storing PC in very low temp

[nboy22]

I want to keep my PC overnight in a car, the temp will probably be around 20-30 Farenheit, is this ok? or do I run a high risk of ruining compenents? thanks.

 

[Crimson]

It will be fine, just make sure to give it plenty of time to warm up and for any condensation to evaporate before powering it on.

 

[Gurck]

What about a CRT?

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Gurck
What about a CRT?

Same guidelines as for the PC given by Crimson. CRT is a big light bulb with attached electronics. PC is a box full of electronics and two moving parts (HD and fans).

I'd bring both inside the house and let them sit for about two hours before powreing them up.

 

[piroroadkill]

It'll be fine as long as you let it warm up gently again when you bring it back in for a few hours or sometihng. Just make sure there's no condensation or anything on it.

 

[Insane3D]

Meh. I bring a system into work every night, and it's in my car all day. The last few days the temperature was as low as 10F, and as "high" as 22F...I bring it right in and fire it up. Thing is, when it's this cold out, the air is super dry, so condensation is a non-issue.

 

[SmokeRngs]

Make sure the system is at room temperature before trying to use it. Once it gets room temp, the condensation should be gone. Doublecheck it anyway. This is why I don't leave anything I plan on using soon somewhere where this could happen. I'm just too impatient to wait until it's ready to go to turn it on.

The couple of times I didn't let something sit long enough I was lucky and it didn't get messed up. Then again, this wasn't a whole system either, just a hard drive or stick of RAM or something. I did give it some time to warm back up though before trying to use it.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Meh. I bring a system into work every night, and it's in my car all day. The last few days the temperature was as low as 10F, and as "high" as 22F...I bring it right in and fire it up. Thing is, when it's this cold out, the air is super dry, so condensation is a non-issue.

True, but if he brings it inside and lets it sit, the warm air will/may cause condensation to form on the colder PC parts.

Fern

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Meh. I bring a system into work every night, and it's in my car all day. The last few days the temperature was as low as 10F, and as "high" as 22F...I bring it right in and fire it up. Thing is, when it's this cold out, the air is super dry, so condensation is a non-issue.

True, but if he brings it inside and lets it sit, the warm air will/may cause condensation to form on the colder PC parts.

Fern

It'll be in Salt Lake City, UT, so probably pretty low humidity.. at least here in Idaho there is hardly any humidity.

 

[FlameDeer]

But better careful about condensation problem when you move in to an enclose area with people (humidity from breathing ) inside such as house or office.

 

[Zepper]

I wouldn't want to leave an LCD monitor or a laptop at that temp.
.bh.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Meh. I bring a system into work every night, and it's in my car all day. The last few days the temperature was as low as 10F, and as "high" as 22F...I bring it right in and fire it up. Thing is, when it's this cold out, the air is super dry, so condensation is a non-issue.

True, but if he brings it inside and lets it sit, the warm air will/may cause condensation to form on the colder PC parts.

Fern

It'll be in Salt Lake City, UT, so probably pretty low humidity.. at least here in Idaho there is hardly any humidity.

Yeah, I live in the Smoky Mountains in NC. Our humity can be fairly low, like 30%, but indoors with peeps breathing (as mentioned above), taking showers, cooking etc the humidity builds up indoors. Even with "dry heat" (fire place and fuel oil furnace) which wrings ever more moisture out of the air, I get condensation build up on the inside of my windows.

Humidity is relative to temperature too. Air at 65 degrees with humidity at 30% holds much more moisture than air at 30 degrees and humidity of 30%.

In your house, if you have a glass/beverage with ice cubes in it, doesn't it get condensation on the o/s?

Perhaps you should let the PC sit for 10-15 minutes once indoors and see if any condensation builds up on the outside just to see what's gonna happen. My other thought is to fire it up right away, it'll warm up and eliminate any chance of condensation. That's what I have done, but am reluctant to suggest it outright for you for fear you may have a prob.

