Options
Is hot weather bad for our electrical equipment?
shoestring25
Posts: 4,715 Forum Member
✭✭✭
last year during the heatwave my TV went wrong, during this years heatwave my ps3 went wrong. basically is running my electrical equipment during hot weather making it fail?
0
Comments
So dust/dirt/grease blocking grills/grids and vent areas around electrical equipment will prevent heat from escaping, not a good thing.
Taking the side off the PC case and give it a going over with canned air and in very hot weather leaving the side off will do the PC no harm if in constant use.
Its about movement of air, it won't prevent electrical equipment from getting hot but it will help keep things a little cooler.
Not strictly true - the main cause of failure in much modern electronics (the cheaper makes mainly) is sub-standard capacitors, and the temperature been hotter shortens their life (but it's not specifically the capacitors getting hotter, it's the environment they are in). The real problem though is the capacitors are sub-standard, the manufacturers know this, but don't care as they are CHEAP!!.
But heat kills electronics - if the weather is hotter then the electronics runs hotter.
For example, say your iPad (or whatever) runs at 20 degrees - if the ambient temperature is 10 degrees, then it's running at 30 degrees, if the ambient temperature is 30, then it's running at 50 degrees (and so on).
This also affects the cooling of the system, heatsinks work better when there's a large temperature differential, as do fan cooled ones.
So basically hot weather CAN be detrimental to electronics, but it depends how well (or poorly) they were designed and made.
Not worth reading, as we're in the UK, and don't get temperature extremes anywhere near the ones electronic devices are designed to work in.
the heat generated inside mos chips s a funtion of switching speed. very little to do with external ambient temperature. of course they will run hotter since there is a smaller temperature difference with the environment hence reduced heat dissipation .....
presumably the caps u are thinking of are electrolytic ....... the big ones on the inputs of power supplies slowly dry out but again its more from internally genrated heat .... ......
you have a Bayliss clockwork radio ?
i hear the dab version needs winding up every 2 minutes !
I agree with your fine post, except for the above. If you've got fans moving air through the case normally, taking the side off disrupts the airflow so you could create hotspots.
(I run my fans fairly quiet so in hot weather I just turn up the speed of the ones at the back; since the room window will be open the added noise isn't an issue.)
what happens with passive cooling no fans to dissipate the heat ? in hot weather like this
It's got everything to do with the ambient temperature, as the internal temperature of the equipment is that generated inside on top of the ambient temperature.
I don't quite see the relevance of mentioning MOS chips?, heat is generated in ALL chips, and all other components as well - switching speed is only one 'cause' (although not really the 'cause' as it's simple W=VxI that causes the heat).
More from the temperature inside the unit, not just that inside the capacitors - and it's not just a question of 'slowly drying out', it's a question of the sub-standard capacitors RAPIDLY going high-ESR. If you fit decent quality capacitors then this doesn't happen, and the capacitors life is measured in decades.
Assuming a PS3 has that capability (most PC's do) then yes, the fan will run faster in hotter weather - the device itself 'should' run at pretty well the same temperature. Once you get to a certain point though it can't go any faster, and if the CPU gets hotter it commonly gets slowed down to reduce it's temperature.
They run hotter - but passive cooling 'should' be rated to keep the device within design limits during the hottest weather.