When I launched my photography business, I knew that I needed more space than I had at home. That's when I decided to rent a local storage unit to keep my studio gear organized. I spent a lot of time researching backdrops, staging, racks, and storage tips to keep all of my gear organized and protected when I wasn't shooting. With so many photographers looking for ways to expand their operations, I decided to share my storage tips so that I could possibly help others with their needs. I hope the information here makes it easier for you to organize your equipment and grow your studio.
Storage Snapshots: Photography Equipment
5 Tips For Keeping Your AV Equipment Safe And Organized In Self-Storage
Brian Hamilton
If you're an AV professional, you likely have a considerable amount of bulky equipment like speakers, amps, and projectors that you use as part of your job. Storing all of this equipment in your home or in your office can be cumbersome due to the amount of space that it requires. Thankfully, you always have the option of renting a self-storage unit in order to free up space while keeping your equipment safe, even when you're storing it for a very long period of time. To learn how to safely store your extensive collection of AV equipment and keep it organized, follow the five tips below.
1. Always Opt for Climate-Controlled Storage
Whenever you store electronic equipment, it's always a good idea to opt for a climate-controlled self-storage unit. Storage units without climate control tend to become very hot and humid, which can severely damage sensitive electronics. You'll pay more money for a climate-controlled unit, but it's worth it in order to preserve your expensive AV equipment.
2. Sensitive Equipment Need Extra Humidity Control
Even if you're storing your AV equipment in a climate-controlled unit, you'll need to take some extra steps to safeguard sensitive equipment like microphones or cameras. Microphones and camera lenses can be damaged by excess humidity or dust floating around in the air. When you're storing these items for a long period of time, you'll need to place them in freezer bags to prevent dust from affecting them. In addition, you should place some silica gel in the freezer bags. Silica gel removes moisture from the air, preventing these sensitive items from being damaged by humidity.
3. Disconnect Cables, Label Them and Store Them Together
Cable management is the biggest part of successfully storing your AV equipment. You should never leave cables plugged in since gravity will cause the cables to pull at the connections. Eventually, the connections will become damaged. Remove all of the cables from your equipment, loosely coil individual cables and tie them together with a cable tie. Loosely coiling cables prevents any sharp bends in the cable from placing tension on the wires inside, which keeps them safe.
Once coiled and tied, the cable should be stored in a labeled freezer bag along with other cables of that type. Keeping all of your cables together makes it much easier to set up your AV equipment again when you need it since it reduces the risk that you'll accidentally misplace a necessary cable.
4. Use Shelving Instead of Stacking Speakers and Receivers
Since speakers and receivers are rectangular and fairly light, it's tempting to stack them on top of one another. Unfortunately, you risk damaging your equipment by stacking it. In order to keep your equipment safe, it's better to purchase some plastic shelving for your self-storage unit and keep your equipment on the shelves. With shelving, you'll avoid placing excess weight on your equipment.
5. Use a Tackle Box for Loose Items
It's common to have numerous loose items as part of your AV setup, such as memory cards. The best way to store these items is to simply buy a tackle box from a sporting goods store. Store similar items together, and then use sticky notes to label what's in each section of the tackle box. This makes it much easier to keep track of all of your small, loose items.
As long as you follow the tips above, your AV equipment will be safe and well-organized. With proper organization, you'll be able to easily retrieve and set up your AV equipment when you need to use it. If you're running out of room in your home or office for your AV equipment, find an available self-storage unit that has climate control—you'll be able to free up space while ensuring that your equipment is protected.
If you're ready to find a self-storage unit or want more information, reach out to a local storage facility.
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