Leaving Solid Koa Uke in Car on Hot Day

[hopkid]

I need your expert opinions, UUers! I'm going out of town this weekend and want to take my KoAloha concert with me as we have a friend who we will jam (if you can call it that) with tonight some time. That's in Norfolk/VA Beach. I can probably keep the uke with me and not have to leave it the car during the warmer daytime temps. Then tomorrow we'll be driving up to Reston, VA for an arts festival where the uke will likely sit in the trunk of the car. I'm wondering if my KoAloha will be OK.

Forecast temps are 83F and sunny today in VA Beach and 85F and partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms.

Let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Huna]

well it gets hotter than ambient inside the car where the windows are so I tend to put my ukuleles in the trunk because it shouldn't get as hot in there as in the sitting part of the car--no greenhouse effect.

 

[cb56]

Just my opinion but I wouldn't leave a uke anywhere I wouldn't leave a child or a pet. I would rather carry it around with me.

 

[SweetWaterBlue]

I agree with Huna, but just to be sure send the Koaloha to me and I will keep it safe for you and send you a flea for the trip.

 

[Plainsong]

This is what beater ukes are for. Don't cook your Koaloha.

 

[Hippie Dribble]

This is what beater ukes are for. Don't cook your Koaloha.

I agree. Have you anything else in the arsenal that could stand in for the KoAloha on the trip Andy?

 

[hopkid]

Yeah, I figured that would be the consensus. We'll have my wife's Kala pineapple as well and it's in a nice gig back with shoulder straps so I could put the KoAloha in that, leaving the Kala in the car, and easily carry it around with me at the arts festival. Or I could just bring my beater....the Woody Round-Up.

 

[fabioponta]

not take! Tonight I dreamed of a tragedy: my koaloha superconcert had stayed on the couch, and the sun came through the window and melted the entire uke like plastic! I picked him up in the hands still intact, but he shrank and became deformed in my hands, so I cried desperately the rest of the dream/nigthmare.

this can be a bad sign for a koaloha travel...

 

[haolejohn]

are you driving while it is in your trunk? If so you will be fine. I took mine from Georgia to Orlando (over 500 miles) in the middle of the summer in my trunk once. No worries. I have taken other trips with the uke either onthe back of my motorcycle or in the trunk of our car with no damage at all. I do not recommend that you leave it in the trunk. I never leave my uke in the car if it is over 70 degrees (I'm that eccentric guy carrying a uke everywhere).

so basically uke is ok for trunk while driving. Once you park, get it out and take it with you.

 

[hopkid]

@haolejohn: My main worry was leaving it in the trunk while at the Reston Arts Festival tomorrow. I'm definitely going to go with common sense here and not risk taking it. Plus fabioponta's dream must be a premonition! At the very least it's scared me enough not to take it.

Thanks all!

 

[TCK]

I won't even leave my Makala in the car in 83 degree temps- way too easy to just carry around

 

[Plainsong]

not take! Tonight I dreamed of a tragedy: my koaloha superconcert had stayed on the couch, and the sun came through the window and melted the entire uke like plastic! I picked him up in the hands still intact, but he shrank and became deformed in my hands, so I cried desperately the rest of the dream/nigthmare.

this can be a bad sign for a koaloha travel...

This winter there were some ongoing cleanup projects from last year's new pipe installation. My brain took that and my want of a Koaloha and mixed it into a nightmare.

I dreamed I got a Koaloha concert, and that I went to take a nap. I somehow slept the day away, and during that time my husband took it out of its case and hung it in the hallway entrance to our apartment. It was -20 outside, and some construction workers left the door to the building open all day. The uke was very close to our open apartment door, letting that arctic air in. I got up to find the Koaloha hanging on our coat rack, completely cracked and broken. I asked Anders why he did that and he said he thought that's what he was supposed to do.

It was SO real that I kept having to remind myself to not be angry at my husband for something he did _in a dream_!

I'm eyeing him now, drinking his coffee and smoking his pipe. Who does he think he is??

 

[hopkid]

This winter there were some ongoing cleanup projects from last year's new pipe installation. My brain took that and my want of a Koaloha and mixed it into a nightmare.

I dreamed I got a Koaloha concert, and that I went to take a nap. I somehow slept the day away, and during that time my husband took it out of its case and hung it in the hallway entrance to our apartment. It was -20 outside, and some construction workers left the door to the building open all day. The uke was very close to our open apartment door, letting that arctic air in. I got up to find the Koaloha hanging on our coat rack, completely cracked and broken. I asked Anders why he did that and he said he thought that's what he was supposed to do.

It was SO real that I kept having to remind myself to not be angry at my husband for something he did _in a dream_!

I'm eyeing him now, drinking his coffee and smoking his pipe. Who does he think he is??

:biglaugh:

 

[deach]

If your ukes don't melt, you might want to check these events out. They are just down the road from the Reston Town center.


The NoVA Ukulele Ensemble (NVUE)
Monthly Songs, Share, and Jam Session
Sunday, May 22, 2011
3:00 PM

Cafe Montmartre Ukulele Open Mic
Sunday, May 22, 2011
6:00 PM

Cafe Montmartre
1625 Washington Plaza N
Reston, VA 20190

 

[Rockabilly]

Too bad Ur not staying n Va beach..we could jam...take Ur inexpensive uke..I'll let you use my pineapple sunday.

 

[mr moonlight]

I've left instruments in the car while traveling. On a hot day I left my Concert Kala in the main cabin and just put a blanket over it. After about 2 hours in the hot sun, the instrument was still cool but the case had started to get warm. If the rental had a trunk, I would have put it in there. Another hour though and my uke would have started to feel the heat. The most important thing to think about is insulation. Kind of like an ice chest. You can leave your ice chest in the sun for hours and your beers still stay cold. Same thing with the uke.

So if you're going to leave you're uke in the car, keep it in a good hardshell case and wrap it in layers of blankets or better yet, make a special bag lined with insulation (the kind you can buy from Home Depot).

 

[Plainsong]

If only it wasn't staying in the car. That's the thing. Ukes like a nice day out, just not a nice day out in the sauna.

 

[mm stan]

Aloha Hopkid,
Scary thoughts running through my mind....I would never leave any ukulele in the car...even my beater.. the thought of glue failure permeates my mind...or getting the trunk broken in.. Not sure
which would be worse.. but I wouldn't take any chances...hey you got a rogue from Musician's friend??? 24.99 shipped.... but for me even that's a no no..ha ha Have Fun at the festival..MM Stan

 

[molokinirum]

This is what beater ukes are for. Don't cook your Koaloha.

I agree....if you want to take your uke with you....get a beater. I would never ever leave a KoAloha, Kamaka, Kanile'a, etc in a car.

 

[Pippin]

well it gets hotter than ambient inside the car where the windows are so I tend to put my ukuleles in the trunk because it shouldn't get as hot in there as in the sitting part of the car--no greenhouse effect.

not so... Your truck can be as much as 180 degrees in that weather. The smaller cubic volume along with the metal enclosure is like a hot-box. If leaving the instrument in the car is a MUST, I would lay it on the floor behind the front seats and cover it with a light-colored blanket or sheet of some sort. Then, I would leave the windows open a tiny bit to help ventilate. I'd also try parking in the shade if possible. Better yet, don't leave the uke in the car at all. In high heat, the bridge might pop off.