Operating an eMac in a hot environment

[Jethryn Freyman]

I've got a 1.0GHz eMac here running 10.5.8.

It's not my primary computer, and hasn't seen much use as of late, and so far it's been perfectly reliable. Literally no issues whatsoever since I bought it in 2003.

Anyway, I'm thinking of setting it up in another room of the house without air conditioning, where it can get very hot in the summer (which is coming up.)

I'll be powering the computer off when not in use, so while it's off, the ambient temperature can rise up to 50ºC (122ºF.) The computer will be used for at most an hour per day, and at these times the ambient temperature will be up to 30ºC (86ºF.)

Thoughts?

Has anybody had any experience with computers sitting in a hot environment while switched off?

I love my little eMac and don't want to do this if anybody has experience and thinks it's a REALLY bad idea.

 

[kbfr08]

Well, it's meant for education, and some schools can get quite hot. I know my in my district, only the high schools have air conditioning, and it gets quite hot here (tipped at 102F this summer), although not as hot as where you are.

Should be fine, but in the long run you'll be seriously affecting the computer's lifespan. You need to decide if you can afford to risk it or not.

 

[MacHamster68]

if you can move it somehwere on this planet where( if the eMac is clean inside from dust and if it has none of the bad caps by chance ) and can get it to overheat without covering the ventialtion holes or disconnecting the fan then you must be able to walk on water too
the eMac's heatpipe and fan are overengineered and have no problem cooling the eMac down , its you i am concerned about you could die from a heatstroke or dehydration in that room , but your eMac will be fine

if only modern Mac's would be engineered as good as the eMac's, people would not need to install fan control apps

i own 6 of those little buggers and they are all well and i live under the rooftiles literally in southern Germany and under my roof it often hits 45+º celisus during the summer even when i had them here in the UK 30º inside are normal on hot summer days, ..yes sometimes we get those too , doesnt effect the eMac's , i live here under the roof too

 

[Nermal]

According to the specs, it can run in an environment of up to 35°. However, the storage temperature is 47°.

 

[MacHamster68]

According to the specs, it can run in an environment of up to 35°. However, the storage temperature is 47°.

Apple was a bit pessimistic there , i guess you can top up those figures by 15° ceslius without causing any harm to a eMac

the eMac's are the equivalent of the old Volkswagen beetle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc-kekzH2dU

 

[mrsir2009]

So how is someone supposed to use a computer in a 50C room?

 

[MacHamster68]

So how is someone supposed to use a computer in a 50C room?

seen someone lately in the sauna(no steam, it as a dry one ) with a panasonic toughbook writing emails , he was sweating , but the laptop seemed to have less problems operating at about 80°C it did not sweat a bit

 

[ThunderSnake]

So how is someone supposed to use a computer in a 50C room?

Seriously. That's 122F. Depending on humidity, it would be tough to predict which would fail first, the Mac or the human operator.

 

[tom vilsack]

fix....move to canada ;-)

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Thanks for the replies!

It wouldn't be used in a 50ºC room, it can just get up to that temperature during the day, when the computer would be off and nobody would be around. It cools down a lot during the night, and any time a person would be out there they'd turn on the air con for a bit first to avoid being cooked.