15 Aug
2012
15 Aug
'12
5:21 p.m.
I would be concerned by the temperature fluctuations. I had problem in a machine shop that
wasn't heated because the temperature would rise in the morning, causing moisture to
condense on the cool machinery. Some of them still have rust from that.
--------
Paul Anderson -- VE3HOP
On 2012-08-15, at 1:56 AM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
On 08/14/2012 02:20 PM, Earl Evans wrote:
I'm a little concerned about the load that my
PDP-11 cabinet (rack mount,
dual RL02 drives) is putting on the floor in my daylight basement. Also,
I'm thinking that recovering the space might be nice, so I was considering
moving the PDP-11 system back to the garage.
If any of you have a PDP or other big-iron systems in the garage, how do
you deal with temperature extremes (hot in summer, cold in winter)? Do you
simply not operate the computer when it's too hot or cold? Do you think
it's a risk to even store the system in the garage?
My location is Portland, Oregon, so it doesn't really get super cold in the
winter. I think the coldest I've measured in the garage is 50F. But
summer can get pretty warm. It's scheduled to get 85F today, and we had
100F a week or two ago. Of course the garage doesn't get as hot as outside
temps, but it can get up there.
I realize heat can be a big enemy of computers/electronics. Also, since
the RL02 drives are mechanical and precision devices, they might not take
well to temperature shifts.
Thoughts?
I would definitely *not* do it. Many people here have restored
garage-kept PDP-11s...point being that, after a few years of that, they
require restoration.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA