Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Do cold temperatures damage components?

R

RoboCop001

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 4, 2005
1,576
454
Toronto, Canada
Hi.

I've got an iMac G3 in the garage and it's been there for at least a week. Let's just say it's been there for a few weeks. For some reason, someone thought it was a good idea to put it in the garage... lol oh well.

The power supply blew so I'm putting the HD and RAM from that iMac into my other still-working identical iMac G3.

So... it's winter here and the temperatures have been just below 0 Celsius at night. I'd say the coldest it's been recently has been -15? I'm in Toronto, Canada.

Does anyone think the parts have been damaged in any way, or do I just need to let them warm up to room temperature before I use them again?
 
As far as I know, cold does not hurt electronics. In fact, some people pay to have electronics cryogenically frozen, in order to increase their performance.
http://www.eperfpro.com/dfc/process.htm

Depending on your climate, your G3 may get wet from condensation when stored in the garage. So, make sure that it is perfectly dry before running it.
 
Frozen to improve performance? Interesting. Thanks for the link :)

Thanks for the replies! So I guess I'll just make sure the HD and RAM are nice and dry, and stick them into the working iMac.

Any ideas for what to do with the other iMac though? The power supply blew, but everything else works. How much can be recycled? Or should I sell it? I know I'd get very little, especially since the power supply doesn't work. But that can be replaced, right?

So if a shop buys it and replaces the part, maybe someone could use it? ... how much are power supplies for G3 iMacs? Maybe I can get it fixed and use it again for something.
 
On Apples site the storage temps for the machines are -40C so it should be fine. Just let things at that temp warm up before turning it on.
 
RoboCop001 said:
Frozen to improve performance? Interesting. Thanks for the link :)

Thanks for the replies! So I guess I'll just make sure the HD and RAM are nice and dry, and stick them into the working iMac.

Any ideas for what to do with the other iMac though? The power supply blew, but everything else works. How much can be recycled? Or should I sell it? I know I'd get very little, especially since the power supply doesn't work. But that can be replaced, right?

So if a shop buys it and replaces the part, maybe someone could use it? ... how much are power supplies for G3 iMacs? Maybe I can get it fixed and use it again for something.
Click to expand...

Forget about getting it fixed, unless you can do it yourself on a G3 iMac. Even then getting a working G3 iMac on eBay for about $50 would be easier. Being in TO you would be better off sticking to Canadian vendors as shipping from the States for the weight of the all-in-one will be steep.
Or just forget about it and use it for a parts machine.

Just my experience, having swapped boards and parts on them a few times before. I'm still running one with Ubuntu Linux on it.

jodelli
 
yea cause i bought a 60gb for my imac g3 and it got shipped to winnipeg in the winter and well obviously really cold it worked great wen i got it but wen i boot into 9.2 (mainly keep it on 10.3) it lik doesnt fully shut off before it starts up so then it delays and lik confuses itself does any one know why?
 
jodelli said:
Forget about getting it fixed, unless you can do it yourself on a G3 iMac. Even then getting a working G3 iMac on eBay for about $50 would be easier. Being in TO you would be better off sticking to Canadian vendors as shipping from the States for the weight of the all-in-one will be steep.
Or just forget about it and use it for a parts machine.

Just my experience, having swapped boards and parts on them a few times before. I'm still running one with Ubuntu Linux on it.

jodelli
Click to expand...

i have a 10gb with ubuntu 5.10 mac and it doesnt boot up anymore dont know why it might be fried didnt pay attention to where i put it but no loss:D
 
MacHappytjg said:
yea cause i bought a 60gb for my imac g3 and it got shipped to winnipeg in the winter and well obviously really cold it worked great wen i got it but wen i boot into 9.2 (mainly keep it on 10.3) it lik doesnt fully shut off before it starts up so then it delays and lik confuses itself does any one know why?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what's causing that. But a 60g drive will get pretty hot in a G3 iMac as it depends on convection cooling only.

jodelli
 
jodelli said:
I'm not sure what's causing that. But a 60g drive will get pretty hot in a G3 iMac as it depends on convection cooling only.

jodelli
Click to expand...


not really if im downloading things i leave it on over night no problems but yea it might be that so i dont go on 9.2 ne more to use the things i use on it so i just open them on 10.3
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back