What's wrong with high humidity?

Jan 11, 2011 4 Replies

To sci.electronics.repair



Most electronic things are rated wrt humidity, but it never mattered to me before. Now something I might actually want** has a maximum operating humidity of 80%, and I am pretty sure it gets that humid here sometimes. (I rarely use my AC and it's broken now anyhow.)



So what's wrong with high humidity? What won't it do, and why? I've had high humidity all my life for part of the summer, and I don't remember anything not working.


** Lenovo Multimedia Remote with keyboard N5901

Condensation when the temperature drops.

You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's Teflon coated.

Yep. Also a tendency to increase leakage in hydroscopic and hydrophilic components such as some film capacitors, phenolic circuit boards, paper insulators, paper speaker grills, some microphone elements, and some carbon comp resistors. I designed marine radios for too many years and water absorption was a serious consideration. We even designed most radios with vertically mounted boards to prevent condensation from puddling. In humid climates, there was the added bonus of mold and mildew. I've had to clean out radios that looked like a biology experiement gone wild.

Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I did QA on the PRC-77 manpack radio. One test was a pressure test under three feet of water, then you had to open the case and look for any signs of moisture.

You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's Teflon coated.

Thanks.

Thanks also.

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required