I have a set of old but really good speakers - Allison Ones, made in
1975. We currently live in the Seattle area, a moist but not tropical
area. They have done fine her, and continue to sound really natural;
their strength is an easy, unforced presence that to me, even after all
these years, sounds just fine. I know they don't have contemporary
materials so they don't have the clarity of a speaker with modern
drivers, but somehow it doesn't seem to matter - they will still
reproduce my favorite big-orchestra recordings very well.

Now here's the situation - we are moving to Hawaii in a few months,
specifically to East Hawaii around Hilo. It is rainy there
(understatememnt), to the tune of about 140 inches of rain per year,
close to 1/2" of rain per day. And we'll be living a few miles from the
ocean. Before deciding to move there I read a number of books about
living in Hawaii, one of which pointed out that the weather is not kind
to speakers (or other electronics either) in Hawaii, the humidity is
high most of the time. Apparently the humidity/mold/mildew just eats
them, and they are gone.

Solutions?
One solution is probably out, to air condition the whole house on the
grounds that electricity is very expensive in Hawaii, around $0.25 per
KWH. Also we kind of like the idea of an an open, airy environment in
our house. And dehumidifiers make noise. I have read about one way of
keeping the humidity at bay by keeping things warm with a light bulb or
small heater at the base of each speaker, but I am inclined to doubt
whether this one works well enough.

The question
Does anyone have experience with this situation? It would really break
my heart to take these fine old speakers to Hawaii and have them die in
a year or so. Is this problem really that severe? Or is there another
solution, perhaps some sort of spray-on sealer? The alternative would
be to sell them locally and put the money towards a new set of speakers,
which would be OK, but I really like them after 30 years (thank you Roy
Allison). Any comments would be appreciated.

TIA
Jim

jim wrote:
The question
Does anyone have experience with this situation? It would really break
my heart to take these fine old speakers to Hawaii and have them die in
a year or so.

I bought Acoustic Research AR-3as in the 70s, and they lasted only about
a year here on Oahu. It was the surrounds that decayed. I now
have JBL 4310s that probably also go back to the 70s in Hawaii, though
I've only had them 4 years -- they still seem fine. I got an Axiom M2i
bookshelf speaker 2 years ago, and it's ok so far.

I can't give definitive info -- just some miscellaneous experiences.
I do some shopping for old speakers sometimes in used stores, and I
see quite a few old speakers with surrounds (looking like foam) rotted
away. I understand that surrounds can be repaired, though I haven't
attempted that. I'd guess that if your Allisons have rubber surrounds,
that increases their chances of survival.
--
Greg Lee

Jim, I have forwarded you post on to a friend of mine who has lived in
Hawaii for a number of years.
John

Why not just store them at a friend's and get some other speakers until
you get back home?
Bg

On 3 Jun 2005 00:20:24 GMT, jim wrote:

I have a set of old but really good speakers - Allison Ones, made in
1975. We currently live in the Seattle area, a moist but not tropical
area. They have done fine her, and continue to sound really natural;
their strength is an easy, unforced presence that to me, even after all
these years, sounds just fine. I know they don't have contemporary
materials so they don't have the clarity of a speaker with modern
drivers, but somehow it doesn't seem to matter - they will still
reproduce my favorite big-orchestra recordings very well.

Now here's the situation - we are moving to Hawaii in a few months,
specifically to East Hawaii around Hilo. It is rainy there
(understatememnt), to the tune of about 140 inches of rain per year,
close to 1/2" of rain per day. And we'll be living a few miles from the
ocean. Before deciding to move there I read a number of books about
living in Hawaii, one of which pointed out that the weather is not kind
to speakers (or other electronics either) in Hawaii, the humidity is
high most of the time. Apparently the humidity/mold/mildew just eats
them, and they are gone.

Solutions?
One solution is probably out, to air condition the whole house on the
grounds that electricity is very expensive in Hawaii, around $0.25 per
KWH. Also we kind of like the idea of an an open, airy environment in
our house. And dehumidifiers make noise. I have read about one way of
keeping the humidity at bay by keeping things warm with a light bulb or
small heater at the base of each speaker, but I am inclined to doubt
whether this one works well enough.

The question
Does anyone have experience with this situation? It would really break
my heart to take these fine old speakers to Hawaii and have them die in
a year or so. Is this problem really that severe? Or is there another
solution, perhaps some sort of spray-on sealer? The alternative would
be to sell them locally and put the money towards a new set of speakers,
which would be OK, but I really like them after 30 years (thank you Roy
Allison). Any comments would be appreciated.

TIA
Jim

Well I'm sure others here will have some good solutions to your
problem, perhaps better than mine, so I'm anxious to hear as I too
live in a humid (Louisiana) enviroment.
I've used clear spray laquer to seal up fiber cones without too much
affect on the acoustic qualities.( could hear no difference.)
I'd stay away from Krylon clear laquer tho' as it tends to be more
acidic and might attack the cone material if it's starting to get
soft.
For the surrounds try using rubber cement, soft set silicone rubber or
if you can talk a speaker repair shop out of some the black butyl
rubber sealant they use for repairing speaker surrounds.
If silicone is used, any of the soft pliable ones used for low
pressure gaskets will do. Stay away from the window sealant types,
they get too hard when cured.
Just apply with a small nylon artisits brush and let set overnight.
An idea to control moistue would be to get some small bags of silica
gel and staple them into the inside of the cabinets. Just unbolt the
woofer and staple them to the inside back of the box.(They'll need
changing periodically though.)

wrote:
Why not just store them at a friend's and get some other speakers until
you get back home?
Bg

Thanks but I will soon be buying a one-way ticket to Hawaii, we have
bought a house & are moving there to stay...

Jim

Midlant wrote:
Jim, I have forwarded you post on to a friend of mine who has lived in
Hawaii for a number of years.
John

Thanks for the help, he sent me a good message.

Jim

Cortex makes several products useful in preventing deterioration. It is
often found under the Bullfrog name. Works well for all electronics and
metals.
As for speakers, with a rubber surround you need not worry. Foam surrounds,
well, expect to change them like clockwork every 4 to 5 years. Sprinking a
good foot powder (lotrimine, ectc.), anything that is anti fungal, on your
cones periodically helps prevent mildew which is the chief problem in humid
tropic environments.

Stu, who was born in Hilo