Car Audio Condensating

[S.DeYoung 968]

When has moisture ever been good for circuits?

Can it be prevented in cold climates?

Yes many companies make moisture absorbing products. Most are inexpensive and reusable.

[Duran 387]

A dehumidifier, some vehicles come with them built into the air system.

Have you blocked your stock pressure vents? They have a purpose, there is a reason manufacturers install them, we all know they wont spend money when they don't have to.

[pmureika 31]

A dehumidifier, some vehicles come with them built into the air system.

Have you blocked your stock pressure vents? They have a purpose, there is a reason manufacturers install them, we all know they wont spend money when they don't have to.

Only the original poster of this thread knows.

[pmureika 31]

A dehumidifier, some vehicles come with them built into the air system.

Have you blocked your stock pressure vents? They have a purpose, there is a reason manufacturers install them, we all know they wont spend money when they don't have to.

Yeah they run the ac in defrost mode.

[ulrisa 26]

I had this problem pretty bad a while back, turned out to be a leak in the seal of my back window. As others have stated you should start looking for a leaky seal, or other point of access for moisture.

[Sencheezy 689]

Maybe we should wait till more information is provided

[pmureika 31]

Maybe we should wait till more information is provided

Yes everybody is talking but the poster.

[jorscrivens 0]

Sorry guys, I haven't been on in a little bit, been busy with school. My vehicle is old and the seals are probably leaking a little. The condensation bothers me only because it's pretty visible and I wasn't sure if a sub would actually be affected by light amounts of water. My sub isn't going to rust or anything, I was just wondering if climate was taken into account for car audio. In other words, are subwoofers somewhat condensation proof? The condensation isn't bad enough to short out the amp, at least I hope If it's my vehicle that's fine, I will look into it, but in Michigan the weather is unpredictable and I can go from 10 degrees to 60 really fast if I drive and then park in the garage. I'm assuming most people don't look at their sub magnet or amps too often so maybe condensation is fairly common. Thanks for the input.

[pmureika 31]

Sorry guys, I haven't been on in a little bit, been busy with school. My vehicle is old and the seals are probably leaking a little. The condensation bothers me only because it's pretty visible and I wasn't sure if a sub would actually be affected by light amounts of water. My sub isn't going to rust or anything, I was just wondering if climate was taken into account for car audio. In other words, are subwoofers somewhat condensation proof? The condensation isn't bad enough to short out the amp, at least I hope If it's my vehicle that's fine, I will look into it, but in Michigan the weather is unpredictable and I can go from 10 degrees to 60 really fast if I drive and then park in the garage. I'm assuming most people don't look at their sub magnet or amps too often so maybe condensation is fairly common. Thanks for the input.

I agree with you.

[MatthewMoran 0]

I know I'm a little late to this post but i want to chime in because I'm a CS/EE and I'm from Michigan. Ive had this issue, but i wouldn't worry about it if i were you. There are a few things to keep in mind; electricity follows the path of least resistance, water is not a good conductor(especially compared to the metal in the amp), the circuit board will not have as much condensation on it as the heat sink (in fact there is a chance there isn't any water on the board), and electronic circuits have some tolerance to short spikes(if a short actually happened because of a small amount of water it shouldn't last long because that water will start to evaporate).

As for the sub it is out of my expertise but i have never had a problem. I would guess rust is possible but unlikely with the amount of water on the sub over a year vs the average lifetime of a sub.

Edit: Also it should be noted that the outside of the heat sink will have more water than the inside since the water is originating from outside the amp, making this even less of a concern to the amp circuitry.

Edited January 26, 2012 by k1llj0y