• Storing Spare Radio Gear - Preparing for Long Term Storage

    From k9zw@700:100/69 to All on Tue Oct 25 15:03:21 2022
    Originally appeared at my blog Oct 2012

    --

    Almost every one of us has some spare radio gear. Sometimes it is gear we would like to set aside and store for a “rainy day” or hoping that our youngsters might want it. Of course there is also gear set aside purely as back-up if our main gear took a lightning strike or was otherwise damaged.

    I asked several preparedness types, a couple ex-military gear service techs, and looked around for other’s recommendations – all distilled into a protocol.

    Step One – Selection and Completeness

    Gear to be stored usually is working gear, though I do know people who set aside projects for the future. There are a couple points about selection that were pointed out to me:

    Will it work in the future? No point in storing gear that requires a computer that is likely to be obsolete unless you store a working computer with it. Nor is there much sense to store a project without the needed spares if they are likely to be unavailable in the future.

    Then pay attention to completeness – you want the gear, all accessories, critical spares, paper manuals, service/tech manuals if you can get them, consumables and printouts of support notes from the internet if they are useful. You want it all much like if you were shipping the radio to a remote Island where you would be setting it up without any outside resupply. Pay attention to special connectors – Molex variations come to mind – and any add-ons that can be found now.

    The object is to have everything you need to get the radio up and going, AND take care of it, when you open your storage parcel years later. Obviously be prudent – example, I wouldn’t store oils/lubricants with the radio.

    Don’t forget to really make sure what you store works well, and is up to snuff. One ham I ran into sends radios in for full service and alignment before storage. Really nice to get some of his gear when he decided he didn’t need everything he had stored.

    The Dry-Wrap

    Treat the radio like you were wrapping fresh room temperature meat. Bring the gear up/down to room conditions, clean and dry. Then wrap it twice in food grade paper. Butcher Paper and Parchment paper (used for baking) have been suggested. The idea is a pH neutral paper unlikely to take-up or give-off chemicals which could damage your stored radio.

    The Piggy-Back

    To the wrapped radio add the manuals, accessories and spares if being stored as one. Some units will be stored in partial units – which even at this stage would then be marked 1-of-4, 2-of-4 and so on.

    The add-ons can be in their own paper or bags.

    To these add several large desiccant sachets, which you should prepare by oven-drying them to a very dry state.

    The First Vacuum Pack

    Using Food Grade plastic, heat seal and vacuum pack everything. You do NOT need to crank the vacuum up high, just bring it down. Some preparers suggested pre-filling the plastic bag with nitrogen or CO2 from some dry ice.

    Once you have some vacuum the heat seal the bags completely closed. They shold not puff back out.

    The Anti-Static Nod to Mr Faraday

    Double wrap the vacuum pack with commercial grade aluminum foil (this is much heavier) or electronics industry anti-static conductive materials. Use conductive tapes if possible.

    The Final Vacuum Packaging

    The foil-wrapped unit is put into another Food Grade Plastic Bag and like the bag under the foil vacuum heat-sealed everything again.

    The Importance of Labels and Instructions

    Make sure to label the unit, and if you have any short instructions for storage or opening attach them. I’ve put labels so they can be seen through the Final Vacuum Packaging as well as an outside label – hedging again the plastic wrap fogging over time.

    The Box or Can Over-Packaging Question

    At this stage advisors were split – several suggested boxed up the package in a storage box, and few wanted to store it in a metal garbage can out of EMP fears. There is no civilian authority to reference on whether EMP threats are real enough to protect against, and whether the double foil-wrap is enough protection without a metal casing.

    Regardless of your personal decision, make sure you box/store the package in way that you won’t drop it when handling. No point in doing an awesome storage job to fumble the radio putting it on the shelf – or even having it walk off the shelf in tremors.

    If you do some planning you can use the original OEM packaging, even if you have to include it inside one of the Vacuum Packing layers.

    Duplicate, if Required

    The saying is “Two is One, and One is None.” This reflects the idea that you have a high likelihood of havinga working station if you have spares to swap in, but if your only unit goes down you are off the air. The same applies to spares. Consider if you want duplication of stored radio gear.

    All this is a lot of work, but I am told that those with experience have found it worth the effort. The protected radio gear has a high likelihood of being servicable after lengthy storage.

    73

    Steve
    K9ZW

    --- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (700:100/69)
  • From debian@700:100/69 to k9zw on Wed Oct 26 01:19:04 2022
    Also be aware of the environment you are storing (and using) your radio in. You do not want to store it in an environment where there is excess moisture - yeah it will be wrapped, maybe even vacuum sealed, but if you store it in a dry environment, you reduce the risk of moisture ingression.

    This is even more important with tube radios, as moisture ingression will break the glass seal and render the tubes inoperative.

    When storing a battery operated radio, remember to take the batteries out when putting the radio in storage. Store the batteries in a cool, dry place. This way, the batteries won't leak into the radio and corrode everything within the radio.

    When taking the radio out of storage, be sure you are taking it out in the same environment you stored it in. If you store it in a dry area and unseal it in a more damp area, it is best to keep an eye on it as you are taking it out so there is no exces moisture build up.

    If you stored it in a warm (or cold) environment and are unsealing it in a cold (or warm) environment, bring the tempurature of the radio up slowly before exposing it to the new environment. This way you also reduce the chance of moisture ingression.

    73, de KG7UJH
    Debian

    How ya gonna do it? PS/2 it!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (700:100/69)