Re: How much?

[Nigel Orr <nigel.orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 09:51 16/12/99 -0000, you wrote:
>What are your views in this context re thermal shock experienced by
turning
>on and off the kit ?

For computers, I would say it depends on the OS.  I view powering down a
Windows box occasionally as a Good Thing, to make sure all the hardware
gets reset, but that means once a week or whatever.  A well set up Linux
machine (or even a fairly badly set up one) should give no reason to power
it down, unless you are fitting or removing hardware.  In general, any
electronic equipment will last longer if it is left running, unless it is
something used rarely or designed for intermittent use (like washing
machines, drills etc ;-) ).  That's probably part of why security systems
seem to run and run and run...

Electrolytic power supply capacitors will not last as long if they are left
on all the time, bad solder joints will probably go 'dry' faster if they
are warm all the time, and any power resistors will probably have a shorter
life.  However, the vast majority of failures are mechanicalish things,
like hard drives dying, and current surges, which are caused by switching.

I think someone said on a newsgroup once that they had found very few
products that would last after about 50-100 rapid on-off cycles... but I
haven't tried it out for myself.  Thermal shock isn't usually much of a
problem, at least for normal electronics in a domestic environment, IMHO.

The only reason for turning things off between uses is to save power.  I
tend to leave things (eg Hi-Fi, TV) in standby instead, where they have a
low power (a couple of Watts or less) standby mode, but that's more for
convenience than for reliability!

All my opinions, others may disagree... HTH,

Nigel


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