A mixer bought for a church in Accra, Lagos or Kumasi does not live the life its makers imagined. It sits in heat, in damp air for half the year and fine dust for the other half, under a roof that roars in the rain, in a building that is empty and unguarded six days a week.
Most of the faders that crackle, the inputs that cut out and the amplifiers that die early in our churches are not faulty products. They are products nobody looked after. The good news is that looking after them is cheap and takes a few minutes a week.
Dust: the harmattan months
The harmattan usually runs from about November to March in Ghana, according to the Ghana Meteorological Agency, with visibility in the north falling to between one and six kilometres in a strong spell (GMet). The particles are fine, around 5 micrometres in the south and coarser in the north (University of Copenhagen). Dust that fine gets into everything: fader slots, knob shafts, fan vents and connectors.
I could not find any published study of what harmattan dust does to mixers specifically. But anyone who has run sound in West Africa knows the result: scratchy faders and pots, crackling jacks, and amplifiers that run hot because their vents and fans are clogged. Settled dust is measurable elsewhere too: in one study in northern Ghana, dust cut solar panel output by 28.7% over four months (KNUST).
What to do:
- Cover the desk every time it is not in use. A fitted dust cover is best, a clean cotton cloth is fine. Never a plastic sheet in hot weather, because it traps moisture underneath.
- Cap unused connectors. Plastic dust caps for XLR and jack sockets are cheap. An empty socket fills with dust.
- Keep vents clear. Amplifiers and powered speakers breathe through their fans and vents. Blow them out with a can of air or a soft brush monthly during the harmattan, with the power off.
- Clean, do not spray randomly. Rane, a professional audio maker, recommends regular cleaning and lubrication of faders and pots in harsh environments with a proper fader lubricant, possibly once a year (Rane). Use a product made for faders and contacts. General-purpose sprays and oils attract more dust and can damage the tracks.
- Store microphones in their bags or a closed box, not on the stand all week.
Heat
Electronics hate heat, and a closed church in the afternoon sun can get very hot.
- Do not leave the desk or amplifiers in direct sun from a window or an open side.
- Give amplifiers space to breathe, top and back. A rack crammed against the wall cooks.
- Power down between services. A mixer left on all week in a hot room ages for no reason.
- Watch the laptop. The computer running tracks or the stream often sits on the desk in the sun and throttles or shuts down mid-service.
Humidity and damp
In the rainy season the opposite problem arrives: damp air, condensation and corrosion on connectors and circuit boards.
- Ventilate the room where gear is stored. A closed cupboard in a damp building is a corrosion box.
- Silica gel sachets in the microphone case and the cable box absorb moisture. They are cheap and reusable.
- Let cold gear warm up before powering it on, if it has been moved from an air-conditioned room into humid air. Condensation and electricity do not mix.
- Check connectors for green or white crust. That is corrosion. Clean it with a contact cleaner and replace badly corroded cables.
- Keep everything off the floor. Rain gets in, floors get mopped, and a stage box sitting in a puddle is a short circuit waiting to happen.
Rain on a zinc roof
When heavy rain hits a metal roof, the noise inside can drown out the sermon. Metal sheets have little internal damping, so rain on them is loud, and it hurts speech intelligibility (Sound Reduction Systems). Some churches have treated their roofs: a Deeper Life church in Lagos had insulation sprayed under a 3,000 m² roof partly for acoustic reasons (BASF).
For the sound team on a rainy Sunday:
- Do not just turn everything up. You make the band louder and the words no clearer.
- Bring the voice up, and the instruments down. Speech competing with rain needs the words on top, not a louder band.
- Add a little clarity to the speech mics (a small lift around 2 to 4 kHz) and cut any boominess. Rain noise is broad; clear consonants carry through it.
- Use the delay speakers at the back, if you have them, rather than pushing the main speakers harder.
- Expect it. In the rainy season, have a "rain" scene saved on the desk with speech forward and the band tucked in.
Theft
Church gear is a target. In Hohoe, a man was jailed for four years in June 2026 for stealing a church's amplifier, equaliser, mixer and crossover (GNA). In Ashaiman, a church lost speakers, a mixer, a piano and a stabiliser (Ghanaian Times). In Kirinyaga in Kenya, an organised gang targeted church mixers and microphones across several churches in 2026 (Citizen Digital).
Simple measures make a big difference:
- A lockable rack or cabinet for the mixer, amplifiers and stabiliser. Thieves want quick, light, valuable things. Make them slow.
- Take the small valuables away. Wireless microphones, the laptop, the iPad and the in-ear packs go home with a named person or into a locked safe, not on the stage overnight.
- Write down every serial number and photograph each item. Without serial numbers, the police cannot prove stolen gear is yours.
- Mark everything with the church's name: an engraver, a UV pen or a paint marker inside the battery compartment.
- An inventory sheet, checked after every service: what went out, what came back.
- Lights and a lock on the sound room, and someone who checks it after the last service.
A simple care calendar
Every service
- Cover the desk and cap unused sockets when you finish.
- Microphones back in their bags or box.
- Check the inventory sheet.
Every month
- Blow out amplifier vents and fans (power off).
- Wipe the desk surface and check faders for scratchiness.
- Replace the silica gel sachets or dry them out.
Before the harmattan (October)
- Check the dust covers and dust caps.
- Clean and lubricate faders and pots with a proper fader lubricant if they crackle.
Before the rainy season
- Get everything off the floor.
- Check the roof above the desk and the stage for leaks.
- Save a "rain" scene.
Every year
- A full clean of the desk and amplifiers by someone qualified.
- Check every cable and replace the worst ones.
- Update the serial number list and photos.
Gear that is cared for lasts years longer, and the money saved buys the next microphone. If your church also struggles with power, church sound on generator and unstable power covers the other big killer of equipment.
Questions people ask
How do I protect my mixer from dust?
Cover it whenever it is not in use, cap unused sockets, keep the vents of amplifiers clear, and clean faders with a proper fader lubricant rather than general sprays.
Why do my faders crackle?
Usually dust or dirt on the fader track. Clean and lubricate them with a product made for faders and pots. In dusty climates, covering the desk prevents most of it.
How do I keep sound equipment safe from humidity?
Store it in a ventilated place off the floor, use silica gel in cases, let cold gear warm up before switching it on, and clean corroded connectors.
How can we stop church sound equipment from being stolen?
Lock the mixer and amplifiers in a rack or cabinet, take wireless mics and laptops away after service, record serial numbers, mark everything, and keep an inventory.
What do I do when rain on the roof drowns out the sermon?
Bring the speech up and the band down, add a little clarity to the speech mics, and use delay speakers rather than pushing the mains. Save a "rain" scene so it takes one button.
More on running sound in African churches: church sound in Africa.
Written by Stephen Amanor Sackey — producer, mix engineer and music director, Virginia. More about the studio.
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