How cold can drums get?

[butter]

I moved this year and my drums are no longer in my heated house. Now they are in a building separate from the house in a room behind the garage. The room is insulated and isn't like a shed or anything. Winter is not even close yet, but when I go to play, the room is already pretty cool, like 50 degrees F. I know 50 is no big deal, but what temperature is cold enough to cause damage?

The room does have heating, but I don't want to use it unless I have to. I'm just going to keep it 10 or so degrees above what would be bad for my drums. I'm not sure how cold it will get in there, but I'll find out when it gets colder.

I have maple lacquer drums if that makes any difference (I would think it would matter whether they are wrapped or not).

Thanks!

[Bonebreak]

I keep mine in my insulated garage. It never gets below freezing, but it does get close. I normally use Hot Rods in the winter to avoid hitting the cymbals when they are cold, and cover my set up with a blanket when not in use. I too have maple drums that are lacquered. I think the humidity is more of a concern than the cold though.

[MartyM]

Butter, cold and dry has a tendenacy to shrink wood, keep em covered WELL when not in use..and when heating give them a chance to warm up a bit before you start to play..is this a temporay situation? I still believe all musical instruments should be in a warm room. good luck

[butter]

A blanket sounds like a good idea. I suppose the situation is as temporary as the winter. Thanks.

[ThePloughman]

By next spring you will know.


My drums dont sleep in a garage.

[Northern Redneck]

Your drums will be fine. My kits hace spent many a night in the back of cube van in sub zero weather. It affects the tuning mire than anything.

[kyle102565]

any temperature extreme is bad for your drums. wrapping them in a blanket is pointless if your keeping them in a below freezing environment, it wont keep them warm, they create no heat on their own.

[ThePloughman]

Every time I see a thread on this subject, it just gets to me. Ok. granted, no one who posts a thread like this is wondering about the possible damage they would be causing to a 5000.00 PLUS Craviotto solid maple inlayed drumset. No one who posts an answer to a thread like this saying, ... I keep my drums in a meat freezer half the year... is talking about a 50 year old fragile, extremely rare, and also worth more than a comparable set of DW or other custom made drums brand new.

If there was a "Come On, Man!" list for drummers...... this thread title would be in the top ten. Probably right next to ..... My basement walls weep sometimes, will that damage my drums?

So heres what you can expect to see after keeping your drums in a cold, damp, and wet environment. Maybe not right away, maybe not even this year. Maybe it will be so gradual you wont even really start to notice it for three or four years. But, eventually, keeping drums in extreme environments will damage them. If they arent worth much to start with, you really arent hurting anything.



Lacquer...... grain splits, checking in the finish,
Wrap...... splits, cracking
Metal... Rust, pitting, chrome flaking.
Wood... grain splits, delamination, metallic bleed into the grain around screw holes from fasteners condensating.

Covering your drums with plastic sheeting............ Rain.

And I never leave them in the car.

[Bonebreak]

Every time I see a thread on this subject, it just gets to me. Ok. granted, no one who posts a thread like this is wondering about the possible damage they would be causing to a 5000.00 PLUS Craviotto solid maple inlayed drumset. No one who posts an answer to a thread like this saying, ... I keep my drums in a meat freezer half the year... is talking about a 50 year old fragile, extremely rare, and also worth more than a comparable set of DW or other custom made drums brand new.

If there was a "Come On, Man!" list for drummers...... this thread title would be in the top ten. Probably right next to ..... My basement walls weep sometimes, will that damage my drums?

So heres what you can expect to see after keeping your drums in a cold, damp, and wet environment. Maybe not right away, maybe not even this year. Maybe it will be so gradual you wont even really start to notice it for three or four years. But, eventually, keeping drums in extreme environments will damage them. If they arent worth much to start with, you really arent hurting anything.



Lacquer...... grain splits, checking in the finish,
Wrap...... splits, cracking
Metal... Rust, pitting, chrome flaking.
Wood... grain splits, delamination, metallic bleed into the grain around screw holes from fasteners condensating.

Covering your drums with plastic sheeting............ Rain.

And I never leave them in the car.

Sorry dude, but that did not get that way in front of your eyes, and surely wasn't getting played on any type of regular basis. If you put your drums somewhere, and never look at them again for 20 years, maybe, but I for one still do maintainence on my drums regularly. They also get played daily. The sheet is mainly for dust, not heat.

Lets be honest, if the OPs drums were worth $5000, this would have never been posted.

[ThePloughman]

Not my drum. But that is from living in a shed. And, over the last 12 years on drum forums Ive seen this same thread dozens of times. Cold drums. Wet environment. Basement. Winter. My hardware has rust pits, Ive only had the drums six months.

Yes, that drum was neglected to the point it started to show pitting and rust. then it got put away, and finally, it was destroyed.

Just sayin. If they were worth buying, why arent they worth taking care of once you have them, instead of trying to figure out just what is the minimum care you can give without destroying them?

As for the surface rust...one bad, wet winter can do that, it wont be all over the whole drum, it wont be gigantic spots, but it will be....right before your eyes.

Touch a clean cymbal with sweaty fingers, then leave it in the case for a month.

[kaosotis]

TPM, leaving drums in bags in your car overnight once, when the weather is similar to the environment in your house should certainly do no more damage. My drums were in my car overnight last night. It was about 65 degrees and 60% humidity and I'm fully confident that they are fine.

That being said, TPM is correct that if you are asking if your drums will be okay being in a specific space, it probably means you are worried and should be. Very cold or hot environments or environments where there are big temperature changes are not good.

Going back to the OP, I would use the heat in that room to keep it at 60 or above. At that temp you don't have to worry about cymbals, etc..., plus the heat will take some of the humidity out of the room which could affect hardware. Just make sure it doesn't get too dry b/c that's bad for wood instruments as well.

[butter]

I'm not looking for the minimum care treatment by any means. I don't own top of the line drums, but I still worked hard for them and take a lot of pride in them. That being said, I understand that mentality; I know many people who just want to get by.

I'll go with 60 degrees. I was thinking anywhere below 45 would be detrimental and was planning to keep the room at least 10 degrees above that, but 15 degrees certainly can't hurt. I don't have any water issues, and the humidity is fine so I'm not worried about anything like that. The room is fit for a person to live in, it's not like a shed, just added onto the back of the garage. I'll keep it heated.

Thanks a lot to everyone!

[kaosotis]

I'm not looking for the minimum care treatment by any means. I don't own top of the line drums, but I still worked hard for them and take a lot of pride in them. That being said, I understand that mentality; I know many people who just want to get by.

I'll go with 60 degrees. I was thinking anywhere below 45 would be detrimental and was planning to keep the room at least 10 degrees above that, but 15 degrees certainly can't hurt. I don't have any water issues, and the humidity is fine so I'm not worried about anything like that. The room is fit for a person to live in, it's not like a shed, just added onto the back of the garage. I'll keep it heated.

Thanks a lot to everyone!

Sounds like a good plan to not take chances. I can't imagine 60 degrees can hurt since it's a very temperate temperature. Happy drumming!

[Larrysperf]

Cold and damp for drums is not good Nuff said

[livewire80]

Butter obviously cares about his drums hence the post. Reasonable question. I rehearse once a week and gig every second week. The kit usually stays in car on these nights in safe environment. I always bring in the cymbals. Temperatures here never really get extreme and by that I mean below zero. In summer, overnight is not an issue but will never leave in the car during a hot summers day. Our summer can become quite harsh. Sounds like you got a good plan with temp control in that back room. Good luck