Vintage Synth Repair

Storing gear in such an environment doesn't sound like a good 
idea.  It wasn't designed to tolerate such conditions; for example, 
plastic parts may contract and crack, and moisture in the air will 
precipitate out (when the temp drops below the dewpoint), potentially 
causing corrosion problems (esp. in switches and pots).  Also, there 
are hidden dangers, about which I will relate a short story.

When I was in graduate school some decades ago, I was privileged to 
take an electronic music course in my university's music 
school.  This gave me access to the school's Buchla and a very 
customized Scully recorder, among other things.  Nice stuff, in the 
middle '70s.

Over Christmas break, the university decided to save some money by 
turning off the heat on campus, including in the music 
building.  Near the end of break, heat was turned back 
on.  Unfortunately, it was steam heat.  When turned off, steam in the 
pipes condensed and collected in pockets.  It then froze during an 
unusual cold snap, creating ice plugs in the steam pipes.  When the 
steam was turned back on, the blockages caused the pressure to build 
up and pipes to rupture, on of them in our studio.  The Buchla was 
wiped out, and the Scully substantially damaged.

This is the sort of mistake that only gets made once, but it only 
takes once.  There is always a real risk of getting caught by the law 
of unexpected consequences when you start cutting corners.  Whether 
the risk is worth the reward is up to you.