Humidity problems with carputers?

DrHoss · 07-20-2005, 12:29 AM

I'm going to get a big loan check from school in a week or so, and am going to start my carputer project very soon. I've done a bunch of reading on these forums and elsewhere, and I was curious if anyone has had problems with humidity with their carputers or touchscreens. I live in north Texas where the humidity can be terribly brutal (80 percent and higher isn't uncommon at all), with the temperatures reaching 100 F during June-August on a regular basis. In this extreme of an environment, has anyone else had troubles with 'puters OR screens? Wanted to know before I start buying components.

djXternal · 07-20-2005, 11:00 AM

i havent had any problems with humidity down here in tampa florida, also extremely humid, but i would invest in some good cooling systems... ive had a ton of cooling issues lately and am having to tear my car apart alot lately to install new cooling systems to try and get things working better

Change · 07-20-2005, 11:24 PM

The only problem I've had in my car with humidity is when I was running my A/C all day, and then switched it off at night. It was humid outside, and the cold air had been blowing on my ham radio mic all day, making it quite cold. Once the moist air hit it, the moisture condensed on the mic, got into the power button, and turned on my radio. I had to unplug the mic to turn it off. Beware of conditions like this which would cause moisture to condense on your hardware...as long as your vents aren't blowing directly onto a component, you don't have to worry.

Gibson99 · 07-27-2005, 12:00 AM

i had no issues w/ my carputer in my camry in houston. and it gets plenty hot & humid here, too. i had the mainboard mounted under the driverseat, literally screwed right into the heater duct under the seat for rear seat passengers' feet. no issues. and in winter time (you know, when the daytime temps drop below 90), i even ran the heater on the floor setting, so that it actually pumped hot air under there... no problems at all. then again, it was an old k6-200 socket 7... but it still needed a cpu fan. but i didn't go out and get a big *** thermaltake or something, i just used a cheap *** $2 socket fan with an anodized blue heat sink and a clear fan. back when case modding was JUST starting to take off.

but i had NO display. not even a character LCD. didn't bother me at all. i was just happy that i had all my tunes in the car without having to change CDs, and it never skipped. i miss it. can't wait till i can get my **** together and put one in my miata!

www.gibson99.com/camry/95se/carputer if you're curious...