9 Dec
2009
9 Dec
'09
5:19 a.m.
Okay, this is the first time I've ever had to worry about this. When
is it to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it
is supposed to get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the
dehumidifier down (to cold to run it) and setup a heater near the
computers (and other stuff I don't want to freeze).
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
9 Dec
9 Dec
5:31 a.m.
Zane H. Healy wrote:
Okay, this is the first time I've ever had to
worry about this. When
is it to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it
is supposed to get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the dehumidifier
down (to cold to run it) and setup a heater near the computers (and
other stuff I don't want to freeze).
Zane
Many non-electronic components are only rated from freezing to just
above room temperature for normal operation. Fans for example may not
spin if the temp goes much below freezing as the lubricating oil seizes up.
Condensation is another problem - old hard/floppy disk/tape drives can
crash if moisture collects on the disc (not sealed drives, we are
talking oldies).
John :-#)#
5:55 a.m.
On 8 Dec 2009 at 21:19, Zane H. Healy wrote:
Okay, this is the first time I've ever had to
worry about this. When
is it to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it
is supposed to get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the dehumidifier
down (to cold to run it) and setup a heater near the computers (and
other stuff I don't want to freeze).
It seems to me that Ethan would be the perfect one to answer this.
35F is probably a heat wave at the South Pole.
--Chuck
6:01 a.m.
At 9:55 PM -0800 12/8/09, Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 8 Dec 2009 at 21:19, Zane H. Healy wrote:
Except I don't think they run their computers outdoors! :-)
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
Okay, this is the first time I've ever had
to worry about this. When
is it to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it
is supposed to get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the dehumidifier
down (to cold to run it) and setup a heater near the computers (and
other stuff I don't want to freeze).
It seems to me that Ethan would be the perfect one to answer this.
35F is probably a heat wave at the South Pole. 
3:44 p.m.
Zane H. Healy wrote:
At 9:55 PM -0800 12/8/09, Chuck Guzis wrote:
But they do! The tubes keep them warm. :)
On 8 Dec 2009 at 21:19, Zane H. Healy wrote:
Except I don't think they run their computers outdoors! :-) Okay, this is the first time I've ever had to
worry about this. When
is it to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it
is supposed to get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the dehumidifier
down (to cold to run it) and setup a heater near the computers (and
other stuff I don't want to freeze).
It seems to me that Ethan would be the perfect one to answer this.
35F is probably a heat wave at the South Pole. Zane
9:25 a.m.
I'd run one for several years in an unheated/cooled attic with extremes
both ways. It was an old P-II and ate one cpu and one nic over about
three years, cpu was likely caused by x weeks with the fan locked. No
hdisk or mb probs. Low temps were sub zero F in the attic confirmed by an
external thermodongle.
On Tue, 8 Dec 2009, Zane H. Healy wrote:
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 21:19:55 -0800
From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com>
Reply-To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at
classiccmp.org>
To: classiccmp at classiccmp.org
Subject: Running Computers Cold
Okay, this is the first time I've ever had to worry about this. When is it
to cold to run a computer? It's 35F out in the garage, and it is supposed to
get a lot colder tonight. I just shut the dehumidifier down (to cold to run
it) and setup a heater near the computers (and other stuff I don't want to
freeze).
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
3:42 p.m.
At 3:25 AM -0600 12/9/09, Paul Thompson wrote:
I'd run one for several years in an unheated/cooled
attic with
extremes both ways. It was an old P-II and ate one cpu and one nic
over about three years, cpu was likely caused by x weeks with the
fan locked. No hdisk or mb probs. Low temps were sub zero F in the
attic confirmed by an external thermodongle.
At 10:01 AM -0500 12/9/09, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Having lived for most of my life in New York State, I
can verify
that computers run just fine at 35F.
Okay, based on these two notes, I'll turn the heater off (at least
during the day), besides the rack is next to the door leading into
the house.
Zane
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
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