remote operating in the Great White North - keeping the radio warm

Mike-VA3MW

Jim Gilliam

John - AI4FR

Mike-VA3MW

I am not worried about the fans at all.  If they fail, they are easy enough to replace as it is 1 big fan in the front.  

Mark_WS7M

Mike-VA3MW

I have a PA28 with 2800 hrs SMOH on the engine.  If I never had to shut it down ... LOL

Steven WA8Y

Mike-VA3MW

For this winter, I don't.  They don't touch much and the worst part is that you need to keep the mice from crawling into computers or the Flex.  Good screening on all vents.  That being said, the building is not critter proof.  Hasn't been an issue in 15 years.

Mark NS9N

Hi Mike, there for sure is some great advice about mechanical parts like fans, knobs, and buttons but at the cold temperatures you are discussing the fan will most likely never come on. And it sound like you won't be in the room twisting knobs or pushing buttons. OF course you need to keep the critters out. That would be my biggest concern once the radio gets warned up. They love a warm place in a cold room. For the rest of the electronics, besides making sure the crystal reference oscillator is stable and on frequency and the radio has warmed up to within the specified operating temperatures, you should have no worries. I have been doing Automotive electronics reliability for 40 years and with today's technology deployed in both consumer and automotive industries, surviving - 40 is not an issue for storage range and I have yet to see a catastrophic failure due to this temperature without something else being the root cause. Said another way, after looking at my Flex 6600 circuit boards, well done Flex. Very clean and reliable design. Now performance over temperature is an entirely different issue. It really comes down to the specified operating temperature range of the components. And this appears to be well covered by the operating temperatures specified by Flex for your radio. Will it work outside of the specified range, maybe. Will it be damaged trying to operate outside of the temperate range going colder, electronic history says no down to - 40. You may have to power cycle it when getting back within the operating range but that usually returns every thing to normal. The same type of PC boards and solders are used in engine controls and if they will survive that environment for 20 years or more, I really doubt you can ever power cycle your radio on and off even 10% what we see in the Auto industry. Going hot is an entirely different story. Do not exceed the recommended operating range by the manufacturer or you do risk a catastrophic failure. Oh sure, some will say there is always design margin, but finding out how much is not worth your risk. One last concern, humidity in the room before things get cold. Condensing moisture is an electronic units worse nightmare. As the room temperature goes up and down, so does the dew point. The only true way to prevent this issue is to keep the radio warmer than the surrounding air. Power it on and leave it on and all these worries go away. Enjoy operating in a cold environment. Some may say it is much easier then hot and humid.

Tim N9PUZ

Richard McClelland, AA5S

I was in a 1958 Beech Bonanza v-tail and it had an engine failure at constant speed -  the fuel pump failed.  My oldest brother was flying and I immediately knew the engine had quit because the pitch of the propeller noise changed suddenly without my brother touching any switches or dials.  I didn't say anything as I watched him go through his 'Oh, Dear!!!" checklist.  He eventually found the backup hand operated fuel pump and got us to a nearby airport.     

Mike-VA3MW

I have yet to worry about humidity as a problem, and yes I have to deal with it.  We do get from 15% to 100% and while I hear of  concerns, it has yet to be an issue in over 15 years.  I have seen corrosion from standing rain water, but that is not part of this problem.    It would be very very seldom that the device is colder than the surrounding air.     

Here is why I don't worry about this too much.  In my R/C Plane world, I fly a lot of Float planes and they get drowned more than often.  The receivers and speed controllers are sprayed with a conformal coating and that makes this an non-issue.  I have drowned many a plane.  Drained the water out of it, and flown it seconds later.  Servos have a product called Corrosion X injected into them (essentially an oil).  Most of these planes have been flying for many years with limited maintenance.

For the most part, fresh water has a very high impedance and as long as you don't have a corrosion issue, it will not affect most items on circuit boards, other than anything water molecules can actually get into such as Displays, Electrolytic Caps, pots, speakers, microphones.  

Short story, there isn't much I can do about humidity practically and so I don't worry about it.  Case in point, I just brought home the KPA500 that was there for about 7 years and opened it up.  Other than some dust there is zero corrosion on any connector and no other sign of humidity being a problem.  Now, in a Salt Air environment, that is a different issue.

Bob KC9RF

Mike-VA3MW