Ukulele in a cooler.. good idea or so-so idea?

specialmike

specialmike

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I'm planning to travel back home this week for two days (I'm in College), and I want to bring back my ukulele. Unfortunately, there's a water park on the way back called White Waters. My fiance and I are planning to go to the water park pretty much all day long on the way back from "home", so we are staying there from 9-5pm. The weather is supposed to be 88 high that day, which translates to about 150 F in my car... HOT HOT HOT! Which is... uhh, not good for any form of life.

So, If I got a big enough cooler for my tenor case to fit in, would you think it could survive the heat without damage? I wish I had a cheaper ukulele that sounded great to carry around and treat like.. well, less delicately(like a fluke or something), but I don't :(. Although I'm probably not going to take my ukulele back this trip, for future reference, where/how would you store your ukulele if you had to bring it along with you for extended periods of time (5+ hours) where the only safe place for storage is your car, or other mode of transportation(while the vehicle is turned off)?

I know I've made previous threads that question essentially the same thing, but it's all about care and convenience. I swear, after this post, I'm threading together "Ukulele Care in 100+ temperature." :)
 
I personally would talk to the staff of the waterpark to see if they can tuck your ukulele away in a corner somewhere. Many of them have lockers of somesort that you can rent as well, although it'd be rare to see one big enough for a tenor uke.
 
Ebonyks said:
I personally would talk to the staff of the waterpark to see if they can tuck your ukulele away in a corner somewhere. Many of them have lockers of somesort that you can rent as well, although it'd be rare to see one big enough for a tenor uke.
Click to expand...

yeah... no where near big enough. 13x17x23 inches..... so.. if I had a soprano worth storing... :)
 
If I had to...and would freak doing it:

I would leave it in the car, below the seats, to keep direct sunlight from shining on it. I'd cover with a white towel or blanket, and open the windows about an inch, to allow some air circulation...keep the car becoming too much like an oven.

I would not leave the instrument with the park folk...too easy to walk away ("I left my uke with Bob...".."He's gone for the day....").
 
I'd just put it in the trunk (assuming you have a trunk).

I'm no expert in thermodynamics, but I'm thinking that, if it's 88 degrees outside, the temperature inside the trunk won't get much higher than 88. The reason the passenger compartment of a car gets hotter than the ambient temperature is because of the greenhouse effect, isn't it? And that would be a non-issue in a windowless area such as the trunk, right?

JJ
 
When are you coming through marietta and where are u coming from? I don't live too far from there and I don't mind holding it for u if I am home. I'll be out of town until this friday. I'm going hiking with the wife but after that i wouldn't mind. You can also try contacting a local music shop like GC.
 
PoisonDart said:
trunks usually get pretty hot.
Click to expand...

Do they really?

I mean, how could a trunk (or any other enclosed, windowless box) get any hotter than the outside temperature? What would be the physics behind something like that, that would create the "extra" heat?

I'm not asking just to be a Tanizaki. I'm genuinely interested in the answer. :D

JJ
 
Ukulele JJ said:
Do they really?

I mean, how could a trunk (or any other enclosed, windowless box) get any hotter than the outside temperature? What would be the physics behind something like that, that would create the "extra" heat?

JJ
Click to expand...

Trunks are considerably cooler than the cabin inside the vehicle, but after prolonged lengths of time under the sun, the aluminum of the car will transfer the energy from the sun in the form of heat through the metal and will cause the air temperature to rise. A car's exterior can get pretty hot. Given enough time, the trunk can get just as hot as a cabin, if put under enough sun and heat. At least... so I've heard.
 
haolejohn said:
When are you coming through marietta and where are u coming from? I don't live too far from there and I don't mind holding it for u if I am home. I'll be out of town until this friday. I'm going hiking with the wife but after that i wouldn't mind. You can also try contacting a local music shop like GC.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. I couldn't bare that burden upon you however. Although I know you would take wonderful care of my ukulele, I couldn't keep you from 9am to 2-3-4-5-6 or 7pm. Depending on the weather thrusday, I wouldn't know how long I'll be staying. Besides, I'm going thrusday :(, while you're out of town.
 
Ukulele JJ said:
I'd just put it in the trunk (assuming you have a trunk).

I'm no expert in thermodynamics, but I'm thinking that, if it's 88 degrees outside, the temperature inside the trunk won't get much higher than 88. The reason the passenger compartment of a car gets hotter than the ambient temperature is because of the greenhouse effect, isn't it? And that would be a non-issue in a windowless area such as the trunk, right?

JJ
Click to expand...

I know that my trunk (I drive a dark blue 88 Volvo) is usually very cool even in big heat. I have never seen (or felt rather?) it get hotter than the outside.
 
Interesting idea...

I've kept coolers in the trunk of my car on hot summer days to keep drinks cool and it worked well into the evening.

A ukulele in a cooler in a trunk... Hmm...

Do you have some time to experiment before you leave? Place a thermometer in a cooler then place the cooler in the trunk and see what happens. Maybe even add a few ice packs as long as you can figure a way that no moisture will touch the uke.

Let us know how it works.
 
Put cooler in trunk

Fill cooler with ice

Leave top off cooler

Put uke in trunk.

Close trunk.

Apply sunscreen liberally to all exposed areas of skin and have fun.


Car trunks are insulated to a degree and this should act somewhat like an old fashioned ice box. If you wanted to cary it further you could tent the uke and cooler under a quilt or blanket to hold the cool air into a smaller area. And park in the shade!
 
I run a music store with repair workshop in the tropics, and my advice is: do not leave your uke in the car - anywhere. You'd be surprised how hot a case gets even on an overcast day.

Also, with ice in a cooler, if the water starts to evaporate (hard to predict), the humidity could affect your uke. If you were going the cooler way, I would use those sealed ice packs.

The storage option is really the way to go in my opinion.
 
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