Storing magnets - Am I screwing them up?

[krovatron]

Was just sorting my part tubs (yes I know I am that ridiculous) and got to my magnet bin and realize I just sort of have them in there...all sticking to each other. Never gave a thought to it before but now am thinking...I am probably screwing them all up....Fortunately many are still in the foam wraps and what not but others are just free floating and locked onto each other. Curious what your best practices are? Obviously not a huge investment, but would rather not be distorting my magnets on hand. Probably would help to figure out how to measure the strength of magnets too.

[Clint 55]

I don't think that really hurts anything to store magnets willy nilly. I remember cermag said you mostly get degaussing when you force opposite poles together. It's possible they could lose a tad of strength like that but I wouldn't notice anything function wise.

To measure strength you need a gauss meter which are really expensive.

A good thing to have around though is a magnetizer so you never have to worry, you can just fully charge mags whenever you need.

https://www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-Bench-Top-Guitar-Pickup-Magnetizer?gclid=Cj0KCQiAutyfBhCMARIsAMgcRJQ8yp2EbqLn0P9To030Z4n2ytNWS5ah4mcwMk-94dsz6_WAPoeGF8waAuNtEALw_wcB

[eclecticsynergy]

Ceramics - and to a lesser extent A8s - can degauss weaker mags, especially over time.
Neo mags are so powerful they can degauss (or regauss) alnicos instantaneously.

Generally storing alnico mags stuck together is safe, even with different alnico types.
As Clint says, they can only interfere with each other when they repel but are forced together.
This can happen in random jumbles and can become worse in long term storage such as a parts bin.
So IMO it's best to keep them organized.

I keep neos and ceramics stuck to the refrigerator door, myself, to keep them far from the alnicos.
A2s, A3s, A4s, UA5s, and A5s I keep stuck to each other.
But the A8s are in another envelope a foot away from the rest, just to be safe.

Again, stronger mags are more likely to affect weaker ones than the other way round.

Also remember that strong ones can affect the magnets inside nearby pickups.
And vice versa - a ceramic pickup can affect nearby alnicos, either loose ones or the ones inside nearby pickups.

Ceramics resist degaussing so you don't need to worry about weakening them, only about their effect on alnicos.

[beaubrummels]

As long as you are not forcing 'like' poles against each other (which would demagnetize them), you should be ok.

My understanding is it works better to have them arranged by strength, strongest in the center and weaker as you go outward.

[hamerfan]

This is how I keep my mags, from A3 up to ceramics

[krovatron]

Thanks everyone for the great tips. I should keep the ceramics and A8s away from the rest then. I use all the A5s I pull out of stock pups on my fridge. People always wonder, where do you get those from? lol