I'm designing a product that involves freezing of every day car keys. The keys that will be frozen are obviously likely to include electronics.
Are there any components inside modern day electronic keys that are likely to be damaged by freezing?
Last I heard, the only electronic component in car ignition keys was a resistor. Unlikely to be damaged by freezing.
Luhan
Yes and no. The semiconductors, resistors and PCB can withstand -55C, the capacitors might do that also; the stresses between parts mounted on the PCB and the board itself may be too great. However, the worst part is the *moisture*, which may cause problems by creating conductive paths.
It's been a while, I suggest you check again.
Err, why? Anyway. Define 'frozen'. Presence or absence of water. Pressure. Cycles?
Will Usher? Hey, we still need one more usher during Easter at church :-) (SCNR)
I'd watch the battery. Many of them don't like too deep of a freeze. Electrolytic capacitors are another concern but I doubt there are any in the body of a car key.
Regards, Joerg
Here is the information I have...
Do you have other information?
Luhan
At least mine has a button which opens the car remote. This is not doable with just a resistor.
Rene
-- Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com & commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net
You'll notice that it refers to one specific brand of car. Most recent cars use some sort of RF ID in the key. This is of various sophistication, from a simply key that only broadcasts one unchanging number, when it's queried by the car, and can be fairly easily copied (but costs under $1 to buy in bulk), to keys that can unlock the car at a distance, start the engine, and act as a nifty remote control, with integrated display. (oops, the last two bits were James Bond)
Results 1 - 50 of about 13,900,000 English pages for smart car keys. ...
Cheers! Rich
More like 1800 for "smark car keys". If you leave off the quotes then you'll get every page with any combination, or just one, of the words "smart", "car", or "keys". For example, a page that had "I drove the car into a ditch" would also match your query.
When I worked for Ford, we had situations where PCB boards (FR 4) had cracked due to temperature cycling - above freezing, then below. This cycling would occur several during the day as the car would start cold, warm up, cool down, turned on so the car would warm up, cool down etc.
Good Luck, Dave
When I worked for Ford, we had situations where PCB boards (FR 4) had cracked due to temperature cycling - above freezing, then below. This cycling would occur several during the day as the car would start cold, warm up, cool down, turned on so the car would warm up, cool down etc.
Good Luck, Dave
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