Posted by Tina_MA on 11/30/05 11:32pm
Msg #79476

Mobile Office in Vehicle

I have a question for all those that use computers and printers in their vehicles. How do you deal with the cold of winter and the extreme heat of summer?

I ask this because a couple of winters ago, after picking my computer up from the repair shop, I brought it in the house and plugged it in. There was a huge crackle, a plume of smoke, and an awful smell. From that I learned that computers and printers cannot be plugged in while cold. The condensation kills them.

Then there's the flip side with the extreme heat in a vehicle. How do you use your equipment when it's been sitting in your vehicle "cooking"?

Reply by Lee/AR on 11/30/05 11:42pm
Msg #79481

Very good question, Tina

As I never intend to do this, I haven't thought about it at all... but you are sooooo very right. Now that I am thinking about it, know cold & subsequent condensation will fry a normal computer...but not the laptops...which is what they're using. Cold probably wouldn't hurt a printer, but in the summer heat, I'd think they'd overheat very quickly unless they're sitting right in front of the air conditioner duct. OK...techies... what's the answer?

Reply by SoCalMisty on 11/30/05 11:48pm
Msg #79482

OUCH! That SUCKS! That happened? RIGHT after you brought it back from the repair shop? Did you cry cuz I would have. LoL. I just wouldnt leave it in the car. Get a carrying case and try your best to never leave it in there. It sucks to lug the damn thing back and forth but computer equipment is a pretty big investment. Do you only leave it in the car when your going somewhere and you cant take it with you or all the time even when your at home? I couldnt be so bold. I would worry about it all the time. What if your car gets broken into or stolen? I know its highly unlikely when its sitting out in front of your house. I live in a pretty nice city where people leave their windows down all nite when the car is sitting in front of the house (I am not one of those people lol) but even still the people across the street had their car stolen from their driveway a few years ago. Also I live in California and I have a black car so it would literally cook in my car. I wont even leave DVD's in there because I've been told they can warp from the heat. But I didnt ever know that about the cold and computers. Glad I do. Thats one thing that definitely wont happen to me now.

Reply by Tina_MA on 12/1/05 11:54am
Msg #79573

>>>"Did you cry cuz I would have."<<<

I didn't cry because I was too stunned and I didn't understand what had happened.

Reply by trose_OR on 12/1/05 12:05am
Msg #79484

While I don't have an answer to your question....somehow a thread I started below contains information about Mobile Office. See msg #79432 by ND_Wa. It won't answer your question directly, but I'm willing to bet that he would be the one to ask.

Reply by Becca_FL on 12/1/05 12:15am
Msg #79485

Sorry Tina, I can't tell you about the cold thing, as I'm in BEAUTIFUL SOUTH FLORIDA. Well maybe, just a little. It's only 62 outside and I still have some of my windows open. The breeze is FREEZING me! I guess it's time to trade the flip flops and shorts for sweats and slippers.

Anyway, I don't keep my laptop in the car all the time. When the laptop is in the car or on the boat for any long period of time, I keep it in an insulated, padded case. I've never had a problem. I've never had a problem with my printers either. Even when I accidentally leave my inverter on, I've never had a problem.

I love to cook so I relate a lot of things to cooking. For instance, I would never put cold anything in a pot, pan or dish that's cold. Unless, of couse, it was tempered. AND visa versa. I relate your computer story to putting ice cold water into a hot glass bowl. If you have done this, you know what happens, if not, the glass bowl will crack and break, possibly shatter.

Sorry, I'm rambling. I'ts been a long day and I'm tired now. Thank goodness this month is over!

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 12/1/05 12:51am
Msg #79487

Where I work, I do occasionally work in temperatures of 25 or 30 degrees at night during the winter. Sometimes in the snow when I am in the mountains and have never gotten that result when I turned on my laptop. In the summer, temps 100+ I just keep the laptop in a case out of the sun and cover up the printer, never had an issue. I don't take the equipment on the road much, just on busy days or if I am quite a distance from home.

Are you sure that was the problem with your laptop? Perhaps it was not repaired correctly. The electronic components can take some moisture. Think about your car radio, the computer that runs your car. They don't zap when you start it up, and if you have ever closely looked at these components on your car, they are vented, not sealed. I searched a couple of computer geek websites and there did not seem to be an issue unless you poured water on the units.

Reply by Nd_WA on 12/1/05 3:06am
Msg #79490

OT: Mobile Office in Vehicle

On the day your laptop crackled and burned, I hope it wasn't raining or snowing and you used your laptop as an umbrella. Otherwise, chances are your repair tech did a shady job somewhere.

I spent 15 years in the semi-conductor industry (mainly chip manufacturing). My last position was a senior reliability engineering tech for 3 years. There are 2 standards (JDEC & MIL-itary) used as the industry guidlines for the testing chips or micro electronic components. Those standards assumed the chips will survive under the most extreme condition one can't imagine (ie. worse than the Amazon jungle, outer space, deep sea, equator, volcano, etc). Anything else attached to that chip should atleast meet the minimun standard as well. I can cook a 20 lbs turkey in less than 2 minutes from a test equipment called the pressure cooker.

Here is a link I pulled up from google on one of a chip manufacturer. Take a look at the top of each page for the different test condition then compare that to our normal computer usage.

http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/Quality_ReliabilityDocs/00097V.pdf

Reply by NM_CO on 12/1/05 9:10am
Msg #79507

Good questions.

Not sure if this will help me out or not as I have not had the mobile set up for too long but I have tinted windows with shades that roll up on the windows in the back and on the sides and I have my car set to every half an hour it has a venilation system when the car is turned off so it pulls hot air out, not sure how I'm going to do in the winter. *puzzled*

Reply by eXpedN_TX on 12/1/05 10:04am
Msg #79516

I used to work on 500-750 laptop computers each summer for the college I graduated from in upstate NY. It was my work study/summer job..as well as lifeguarding on the weekends. You would be surprised how tough laptops can be. The students sure did put them through the extremes. (Backing over them in their cars, spilling coke in the keyboard (which happened many times), etc. Anyway, as for going mobile, the best thing is to have equipment that is easy to take with you...in and out of your vehicle. When you are not in your vehicle for long amounts of time, your equipment shouldn't be either. Leaving such equipment could also bring about burglary no matter how nice of an area you are in. When in your vehicle, if you leave the items plugged in during winter time, they will also stay warmer and also, the heater in your vehicle will warm them up just as it does you. In the summer, the air conditioner will cool things off. I would treat your equipment like I would my pet. And I think very highly of my yellow lab!!!

Reply by Tina_MA on 12/1/05 11:52am
Msg #79570

The computer that died from condensation was a desktop, not a laptop.

I have never owned a laptop and am wondering if a laptop acts like a desktop does.

The day I picked up my desktop computer from the repair shop, it was about -20 below zero, with a wind chill on top of that bringing the temp to about -35 below.

Also, I had placed my desktop computer in the trunk, where there is no heat.

Therefore, when I brought my freezing cold computer into my toasty warm house (about 70 above zero), and plugged in a few minutes later, it croaked from the resulting condensation.

The repair shop is owned by a friend, and he repairs my computers for free and only charges me for parts at wholesale prices.