It gets hot in the outside parked car during the summer. Even in the trunk.

The concern is keeping a wood ukulele in a hard carry case inside the trunk while shopping or doing other activities for several hours (let's say all day). Worried about warping or damaging the instrument.

Was looking into an insulated cooler, preferably soft side but worst case hard side, but not sure it would work even if ice packs were placed inside.

There must be a recommended method that musicians use. Any ideas?

Whatever you choose, you should include a desiccant canister, especially if you're going to actively cool an enclosed space in an automobile on hot, humid days.

Good suggestion! Noted. Thanks! Will look into what's available.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
It gets hot in the outside parked car during the summer. Even in the trunk.

The concern is keeping a wood ukulele in a hard carry case inside the trunk while shopping or doing other activities for several hours (let's say all day). Worried about warping or damaging the instrument.

Was looking into an insulated cooler, preferably soft side but worst case hard side, but not sure it would work even if ice packs were placed inside.

There must be a recommended method that musicians use. Any ideas?

Leaving a guitar in a hot car for multiple hours simply should not be done.

I’ve seen my dad and other guitar player friends take their guitars in to restaurants for lunch.

Yea, guitars seem like it would be no-go. Much more expensive and larger. Wouldn't fit into a cooler like I'm thinking. But the uke is small (tenor) and not too expensive ($250-350). But wouldn't want to replace it, especially multiple times, because of heat/humidity damage.

Problem is that my wife doesn't want to lug it around all day either. Hoping for a solution.

A Ukeleles string tension is around 3 times less than a full size guitar, so there's significant less stress on the top and neck of the instrument. So the movement of the wood shouldn't be all that severe, even in a hot environment. There have been many guitars hauled around in cars for years, some without any damage at all. A guitar with laminated wood is far less susceptible to movement. Find out if your Uke is laminated or solid. If it's laminated it'll probably be just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by sigspecops:
A Ukeleles string tension is around 3 times less than a full size guitar, so there's significant less stress on the top and neck of the instrument.

Jumping in to say that I was not aware of this, but thanks for posting it.

If there's such a thing as "subject matter expertise" for ANY topic, I'm reasonably sure that it can be found among SIGforum's membership.

I would never ever leave it in the car. I suppose you could find a large enough cooler and put a few ice packs in it. It might prevent it baking, but the temperature will still be unstable.

I always adjust my plans to not have to leave a good instrument in the car more than just a few minutes.

If this will be a regular occurrence for her, the easiest option is to just carry it. Another option is buy a cheap uke for those situations, and wrap it in a couple of blankets. Perhaps add good window reflectors or leave windows slightly open. A 3rd option is get a solid body uke and a small amp. Heat won't kill them nearly as easily.

Don’t know the size of your instrument (!) but maybe look into an electric cooler.
I have one for remote camping that plugs into a cigarette lighter that I can set the temperature to. I’m not sure what the upper setting is (maybe 50?) but you could probably find one that would work for you for $3-400.

Insulation's great but sooner or later the ambient temp is getting in.

I saw some carbon fiber uke's but they are $1000+ - I think finding a cool solution for my cheaper uke's is more palatable

I have some ice packs (from Japan) that will last a good 24 hours in an insulated container. That being said, I think even keeping the uke cool for 4 out of 8 hours instead of being subjected to heat for all 8 hours may be good. Or maybe doesn't matter. I'm not sure.

I'd rather not carry the uke everywhere all day while walking around - it's a bit cumbersome and awkward. It'd be okay if it's just going in/out of a restaurant.

And dropping off at home is not really an option - the venues are usually away from home and hence the desire to walk around, explore, shop, etc while we're there.

Solar powered AC for the trunk - anybody make one?

I wouldn't leave it in a car for over an hour or two. It can get well over 140 in a car, and you'll risk popping some joint as it heats up. Same in the winter, if you live in a really cold place.

A good heavy case with a lot of foam padding will help slow down the heating. Fast temperature change is worse than slow change. But even still, an hour or two is all I would risk in a truly hot car.

Air that is too dry is much more dangerous to wooden instruments than too moist air. Dry air causes shrinking and it pulls tops apart most commonly. But joints can also pull apart. Moist air causes wood to swell, but instruments can take that more easily. If you have AC or heating that causes the humidity in your house to go much below 60%, you probably want to put some humidifier in the case. The old standby was a 35mm film canister with holes drilled in it with a piece of sponge in it soaked in water. Any smallish container like that will work.

Seagull used to have a foam case for their guitars called TRIC for "Thermally Regulated Instrument Case". Maybe something like that exists for Ukes? If not, maybe there's something in the shipping industry that might work. I know I've seen stuff shipped from places like GoldBelly in real thick stryofoam.

After a gig 35 years ago, I learned a lesson the hard way. I inadvertently left a guitar in the trunk of a car overnight on a cold night. The guitar, a Westerly built ‘75 Guild D-50NT, survived, but the top suffered dozens of finish checks. Still have the guitar, and it sounds even better today. It rivals my Martin D-41 in many ways, but every time I pull it out I cringe at the finish checks that most people would ignore.

I suggest making the Uke more portable. Get a good padded gig bag, light and easy to cary, easy to store. But don’t forget where you stored it. I don’t leave my guitars anywhere I wouldn’t be comfortable.

Thanks guys. Lots of great feedback and experiences to ponder. We'll try some stuff out. Seems like a biz opportunity for someone innovative.

As someone who has played guitar for 32 years, bring the uke in with you. It's a uke, you're carrying something small, it's not a jumbo acoustic where you're lugging it around.