Can Weather Affect Your Computer?

It's been hot here in Northern Kentucky, and I hear it's been hot all across the Midwest.  The heat is probably the reason why I received this email:

You've said that heat is a computer's enemy.  If I leave my phone or laptop in the car, will the heat eventually kill it?

Yes, it is true that heat is the enemy of a computer.  However, computers regularly run at temperatures much greater than we will ever reach outside.  For example, the maximum safe operating temperature of the CPU in my primary computer is listed as 158 degrees.

However, this does not mean that it is completely safe to leave your device in your car all day.  Heat can affect your hard drive and battery, and high humidity can cause condensation build-up inside your device.  In general, you should do your best to keep your computer away from temperatures over 90 degrees.

Cold can also present a problem for your device.  When I was in high school, I actually had a calculator's LCD screen crack after I left it in my car on a cold day.  Cold temperatures can also cause a build-up of condensation when you bring it back into warmth.  Even if you have touch-screen gloves, I would recommend keeping your phone in your pocket as much as possible.

To put it simply, our devices may be excellent at managing large amounts of internal heat, but they are not designed to be operated in excessive temperatures outside.  If you must leave your device in a hot or cold car, give it some time to adjust back to room temperature before you turn it on.

Keep Vents Clean to Help Airflow

My regular readers know that the biggest enemy of a computer is heat.  Computers have multiple fans to protect them against heat, and all computers have triggers that will cause an instant shut down if the computer gets too hot.  (Older computers did not have these built-in safeguards.  They would keep running until the computer became too damaged to work anymore.)

Dust is a computer's second-biggest enemy.  While dust alone can not do much harm to a computer, it can work with heat to kill your computer even faster.  A layer of dust can insulate heat against your components, keeping the heat away from the fans that will push warm air out.  It can also clog up fans or vents, reducing their functionality.  Keeping dust out of your computer is important.

To get rid of dust, I simply use a can of compressed air.  These are available just about anywhere electronics are sold (Walmart, Meijer, Best Buy, etc.) for a few dollars.  If you have not cleaned the dust out of your computer in a while, you may want to take it outside to clean it so that you do not blow all the dust back into your house.

On a desktop, remove the side cover if you can figure out how to do so (it is usually held in place with a couple screws on the back).  Using the can of compressed air, blow all dust out of the case.  Then go to each external vent and blow the dust out of each vent.  (Note:  If your computer is under warranty, I do not recommend opening the case.  Opening the case, even to remove dust, may void the warranty, and many manufacturers are including stickers or sensors to detect if the case has been opened.)

Since a laptop is much harder to take apart, it will also be more difficult to clean.  However, you can still clear dust out of all the vents.  Many laptops have some covers on the bottom that can be removed for easy access to certain components that are easy to upgrade.  If your laptop has these, take them off and blow any dust out of these areas, as well.

Finally, most laptops have a keyboard that is fairly easy to remove.  If you are feeling ambitious, you can unscrew the keyboard screws, flip the keyboard over, and have access to blow dust off of some of the components on top.  However, when you unscrew the keyboard, be careful that you do not unlatch the ribbon cable from the motherboard.  Many of these are difficult to get back into place, especially if you do not have experience at replacing them.

On phones and tablets, just do the best you can.  Many do not have vents, and some do not even have a removable cover to access the battery.  You may or may not be able to blow out any dust on these devices, but the lack of access also means that dust will have a more difficult time getting in.

The Place You Should Never Have Your Phone

As I was preparing today's tip this morning, I came across this story from a Texas FOX affiliate.  I feel that it deserves some follow-up as a reminder for all of us.

One of the biggest enemies of any computer is heat.  Most people are unaware of how much heat their computer produces until there is a problem and it starts overheating.  Almost all desktop computers come with at least two fans (one in the power supply and one over the processor).  Some come with more fans to push air through the case for additional cooling.  The latest trend for high-end computers is water cooling, which uses a system similar to a car's radiator to cool the computer.  (I do not recommend using water cooling, but it is available.)

As computers have gotten smaller and more portable and the places where we can use them have grown, the heat problem has remained.  For years, laptop computers have had problems keeping cool, especially as they grow older.  Overheating laptops comprise a significant part of the service requests I receive.

Now, back to the phone.  Essentially, smartphones are simply small computers.  A high-end smartphone (iPhone, Galaxy S, etc.) can perform almost every task that a computer can perform.  However, they have minimal heat control because of noise.  (You wouldn't want your smartphone's fan to kick into high gear right when you get that important business call!)

This means that good ventilation is a must for your phone.  In this girl's case, the phone slipping under the pillow as she fell asleep was probably enough to cause the phone to overheat and cause a fire.  At this point, I am sure some of my readers are now saying something like, "But I left my phone under my pillow one time, and it was fine."  True, but what happens if the phone gets a little more smothered the next time?

Samsung addresses two issues.  First, the phone was under the pillow, which likely restricted airflow and caused overheating.  Second, the battery in the phone was a replacement battery and not a certified Samsung battery.  I will address this issue in another tip next week, but for now, I will simply say that at most, this was likely a contributing factor and not the main cause.

In conclusion, your phone should simply not go to bed with you!  I know that I am just as guilty of breaking this rule as anyone else.  However, phones do not do well around pillows, blankets, sheets, etc.  Even if your phone never bursts out into flames, the added heat could reduce your phone's life or cause other problems.