Gary,
If you're talking about a standard desktop / tower type PC, the fix is
relatively easy and not all that expensive. I worked for a company that
provided "integrated" solutions around the world - meaning we shipped the
software already wrapped in a PC.
Fortunately, being a manufacture of other products, they had the capability
to add conformal coating to the PC motherboard, cards, power supply and to
any bare metal. Now this used to be a toxic process and required special
equipment etc. but that has changed with new formulations. I haven't used
it myself but there are new products out that still are referred to as
conformal coatings that come in a spray can which you can apply yourself and
I believe they are acrylic based coatings. Do a search for conformal
coatings.
If you don't mind disassembling your PC, cleaning it and then spraying the
boards this just may be the easy fix. Just be sure to mask off any
connectors, plugs or jacks - this stuff is an insulator also.
You can easily add some new high-speed fans with bearings in your PC or even
install one of the cooling kits (
www.tomshardware.com) to insure everything
runs below max temps.
If you're talking about laptops - the same coatings can be applied. It's
just more difficult to take apart a laptop. The use of bottom mounted
heatsinks with fans helps solves the problems in some cases but requires
additional battery power - or significantly shortens your running time.
Best solution I've seen for a laptop being used in a hot, humid climate (the
beach) is to sit it on top of the plastic sheet you have on top of the
iced-down beer keg....!
Bob S.
"Gary" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4229803b$0$6161$(E-Mail Removed)...
> While the majority of the planet enjoys a long winter at the moment,
there's
> a band of land around the equator where conditions are a lot warmer and
more
> humid, and consistently so through the whole year.
> PC's are installed in these regions, quite a few of them, surprised? No,
not
> really..
> When you have a device that's designed to be enclosed in an air
conditioned
> environment and dust free, such as a Typical PC, and adapt it to a warm
> climate, you end up with a never ending battle with the environment.
>
> Designers of PC's have never considered beyond the "colder" US continental
> environment that PC's need special treatment for warmer conditions, this
is
> 25C upwards, 60% humidity +.
>
> For where I live, it's subtropical, summer temperatures are 30-40C,
Humidity
> can reach 85-90%. This would be also typical in Singapore, Florida to a
> degree, many African countries, Mexico, South America and Australia.
>
> What happens to PC's in this environment is:
>
> a) The high humidity mixes with dust and with temperature allows the dirt
to
> congeal. This cause problems with fans, they collect dust and grime, and
> accelerate contaminants into the PC case.
>
> b) This mixture of dust and water settles on motherboard components and
> makes new resistors on the motherboard, something the designer didn't
build
> in. These extra resistors radically change the circuits on the
motherboard,
> and resets out of the blue, blue screens are very common.
>
> c) The orientation of (especially Athlon) CPU's fan is usually north
south,
> however on some mobo's the orientation of the heatsinks exhaust is
straight
> at the RAM which is next door some 30mm away. So after a while, the RAM
gets
> covered in shite, and once again we have blue screen, mystery reboots and
> the like.
>
> d) High humidity and air at speed demolishes the coating of any steel
> cabinet. These are a disaster as the coatings are corroded and the steel
> forms rust. Rust is conductive and makes really special resistors which
draw
> high currents and big bangs! Aluminium cases are the way to go here.
>
> If anyone has experience of these problems and a way to cure these
problems,
> I'm all ears!
>
> Cheers,
>
>