General Misc > Misc
First personal project.
Tommy:
Just when you think,.
The Mule's On-Board PC controller is a Lenovo 20015, before it's current job that PC was used
as a GPS unit in my car, and in the winter I would have to run a heating pad rapped around the
PC for an half hour while the car was warming up, if not the PC would try to start but fail. I always
thought the hard drive was the problem, not able to spool up because of the low temperatures,
But last night after defragging and loading the system onto a SSD and having the same problem
booting from the SSD it seems that's not the case.
In the Mule I have a 400watt 12Vdc heater mounted in the electrical enclosure which needs to run
for half an hour before I can start the PC when temperatures drop below 32F.
would be nice not to have to use that much energy.
has to be the CPU Fan now(I Think).
Tommy
Soeren:
Hi.
--- Quote from: Tommy on November 29, 2012, 03:26:12 PM ---has to be the CPU Fan now(I Think).
--- End quote ---
I don't think so, but you can spin the fan manually in case you want to test it.
I'd think it was a capacitor related issue, as I've seen my share of PC's (even owned a couple of them) with worn down caps that needed a bit of warm-up before starting reliably.
To check this, a heat gun at a distance (to avoid damaging anything), or even a couple of warm fingers directly at the electrolytics may show (if any of them bulge at the upper end, replace them ASAP).
Next guess would be on semi-defect semiconductors (transistors/diodes) or chips not seated properly in sockets. If you have RAM modules with tinned contacts going into gold flashed sockets (or the other way around), extract (even halfway will help) and reseat.
The POST will (must) fail until all systems behave.
Tommy:
--- Quote ---I'd think it was a capacitor related issue, as I've seen my share of PC's (even owned a couple of them) with worn down caps that needed a bit of warm-up before starting reliably.
--- End quote ---
Only reason I don't suspect component failure is the problem has been there even when new.
Just to get an understanding I put five computers in the freezer last night and today I removed and booted each.
Lenovo 20015(netbook) with SSD, failed to boot, turned self off after 5 sec. no messages but fan making noise.
Lenovo Q150(mini desktop) with SSD, failed to boot, "CPU FAN Error" message.
Acer Veriton(mini desktop) with HDD, failed to boot, no messages but HD making bad noises.
Foxconn NT535(mini desktop) With HDD, fail to boot, turned self off after 5 sec. no messages.
Foxconn NT535 with SSD, booted.
Tommy
waltr:
I have know of ICs that will not work properly at lower temperatures.
This is very common unless they are automotive temperature rated.
Testing PCs for operation at low temperatures may be your only lower cost solution.
Another may be buying a computer with an automotive rating. Here is one source I know of:
http://www.logicsupply.com/categories/automotive_computers
This place has a good reputation and a good customer and sale service.
Tommy:
--- Quote ---Testing PCs for operation at low temperatures may be your only lower cost solution.
--- End quote ---
waltr, With luck it did turn out that way, most times I don't have five small footprint PC's available to put in the freezer.
because the Foxconn NT535 with SSD did boot I'l give it a try.
Tommy
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