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Hi

What kind of experience do you have with salt water and your equipment? Salt is very aggressive and could ruin a lot of electronic equipment. Recordings on the beach, on the sea, the air is full with salty dust which allegedly could also find a way through good Rycote-Windshields. ?? If the salt is on/in electronic components it slowly makes long-term demages.
Some years ago, I went to iceland and made some records from the sea. Friends alert me about the salt and made me afraid. I was very careful, nothing happend until now, everything's still runs fine.
On Tim Prebbles website http://hissandaroar.com/amb001-blow-holes/ we can see a lot of great pics from his recordings at the coast.
@Tim: Did you have any problems with your equipment because of the salt? On some pics we can see that your windshield is quite wet. No Problem with the salt?
How is it with someone who lives close to the sea?

Best Guido

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I've done a lot of seaside recording over the years and it comes down to being sensible with your equipment. Here's a few tips:

All xlr's are neutrik waterproof series (as seen here).
http://www.sjmediasystem.com/nc3fx-hd-b.html

Use long cable runs, I have 50/25/10/5m 5XLR lengths. (starquad wired for "stereo") That way I can sit under cover and keep an eye on my equipment.

My kit is in a "sound bag", make sure the cover is on or even a towel over the top can be handy.

A damp cloth can be handy to wipe down cables/tripod later at home. (deoxit all pins too!)

If the rycote windjammer gets wet, at home I'll soak it for a bit in a tub then gently squeeze refilling the container a few times to rinse followed by a light brush and air dry. Do not wash or dry in a machine! Do it by hand gently and it'll stay tangle free for years.

Use a paint brush to remove solids off the mixer, follow using a (barely) damp cloth, once dry use a vacuum cleaner with brush attachment. After all that I'll clean all pots/switches with deoxit and I'm ready to go!

And one final tip: You can cover the unused xlrs with tape to help reduce salt getting into the connectors.

Here's the sound of the sea on Niue. http://soundcloud.com/naturesounds_nz/sets/niue/

Regards, Grant Finlay http://naturesounds.co.nz

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  • Hi Grant, thank you for your answer. I see you are very carfull with salt. I like your idea with tape arount the connectors. I use water-resistant outdoor bags from exped to put cables and unsued gear inside. So no water, salt and dust can come in. All in all, you don't have any longtime-damages on microphones which you think could be of salt? Best Guido soundeffects.ch
    – Guido Helbling
    Oct 14 '12 at 16:33
  • No damage that I'm aware of, so far.. The mics are always inside a rycote with fluffy so I'm sure that'll "soak up" most salt etc.
    – grant finlay
    Oct 16 '12 at 12:18

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