Arcade Cabinet and Cold Canadian Winter?

[Goggles]

I just got my cabinet today and it resides inmy garage.

1. My garage has been cold enough to freeze water before, infact it's frozen bottles of water that was inside my car that's in my garage.

2. Canadian Winters even in Toronto where I live can get to around -20C and even colder with the winds.

With that in mind I was wondering which is better for my cabinet;
- Keep it turned on to keep warm
- Turn it off, save the electricity as it can do fine in a garage over a cold winter.

Or some of your other advice.

[chopps]

move to Vancouver where it doesnt get cold =P

[Goggles]

Anyone with a legit answer?
It's getting dark and colder as the night is upon us.

[BobA]

I'm in Edmonton and it was -35C last week.  This week it is 6C.  The biggest problem with keeping it ON is some parts will not be warm and any condensation that might form or drip on live circuits can destroy your cab.  Keep it off and let it warm up before turning it on.  Clean out the mice and whatever else may collect in the winter.

Just my own opinion based on keeping cabs and computer gear in an unheated garage over the winter.

BobA

[RayB]

OK the real story here is who is forcing you to keep this in the garage? Eh? Eh?? 

I live in Cambridge, ON (45 min west of Toronto). A couple years ago I was living in a townhouse and I kept my Galaga machine in the garage. It survived, but I will never do that to a machine I care about ever again. The moisture rusted some of the grills on the back door, and also rusted a bit of the transformer and the clips on the fuse block.

Game still works, but every time I see that rust I just wanna kick myself. (And keep in mind, this was in a garage used as storage. It's not like we kept opening the door all the time and parking a wet car in there!)

So, as was already said above... it will be fine, provided you let it warm up and dry out thoroughly before you turn it on again. But if you want to avoid rusting, you might as well wrap the whole thing up tightly in plastic as a precaution.

~Ray B.

[Goggles]

My mom doesn't want it in the house yet, only cause we don't have the space unless our basement dendant moves out. We rent our basement to help finance my 2004 Matrix, so until she moves out it's stuck in my garage. I have plans to make my basement into a games/entertainment place, with my mame setup, pool table and mini bar.

thanks for the help, yea I turned it off.

[Dougmeister]

Isn't "Cold Canadian Winter" redundant?

 

[j123vt_99]

i'm a newbie, so take this with a grain of salt, but you could try wrapping it in old blankets to insulate it. might help a bit

[TOK]

I don't think the cold is particularly bad for electronic components. Think of all the electronics in a new car. Just make sure it sits at room temperature for a while before you power it up in case there is condensation.

I wasn't sure from your post if you meant you were playing it out there or just storing it.

[ChadTower]

I don't think the cold is particularly bad for electronic components. Think of all the electronics in a new car. Just make sure it sits at room temperature for a while before you power it up in case there is condensation.

I wasn't sure from your post if you meant you were playing it out there or just storing it.

The level of cold he's talking about will make the components brittle.  Move them while that cold, they snap.  Turn them on, any frost on them melts and they get wet. 

Extreme cold can destroy a monitor tube, especially if you turn it on.  The rapid temperature change could easily cause the tube to vent, which is immediate death and potential fire hazard.

Basically, if you HAVE to keep it out there, don't use it.  Avoid keeping it out there if you can.

[LeedsFan]

How can you play on the cabinet for long if it's that cold?  I had my cabinet in a garage  before I moved.  I used to power it up and play for a bit. But it got too cold to stand and play after a while. And besides..... I had to run a hair dryer in the back for ten minutes to warm the thing up, as I was getting dodgy crackling noises from the tube due to condensation.  Now it's in my flat everyhting is great.

[ChadTower]

. I had to run a hair dryer in the back for ten minutes to warm the thing up, as I was getting dodgy crackling noises from the tube due to condensation.  Now it's in my flat everyhting is great.

Not due to condensation.  Due to the glass expanding from warming up.  By using the hair dryer you actually worsened the problem.  If that monitor still works, it's a miracle.  I bet that tube is a hair from a flaming death.

[Ken Layton]

I don't think the cold is particularly bad for electronic components. Think of all the electronics in a new car.

All the electronic parts and circuit bards in new cars are either thickly coated with a protective (and non conductive) lacquer or they are completely encapsulated to prevent moisture/corrosion problems.

[TOK]

Right. And they are going from cold to warm daily (underhood stuff from below freezing to over 100 degrees when the car is warm every time).  The cabinet is going to do it once. I've kept radio controlled aircraft gear in a cold garage for years. It gets used every spring, and it's always fine. Just my opinion based on my experience.
If you don't bring it from freezing to warm and immediately power it, you're not going to have a problem.

[RayB]

Don't discount the rust issues!

[ChadTower]

Right. And they are going from cold to warm daily (underhood stuff from below freezing to over 100 degrees when the car is warm every time).  The cabinet is going to do it once. I've kept radio controlled aircraft gear in a cold garage for years. It gets used every spring, and it's always fine. Just my opinion based on my experience.
If you don't bring it from freezing to warm and immediately power it, you're not going to have a problem.

Those controlled gears aren't nearly as large or as complex, nor are they vacuum sealed glass.

[Lilwolf]

btw, I had a monitor outside for 2 years and it did no harm.  It wasn't as cold as that, but it was super cold for 2 weeks, then thaw...  It might have been worse.

Keep it inside if at all possible. 

Bring all the electronics you can inside... (ie, keyboard encoder, original cpu... ect). 

And if you DO keep it inside... warm it up slowly... IE 5+ hours...

[TOK]

Not servos, a 7 channel programmable radio with a liquid crystal display.
Lilwolfs post also reminded me I have a 13" TV out there. It's been there Winter and Summer for 3 years. I suppose back and forth is getting us nowhere.
I say leaving it in the cold isn't going to hurt it unless you power it before it comes to room temperature.