Electronic equipment in cold climates

[bootloader9800]

Hi Folks, hope all is well with you guys!

I leave my Oscilloscope, Arduino Dev boards, multi meter, electronic spare components,spare capacitors, resistors, Arduino sensors modules etc etc, in my car. I leave them in the trunk in regular Walmart tool boxes.

Does the cold weather affect these items if they are left in the car continuously throughout the winter?
I live in the North Eastern part of the US with a Köppen climate classification of Dfa/Dfb.

I would like to have your feedback regarding what you think about leaving electronic stuff in the car during cold winter months.

I don’t want to move 6 tool cases every evening, out of my car, back into the house. ( Of course, if you guys tell me to move them inside every evening, then I will )

I use all the above mentioned items, at work randomly. I don’t use them every day, but I need to have them handy in case I need them at work.
Sometimes I work from home at the last moment and leaving them at work is not an option either.

Thank you for your replies!

[Zero999]

Yes, low temperatures can be a problem for electronics. Most commerical grade equipment is rated down to freezing. Fortunately it's not difficult to design for low temperatures. Industrial grade gear is normally rated down to -40.

[Berni]

Most electronics are indeed not rated to operate in freezing temperatures, but it will most likely work just fine at -20°C, tho anything with a LCD screen might become really slow to respond. Only issue might be electrolytic capacitors that perform significantly worse at low temp.

But just being stored there shouldn't really cause problems.

The worst issue with this tends to be condensation. When you bring a cold piece of equipment into the house you will get the indoor humidity condensing on the cold surfaces. Condensation in itself is in theory pure water so it shouldn't be conductive, but it picks up dirt on the surface itself and becomes conductive. So its known good practice to leave electronics sit for a while to warm up and condensation to evaporate before being powered on.

[larsdenmark]

Also look of for condensation. Once you open the boxes the next day you'll get condensation from the moisture in the air (I assume you do this indoors somewhere) . For that reason alone it it a good idea to make that the content of the boxes are up to room temperature before opening the boxes.

Furtermore, the electronics may not like to be turned on if it is frozen solid.

[themadhippy]

As mentioned condensation is your biggest enemy,a couple of desiccant sachets in each tool box may help

[CaptDon]

Condensation for sure, and its cumulative effects over time. Also, the older CRT oscilloscopes were know to crack the CRT in the neck area if not allowed to warm up from extreme cold before being turned on. I can also sight one oddity with sound equipment, I set up a cold system brought in during a blizzard. We were all late due to traffic etc, so the show started as soon as everything was in place. I had no bass. The mids and highs were there but no bass. Everything checked out, the amps showing output level. Turns out the bass speakers were to stiff to respond! All we could do was keep playing as they warmed up and began to rock the venue.

[floobydust]

No, bring the gear indoors. I have found outdoors (over winter) has low humidity and the large temperature swing badly degrades plastics and rubbers etc.
Anything I've done that to has dried out capacitors and brittle plastics. Never mind if you go for a drive, the vibration is also very hard on the equipment when it's cold.

[wizard69]

Well I have to agree with everybody else here the real enemy is condensation.   That will eventually ruin even plated tools.   For basic hand tools i keep some junkers in the truck.   This for two reasons, one is to reduce the value if a theft occurs but the other is that tools suffer from the temperature changes and that is almost elusively due to condensation.   So if something is going to go to hell eventually I use stuff from auctions, thrift shops and the like for storage in the truck.

As for electronics I wouldn't keep anything of value in a plastic Walmart tool box.   I think I know which you are talking about here (have a few) which have no sealing at all.   The same issue applies condensation is just bad.   However there are additional things to consider with instruments, for one Alkaline batteries suck for leakage and I'm convinced that the cold and thermal cycles makes leakage worse.   Then you have the reality that those instruments will not be immediately usable until they have warmed up.

Hi Folks, hope all is well with you guys!

I leave my Oscilloscope, Arduino Dev boards, multi meter, electronic spare components,spare capacitors, resistors, Arduino sensors modules etc etc, in my car. I leave them in the trunk in regular Walmart tool boxes.

Yeah this is a problem, those regular WALMART tool boxes are not sealed.   Some of that stuff I would not worry to much about but the instruments need better care.   Honestly if you really need to leave them in the car consider getting cases that seal tight, Pelican or similar and then add desiccant air driers to the case.   The case might moderate the thermal cycling some but it should do a far better job with respect to condensation.

At the very least have one case for the instruments and one case for the sensitive assembled components (Arduino stuff).   The discreet components probably can survive in standard tool boxes if kept in ziploc bags.

Does the cold weather affect these items if they are left in the car continuously throughout the winter?
I live in the North Eastern part of the US with a Köppen climate classification of Dfa/Dfb.

I would like to have your feedback regarding what you think about leaving electronic stuff in the car during cold winter months.

If at all possible don't do it!!!   However if you feel like you have little choice package the valuable stuff in sealable containers.   Oh and pull those Alakaline batteries.

I don’t want to move 6 tool cases every evening, out of my car, back into the house. ( Of course, if you guys tell me to move them inside every evening, then I will )

You didn't mention how big your scope was but a modern scope and meter can fit in thick brief case or even a technicians case.   Get into the habit of taking that one case in everyday and your biggest risks are minimized.   If you want the oil field exec look you could try zerohalliburton.com for a case or if you want purpose built cases check out: https://www.jensentools.com/search.aspx?f=2%3aJensen+Tools%2c1%3a277.   The idea here is to have one and only one case to worry about each day.   This shouldn't be any more of a problem than grabbing a brief case or packed lunch.

I use all the above mentioned items, at work randomly. I don’t use them every day, but I need to have them handy in case I need them at work.
Sometimes I work from home at the last moment and leaving them at work is not an option either.

Thank you for your replies!

Well I think you have my line of thought, don't leave the critical or expensive things in the weather.   Done right you should be able to get by with one case packed with those expensive and let say delicate tools.    I really do not see a huge benefit to pulling everything every night.

Frankly if your scope is an older model it might pay to invest in a thinner more modern one.   That would reduce weight and allow for a thinner case.

Back in the day I use to work out of one of those Jensen cases and while not ideal compared to a bench and a proper tool box, it is an excellent mobile solution.   You end up with your instruments and hand tools at your finger tips.   Just don't throw a lot of iron in there as they can get heavy.

While targeting a different market one source for light weight travel/tool case is Milwaukee available at local hardware stores.   They call them their PackOut line of snap together cases.   You will not be snapping but you would want one with the interior room to carry your scope.   So check the inside dimensions.   The snap together nature does result in some loss of vertical height.   Milwaukee is probably your best low cost yet rugged solution to a luggage style carry case.

[Brumby]

As mentioned condensation is your biggest enemy,a couple of desiccant sachets in each tool box may help

That would be fine for the equipment while stored in the vehicle - but once any piece of COLD equipment is brought into a room with ANY humidity, you are going to get condensation regardless.  If the equipment is pretty much a sealed box, internal condensation shouldn't be much of an issue, but if it isn't (ventilation slots, for example) then it could be.

Allow things to warm up before operating will give that condensation a chance to evaporate.