Please help with some questions....

[Anakin]

I have wanted an arcade cabinet for years.  I want to build a showcase cabinet and a driving cabinet.  Unfortunately, the only place I could possibly put this in would be my garage.  Has anyone left their machines in their garages?  I'm wondering how the weather would affect the MDF and the electronics.  I live in San Antonio, Tx and the winters are relatively mild but the summers are hot.  I'm talking very humid and hot.  I've thought about insulating the garage and putting up a fake wall but I dont know if I want to go to that expense.  Anyone got any ideas on what I could do?

[unclet]

Water and MDF do not get along ..... I would not think garage storage of MDF would hold up over time.   I would believe it would start to bubble a bit.

[modessitt]

Living in Austin and working as an arcade tech for home-owners, I see this often in Texas.

I don't usually see a lot of games break down just because they are in a garage.  If there is a lot of heat, you can open the garage for a little while to ventilate some cooler air, or get a window unit to help cool it down before playing.  Usually, if the room isn't too hot for you to hang out in, it shouldn't bother the game too much.  Since you seem to be planning on building your games yourself, just plan to install several silent-running computer fans in the cabs to keep things cool.  Also put one near the top-back of the cabinet BLOWING OUT to help suck out warm air.

Of greater concern is making sure the garage is well sealed against the elements and nature.  I've seen more games have problems due to water (both rain run-off and condensation/dew) and pests (mud daubers, ants, geckos) than anything system-related.  If you plan on parking a car in the garage, you may also have to worry about cleaning your games more often due to exhaust residue.  Also, make sure to plug all games into surge protectors to protect power supplies and sensitive parts from burning out.