Storage & use tips or suggestions needed...

teknomedic

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I'm wondering a few things about storing my vids.

Long story short... I recently moved to a new home. Before now my vids were setup in our finished basement (I hate stairs BTW, lol). While we sold our previous house, I stored the machines in a large storage unit (no AC or heating) and one of my Marquees obviously had some issues with the humidity. After the move the machines are now all sitting in an "out building" (basically a large garage). The section they're sitting in is about 24ftx30ft with a cement floor and a cheap LP gas fire place for heating. There's currently no air conditioning, but I do have an old window unit that I might try and place out there for cooling.

I'm wondering a few things about this setup. Since I'm more or less in the country now, it's going to be a bit harder to keep full control of any possible rodents... not only mice and rats, but larger creatures such as Raccoons or smaller ones such as bugs. Any suggestions on maintaining order?? Since this won't be a living area, it could be weeks or even months between "visits" to the arcade... especially in the winter.

Also, even though it's setup for heat (and perhaps later cooling with a window AC) I certainly can't afford to keep that area heated and cooled at all times throughout the year (Minnesota winters, btw). Are there any tips for controlling humidity or avoiding any possible severe cold or heat damage? Worse case scenarios include -50F cold and +100F heat with or without 10-90% humidity. Of course that pretty much worse case, but even average winters are darn cold and summers crazy hot/humid in Minnesota.

Finally, I'm sure there are some things I even haven't thought of so if anyone else has a similar setup please offer up what you've learned.

Thanks for any tips, suggestions or even stories. :)
 
Games that I have restored and are waiting to go into the arcade I keep in my warehouse on the second floor with no heat or air conditioning.
Before I store them I will stretch wrap really well. I have stored machines like this for three years with good results
 
Keeping the air moving helps. You can get a ventilation fan / attic fan there are several names and styles but they are basically a fan that has a temp and humidity control so it only turns on when the criteria is met like 95 degrees and 80% humidity (this is adjustable.

http://www.attic-air.com/atticfans.htm
http://www.askthebuilder.com/Ventilation.shtml

Winter that is hard one being here in Fl I dont know too much about snow and the likes we get down to the teens but that is about it.

Critters I have found things like field mice under a sink cabinet once but no coons also found a snake I think going after the meeses LOL
 
Thanks for the tips, those fans and humidity control might be a good start.

I guess I might be misleading what I need though...

This area isn't going to be just for "storage", but this is going to become the arcade. The machines are wrapped right now (due to the move), but I do plan to unwrap them and get them all plugged in. The shed has its own circuit breaker so that will make it easy to spread out the machines power supplies.

I guess I'm more looking for long term ideas on keeping the arcade running in the current conditions I described. Eventually I'll do what I can to climate control and seal the area for bugs and such, but for the next year or two all my money and time is going to be focused on fixing up the new home.
 
well you're asking a kind of crazy question, I can't tell you how to keep things in good condition when they're -50 f and +100 f. The only logical answer would be too heat and cool it but you said you don't want to pay for that. Thems the breaks.

I guess you should just insulate the hell out of that area and see what happens.
 
Can't you go around the building and seal it up really well to keep the animals out ? Especially the larger ones ? I would think you should have mice at the most. Put down some glue traps.
 
Of course, once the snow all melts.

I'm mostly wondering about how to keep the games in good condition with the extremes of hot, cold and humidity.

Without a huge remodel I won't be able to manage this stuff very well over the next couple years.
 
I'm mostly wondering about how to keep the games in good condition with the extremes of hot, cold and humidity.
It's not what you want to hear, but the real answer is to put them somewhere else or fix up the space properly to keep those extremes out, especially the humidity. Anything less and the games won't stay in good condition. Can't argue with mother nature.
 
the big thing that i would do is to pull all painted or screened glass marquees or bezels in the fall before it starts to get too cold. the paint contracts at a different rate than the glass and after some time will start to crack and peel or pull away. this can happen during heat waves as well but it seems worst in the cold. screens on plastic should be fine.

take these items and store them in a climate-controlled spot in your house for the winter, then put 'em back into the games in the spring once it starts to warm up.

you also may want to not turn on any of the games during periods of extreme cold. conventional wisdom says if it's colder than about 50 degrees there's the chance of causing some stress on the electronics. personally, i've fired up my games in slightly sub-freezing temperatures without issue but others claim to have had problems. that being said, you should fire those games up every few months if possible. some games (especially Williams) will eventually develop problems if they don't get some juice at least occasionally.

of course, you could just move away from Rochester, Minnesota and find somewhere with a better climate. that's what i did nearly 33 years ago. :)
 
If you are going to make this a regular room then I would suggest you insulate the walls and consider a drop ceiling if you can to create an air space from you and the roof. Are you going to sheetrock the wall or panel or maybe plywood depending on the environment. In the shop I used wood for the walls since I got tired of moving something and dinging the drywall LOL

If you go with a drop ceiling then you have an exscuse to get some of these to go up there http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=1558355#post1558355

http://www.ehow.com/way_5877041_drop-ceiling-installation-tips.html
 
Old school mouse and rat traps, insulation, and ventilation. If you do that, you'll probably be able to keep the temperature above 50 degrees with a few baseboard heaters set at a low temperature...might run you $50/month in electricity. All depends on how much you value your games.
 
as others have said, insulation is your friend. for heat, my dad uses a "hot dawg" propane heater in his detached garage and loves it --
http://www3.modine.com/v2portal/pag.../building_HVAC/market_level_3_content_013.htm

was pretty easy to install, exhausts to the outside of his garage. keeps it around 55-65 degrees even when it's well below freezing outside.

for the summertime, run a dehumidifier.

and for critters, seal everything up and keep some mousetraps and/or glue boards and/or bait traps laying around. i always preferred mousetraps myself. with bait traps, they'll scurry away and die inside of a wall and you'll smell it for a few days until they mummify...pleasant as that sounds...
 
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