Just my opinion, but I think its a bad idea to transport any set in hard plastic cases, lined or unlined, winter or summer, through changes in temperature and humidity,... and then bring them back home and store them in the cases. In the winter, you take them from a warm home, into a cold outside, transport with or without heat in car or truck, bring them inside, set up and play, case up, same transport to home. The plastic will naturally condensate inside. Its a perfectly normal thing to happen.

Summer can be almost as bad, depending on how much you cool your house.

I never leave a set cased up in the hard plastic cases.

Maybe I am just paranoid.

Edit.............. Apparently there is a problem with gator specifically. I do not make a practice of posting links to other forums, however, I do hope this will be acceptable.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82042&highlight=gator+cases+rust

Emmojo,

I've never had an issue with my DWs in my Humes & Berg Enduro cases. For the last almost 10 years, the only time the drums aren't in the cases are when I'm changing heads, tuning them up or setting up and playing. Of course, they aren't left in a garage, they're either stacked in my closet or the corner of my bedroom. I've transported them in the winter, summer and rain with no issues. I live in a very humid area also. I know you'd have to come up with a few hundred dollars, but I highly recommend H&B Enduros. Maybe you can contact Gator and get them to refund your expenses, or at least buy back your cases - I know it's probably a shot in the dark, though, but it never hurts to try.

I lined all of the cases except the bass drum case and one of my snare cases myself. I used 3M Auto Interior Spray Adhesive and headliner material for the ones I did myself. No issues out of any of them. Gator must be using some caustic chemicals in their glue, or it could be chemicals in their foam or whatever liner material they use.

Years ago, I cut up old white T-shirts to use as dividers in my cymbal case and they quickly started causing some weird streaking on my cymbals where they were held against the fabric. Someone with a little smarts explained to me that washing leaves behind chemicals in the fabric, and that was the cause of the streaking. So, it could be the glue or the chemicals in the liner or a combination. That's just a guess, though.

I hadn't planned to buy Gator cases for my new-to-me old Slingerlands, but I definitely won't be even considering Gator any time soon after hearing about this. I wonder if anyone else has had issues with any other case manufacturer.

Thank you very much for sharing that! I hope Gator will own up to their problem-causing cases and help you out, emmojo.

there was a similar problem from a forum member on the DFO about a year ago and come to find out that this is a large reoccurring problem with certain year Gator drum cases due to the glue that was used in them at that time.

If you are going to store something for a long period where there is no air flow, I would suggest adding some packets of desiccant to capture any residual moisture. You see these small packets in many items (especially electronics) when you unpack them.

Thanks for all the replies. I did not hear back from Dw today, but I'm certain I will. I have for decades stored kits in bags as well as plastic hard-shells (SKB), without any issues. I also have always included at least one packet of silica, just in case.

Keep in mind that there was only rust and corrosion on one of the 5 drums, which makes things even more interesting. I will keep you posted!

That makes me think that there was some contamination, either of the drum or the case.

That would make sense except for the fact that I always wear white cotton gloves when I set up and tear down. Each drum is wiped for prints and smudges then placed in the case. While the drums are out of the cases, each one is placed inside each other and closed. Not much chance for just the one drum to be contaminated.

Hi Everyone! We recently came across this forum and thought we should share what is going on with this situation. Our official statement, as well as complete instructions for how to file a warranty claim can be found at the following link:

http://www.gatorcases.com/support/gpr-drum-case-statement.aspx

We wish to express our sincerest apologies to anyone who has been affected by this issue. Please rest assured all of us at Gator Cases are taking this issue very seriously and doing everything in our power to resolve this in an effective and timely manner.

It is important that we do not confuse the GPR series with our current ‘Protechtor’ drum case line, or any other Gator Cases product for that matter. There are no issues with the Protechtor series drum cases; these are made in the USA from a different factory.

Thank you,

Alex Fedele

Gator Cases

Wow. Kudos to Gator for digging up an old thread and spreading the word.

My two cents: I have used Protechtor cases and NEVER had a problem with them.