Air conditioner = Condensation (Water Damage) to Computer?

kraver0

Honorable
Jul 22, 2012
41
0
10,530
I am very paranoid about this... and a little confused.

Is turning on the air conditioner bad for the hardware in my computer due to condensation?

I live in a really small single-room (dorm at college) and it gets a little hot in my room if I don't have the AC on. I live in Chicago, so it's usually cold outside.

My desktop is NOT placed right next to my AC vent; however, since it's a small room, you can say that my desktop is sort of close to the vent.

I really want to get this straight, so I'll never have to be paranoid about this issue again:

Can turning on the air conditioner cause condensation (water damage) to the components of my computer?
 

duxducis

Distinguished
Sep 24, 2007
489
0
18,860
condensation best forms on cold surfaces in humid hot temperature,
there nothing cold inside PC case to condense so you are safe

you can use computers outside in freezing cold weather no problem
as far as i know the only way to create condensation inside PC is to bring it from freezing cold weather inside humid hot room,

 

Rahul Pal

Honorable
Sep 20, 2013
6
0
10,510
I also have this air conditioner issue and small room.Once in a rainy night with the ac turned on everything was moist inside my room including my pc.There was moisture all over my screen & also the back of it.I didn't open the cabinet to check whether the inside was wet or not but outside of cabinet was wet.I turned on my pc after 9 hrs of that incident.Right now it is running fine but i fear if it has any long lasting damaging effect over my pc.Some guys are saying it may decrease the longevity of my GPU and all.Don't know what to do!
 

Bruce75

Reputable
Mar 10, 2015
3
0
4,510
The only issue you that should concern you is condensation. A drastic change in temperature due to air conditioner from one extreme to another, for example if you were to maintain a room temperature of 69-73 degrees and then promptly relocate the laptop to much higher temperature such as inside of a car, or or equivalent with a 10-15 degree difference it's possible to create moisture. This also applies to desktops under the same conditions. Otherwise, keeping your unit cool will prolong life of hardware.

Heat is a computers worst nightmare.