Fern

BTW: I have not found that the cold in and of itself to be a problem. The rig in my sig sits in an unheated room usually. Often the temps are below freezing when I first go to play. Only prob I have ever had is that I must put a blow drier or something on my PSU to get it to start up. Otherwise, these conditions are great for OCing

 

[imported_Darthan]

If you do a quick check for condensation you turn it on you should be fine.

Gurck, I really wouldn't put a CRT anywhere there would be condensation. There are a bunch of tens of thousands of volt capacitors that ought to pretty happily send a current through water and that'll probably fry the CRT, or maybe you when you pick it up.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Meh. I bring a system into work every night, and it's in my car all day. The last few days the temperature was as low as 10F, and as "high" as 22F...I bring it right in and fire it up. Thing is, when it's this cold out, the air is super dry, so condensation is a non-issue.

True, but if he brings it inside and lets it sit, the warm air will/may cause condensation to form on the colder PC parts.

Fern

It'll be in Salt Lake City, UT, so probably pretty low humidity.. at least here in Idaho there is hardly any humidity.

Yeah, I live in the Smoky Mountains in NC. Our humity can be fairly low, like 30%, but indoors with peeps breathing (as mentioned above), taking showers, cooking etc the humidity builds up indoors. Even with "dry heat" (fire place and fuel oil furnace) which wrings ever more moisture out of the air, I get condensation build up on the inside of my windows.

Humidity is relative to temperature too. Air at 65 degrees with humidity at 30% holds much more moisture than air at 30 degrees and humidity of 30%.

In your house, if you have a glass/beverage with ice cubes in it, doesn't it get condensation on the o/s?

Perhaps you should let the PC sit for 10-15 minutes once indoors and see if any condensation builds up on the outside just to see what's gonna happen. My other thought is to fire it up right away, it'll warm up and eliminate any chance of condensation. That's what I have done, but am reluctant to suggest it outright for you for fear you may have a prob.

Fern

BTW: I have not found that the cold in and of itself to be a problem. The rig in my sig sits in an unheated room usually. Often the temps are below freezing when I first go to play. Only prob I have ever had is that I must put a blow drier or something on my PSU to get it to start up. Otherwise, these conditions are great for OCing

I agree, but I've never had a problem in about 2 solid winters of bringing my system right into work from the car and firing it up. Worst that has happened is the case makes little creaks every couple minutes while it warms up. I can bring it in from 10F degree temps, and no moisture AT ALL form on the outside, if it did, I would probably wait.

Hell, last year we had a couple weeks were it was about -20F @ night, and about 2F during the day...brought the PC in every night and it fired up just the same.

Also, I will add that I also leave my LCD monitor in the car @ those temps with no issues.

 

[smoothness]

On the topic to too cold, I don't think it's that much of an issue. I live on the ground floor of a dorm in New England, with my window open all the time, fan blowing cold air onto my computer. Btw: it's the best heatsink ever ;-). The thing is ice cold, but nothing ever happens. I've also left computers in cars overnight - it's not that bad.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The only thing that I really wonder about, is leaving components in below-freezing temps for an extended period of time. Don't most cheaper electrolytic caps use a water-based electrolyte? I would be worried about ice crystals perforating the dielectric layer, and reducing the performance or destroying the cap altogether if it shorted out. Degrade the dielectric enough, and the cap will surely fail, eventually.

Is this an issue, or am I being paranoid here? Likewise, are below-freezing temps bad for magnetic media or the dye layer used in unburned CD/DVD media?

Definately let any device that has been out in the cold for a bit, warm up and dry out first though, don't ever fire it up right after bringing it in to a warm/humid area.

 

[Looney]

You guys are hyperbolizing the dangers of cold and condensation. Unless your computer is filled with ice crystals that melt when you turn it on, you won't have problems with condensation. If condensation was that bad, you would have electronic failures EVERYWHERE like car stereos, electronic tools that are used outdoors (almost everything have some sort of CPU onboard these days), cellphones/payphones, planes dropping from the sky, etc.