Would moisture be a problem, if the motherboard is been shut for a month and lying in the cabinet... ???

reuel cardozo_47 · Jul 8, 2016

Hey Guys,

I have given my power supply for replacement and and its been almost a month now , and i have not received my power supply back from RMA. I am worried the motherboard will gather moisture , since the monsoons have just kicked in 2 weeks back. what should i do to avoid short circuit ie when i plug back my power supply ..

My mother board is in the cabinet , its not near the window .. should i keep silica bags inside or a cup of rice , or should i pack the mother board back into the box until the power supply is back ..how should i keep the moisture away from the board ???

Patton2121 · Jul 8, 2016

best to avoid water however you can, however, if there is no power running through the motherboard you wont short anything, just make sure that before you use it that it is completely dry.

Belphegore · Jul 8, 2016

Better to be safe than sorry, just put it back into its box and put it in a dry place like the cabinet. if you're extra worried, put it into a plastic bag or ziploc bag while it's in the box.

Solandri · Jul 8, 2016

Belphegore :

Don't do that. The amount of water vapor a given volume of air can hold depends on the temperature - the warmer, the more water. So if you seal the bag when the air is hot and humid, and the temperature drops (like at night), the trapped air's carrying capacity will decrease and the water vapor it was holding will condense onto the bag and motherboard.

You can do it if the room (and thus the air in the bag) is air conditioned or de-humidified. The air in the bag will then have low humidity.

If the cabinet is at room temperature and has good air circulation, and you are not getting water condensing on random surfaces in the room, it should be fine in the cabinet. Maybe elevate it in the cabinet in case water starts condensing on the bottom of the drawer. Avoid anything which might cause the motherboard to become cooler than the air temperature - water will condense onto cooler surfaces (especially metal) if exposed to 100% or near-100% humidity air.

Along those lines, you can prevent condensation by keeping the motherboard a few degrees warmer than the air. So if you've got a cable modem or router or something that's turned on 24/7 and is giving off some heat, putting the motherboard above it should be good enough.

reuel cardozo_47 · Jul 9, 2016

Solandri :

Belphegore :

Don't do that. The amount of water vapor a given volume of air can hold depends on the temperature - the warmer, the more water. So if you seal the bag when the air is hot and humid, and the temperature drops (like at night), the trapped air's carrying capacity will decrease and the water vapor it was holding will condense onto the bag and motherboard.

You can do it if the room (and thus the air in the bag) is air conditioned or de-humidified. The air in the bag will then have low humidity.

If the cabinet is at room temperature and has good air circulation, and you are not getting water condensing on random surfaces in the room, it should be fine in the cabinet. Maybe elevate it in the cabinet in case water starts condensing on the bottom of the drawer. Avoid anything which might cause the motherboard to become cooler than the air temperature - water will condense onto cooler surfaces (especially metal) if exposed to 100% or near-100% humidity air.

Along those lines, you can prevent condensation by keeping the motherboard a few degrees warmer than the air. So if you've got a cable modem or router or something that's turned on 24/7 and is giving off some heat, putting the motherboard above it should be good enough.

What if i place the mother board in the box and in the bag it came in , and also place 1-2 silica bags ... ??? would that be good enough , i will place the box in the storage within my bed , i am guessing the temperature there should be the same as the room ...

Solandri · Jul 9, 2016

The silica bags help absorb moisture, but they eventually saturate and stop working. The better bags have a strip on them which changes color when they're exposed to enough moisture that they might be saturated. But most of the ones I've seen distributed with computer hardware do not have these strips, so if you're re-using them you don't even know if they're still working. If you live in an area with a monsoon season and haven't been keeping these bags tightly sealed in a jar or ziploc bag, they probably don't work anymore.

The bag is kind of a win/lose. It protects against direct water spills and static, but it can also trap humid air leading to condensation. That is the whole reason they put the silica bags in them in the first place.

So can use silica bags you know are fresh, or you can buy new silica bags. Or you can use my previous suggestion and keep it exposed to the air and its temperature elevated above air temperature. Water vapor condenses onto surfaces cooler than the air, never warmer. (Well, it can condense onto a warmer surface if the air is super-saturated. But you'd have to be inside a rain cloud or fog for that to happen.)

Search

Would moisture be a problem, if the motherboard is been shut for a month and lying in the cabinet... ???

reuel cardozo_47

Distinguished

Solandri

Patton2121

Reputable

Belphegore

Respectable

Solandri

Illustrious

reuel cardozo_47

Distinguished

Solandri

Illustrious

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page