For the curious as to my prolonged absence from this forum: I am currently in an extended recording opportunity drought, with glimmers of improvement in a few months. Maybe, I hope.

I guess get a recording humidity checker and thermometer and check to see what is happening in the room today and check it again after you move the washer and dryer into the room. All my audio and video recording equipment is stored in an unused bedroom. It is safe, dry and the humidity and temperatures are kept the same summer and winter. Best of luck!

I live 50 meters (150') from a salt water bay. In the summertime it gets quite humid, especially if its a foggy day. My studio room has a Humidex dehumidifier system but in the summer it can get as high as 70-80% relative humidity. I have never heard any crackles from condenser mics and I have quite a few magnetic tapes - some over 40 years old - stored here as well. Other than a few with sticky shed syndrome (well known phenomena) they all play well. The climate in my studio room is far from ideal, but it has not caused me any grief in the past ten years, so I imagine that your condensing dryer would be unlikely to do serious harm to your equipment. As Tom suggests, put a simple thermometer/hygrometer in the space and keep an eye on it. If you have those silica gel packs in your mic cases, they can be regenerated from time to time by baking them in the oven at very low heat for a couple of hours. Put condenser mics away in plastic bags as soon as they are powered down. Everything helps.

What Jim and Tom say seems right...if your equipment is in boxes or bags and sealed from the environment anyway (for dust exclusion), the short-term temperature rise from a bout of washing and drying shouldn't cause any grief.

Long term variations in humidity and temperature (and extremes of these) are more likely to lead to mould growth, or perishing of rubber parts.

At the dry extreme all should be fine......but still, do check the washing machine hoses for any splits or leaks, and also the clamps which attach them to the machine and the inlet/outlet pipes or taps...that's the most likely source of water inundation ! Do you have a floor drainage sump, in case the worst should happen ?

I noticed you said "camera stuff." Protecting your lenses from fungus is really important, especially if you have expensive lenses (cinema lenses range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars each, for example). Store your lenses in heavy plastic bags with silica gel packets. Years ago I tried to sell some old film camera lenses that I had from the 1980s, but they all had fungus and nobody would buy them (it's possible to remove fungus but expensive as the lens has to be taken apart, and if the fungus eats away at the coating it can destroy the glass).

A related word of warning: if you store stuff in Pelican cases, note that they are airtight and waterproof, so you should keep silica gel packets in those too if you store your gear in Pelicans. Otherwise humid air trapped inside the case can condense if the temperature changes, and that's not great news for electronics.

I store my "better" recording mics and mic amps, interface, etc., in the house, and my PA mics (along with the other gear) in an air-conditioned storage building. Mics are wrapped loosely in plastic snack or sandwich bags (not sealed) and hen placed into OEM boxes or Shure SM58 vinyl mic bags. Those are sorted by type and carried in aluminum "attache"-style briefcases. Been working well for the past couple of decades.

HB

I'm not familiar at all with condenser dryers. However, in the process of removing the water from wet clothes, the resulting water has to go somewhere. If it isn't being vented to the outside, then wouldn't it have to go in the room?

Also, I don't know what detergents or bleach you may be using in your washing machine. Some of that stuff is more potent than you may realize.

So...I'd be a bit reluctant to store expensive electronics in the same room with a clothes washer and dryer.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

A condenser dryer has an interior reservoir where the water goes. After each drying cycle you pull out the reservoir and dump it in the sink. So no water goes into the room.

@ Studer : No, this room doesn't have a drainage sump, and it isn't possible to build one without remodeling the downstairs neighbor's bedroom. The washing machine sits in a plastic tub (about 10 ~ 15cm high?), so if something breaks in the washing machine the tub should flood first. If not, the electronics is above the expected flood line. The supply hose has an automatic shut off on it. Of course, in the bathroom where it sits now the Achilles heel is the connection of the drain hose to the drain pipe as a result of a former owner's DIY attempt (the drain pipe is narrower than code). That is one thing I will definitely make sure gets done right if I do decide to move it to the unused bedroom. Right now if the connection for the drainage hose leaks the bathroom gets wet but the plastic tub the washing machine sits in is dry.

Regards, Christine

I have to say I'm having second thoughts about this...I really don't think mics and potential moisture/humidity should be sharing the same space, if it's at all avoidable.

How many cubic metres of mics, recorders and camera equipment do you have to store ? Couldn't they go underneath a bed or at the back of a cupboard, or in a socks drawer instead ?

If it were I, I'd be putting my least-favourite/never-read library books into a cardboard box and putting those in the washing room....and then storing the recording & camera gear on the shelves vacated by the books ?

There are other hazards for microphones too...my favourite is the 1st 40 seconds of this one (from the Neumann Guide to Caring for Condensor Microphones...not !) : YouTube

Welcome back, Christine, we've missed you.

Another thing to consider is whether you have any microphones that use electret-type (i.e. pre-polarized capsules). It's important not to let those get too hot, or the bound charge can leak off. I'm very careful about leaving my DPA's in a hot car for that reason.

One way to keep your recording skills sharp is to do a project for yourself. Put together a brass quintet or whatever and record a piece or two to help you get playing gigs. It sometimes helps win other recording gigs as well, because the people you work with talk with other musicians and word gets around that you can do engineering.