Carputer Condensation

TheDon · 01-13-2004, 03:02 PM

Howdy all. Question ya. I am in the processes of modding my 2003 Mazda Protege 5 to accept a carputer. The problem i keep banging my head aginst the wall with is this. Does anyone know about condensation with the puter in cold weather regions. Between its warm operating temptures and the outside temps in like the midwest and northeast of the US. It would really **** me off to short the whole thing out. Any advise?????

sigma957 · 01-13-2004, 03:29 PM

Do a search on "cold weather" and you will find many threads discussing the effect of cold temperatures on the Car PC. Most discussions seem to focus on the hard drive, since they are generally only rated from 5C to 55C. I live in Denver and my computer does not like to boot below freezing, however, others report no problem in colder areas. Condensation is generally not thought to be a problem.

saito · 01-13-2004, 03:29 PM

Slightly OT, but related to the weather. It's been about -2°F to 5°F above here in NE for the last week. My ITPS power sequencer will not pass current to the computer until the interior temperature warms up for about 10-15 minutes.

At first I thought the computer was "frozen." Sorry. Couldn't resist. But after putting a meter on the board, I could see it wasn't passing the juice til things warmed up a bit.

It's 30°F now, and everything is fine.

FWIW, I've had a box in my car in one form or another for 3 years and condensation has never been an issue. As usual, your mileage may vary.

Hcomplyr · 01-13-2004, 04:03 PM

No problems here with my hardware all week
where in the north east are you saito? i was out all night in that freezing weather on saturday

parawing742 · 01-13-2004, 04:40 PM

I've used my system in freezing weather before (New York State) and the only problem is I have to wait for my truck to warm up before it will boot. Seems the hard drive doesn't like temps well below freezing. The hard drive usually makes a screeching sound for several minutes after starting up.

TheDon · 01-13-2004, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Hcomplyr No problems here with my hardware all week

I am actually in chicago but i journy to toronto from time to time. The weather that hit you folks came here first and it sucked.

TruckinMP3 · 01-13-2004, 05:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sigma957

Do a search on "cold weather" and you will find many threads discussing the effect of cold temperatures on the Car PC. Most discussions seem to focus on the hard drive, since they are generally only rated from 5C to 55C. I live in Denver and my computer does not like to boot below freezing, however, others report no problem in colder areas. Condensation is generally not thought to be a problem.

Hey Sigma,

I assumed (bad of me) that I was the only member in the Denver area.

You acctually have cold boot issues here?

I'll throw in with sigma "Condensation is generally not thought to be a problem."

sxpert · 01-13-2004, 06:53 PM

well, uh, on space hardware, they use high power high ohm resistors to generate heat by passing a current through them (this is the most power consuming thing in a space device such as the mars rovers, besides radio communications) so that the components that don't like it don't freeze...

TruckinMP3 · 01-13-2004, 08:11 PM

High power consumption components (heat generating)
and Heat are gennerally the enemy for small footprint installs that run from battery power (car PCs)

sxpert · 01-13-2004, 08:18 PM

well, they use these on the current mars rovers that only generates 900w/h per day. so guess they have found a way to do it...
the warm electronics box is composed of a very good insulating structure (mebbe that's where the secret is

)
the rovers are able to withstand -190 C , and the computer inside is still functionnal.
in our case, we'd need to use a power resistor (those that have an aluminium radiator) and a temperature sensor. turn the power to the resistor when temperature of the HDD casing is under a certain threshold (10 C sounds about right), turn it off when temp goes over threshold (15 C)

sigma957 · 01-14-2004, 12:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TruckinMP3

Hey Sigma,

I assumed (bad of me) that I was the only member in the Denver area.

You acctually have cold boot issues here?

Yes, I have cold boot issues in the morning. If it's been below freezing it usually takes 5-10 minutes before I can get a good boot.

The conventional wisdom in these forums is that cold weather problems are hard drive related, but I'm no longer sure that's true. Recently I've done some experimenting with different hard drives, and they all seem to behave the same. I also tried using a removable drive bay and removing the hard drive at night. This also did not make a difference. Therefore, my new theory is that the PW-60 power supply I use is the problem. Perhaps these small DC-DC power supplies do not put out enough current in cold temperatures. (They are only rated to 0C.) Anyway, I'm going to try a regular ATX power supply (through an inverter) for a couple days, and I will post my results in a new thread.

TruckinMP3 · 01-14-2004, 06:12 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sigma957

SNIP
Therefore, my new theory is that the PW-60 power supply I use is the problem. Perhaps these small DC-DC power supplies do not put out enough current in cold temperatures. (They are only rated to 0C.) Anyway, I'm going to try a regular ATX power supply (through an inverter) for a couple days, and I will post my results in a new thread.

Interesting, I am using the PC power and cooling 12 v PS and have not had trouble.... But I am garaged most nights now. (home ownership perks).

I'll watch for the update on Boot reults.

sigma957 · 01-15-2004, 10:37 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by TruckinMP3

Interesting, I am using the PC power and cooling 12 v PS and have not had trouble.... But I am garaged most nights now. (home ownership perks).

I'll watch for the update on Boot reults.

I used to be garaged every night, but between my wife's minivan and the kids bicycles, my car seems to have lost its spot...