[SPARCbook] Q: Heat build-up in SPARCbook3 GX "left on 24x7"

[steve price]

they work good on a wintel laptop - windoz 9x/nt auto
recognizes as generic pcmcia card and turns on power -
in dos mode there is an executable to turn the power
to the port on/off

haven't tried it on a sparcbook...

--- Gary Goddard <gaz_god at btinternet.com> wrote:
> In my local electronic store (Maplin in the UK
> www.maplin.co.uk ) I saw a
> PCMCIA cooling fan (Catalogue code TK51F ).
> The packaging stated compatible with windows, but it
> looked like it just
> took its power from the port.
> Has anyone tryed one with a sparcbook?
> 
> Gary.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ian Spray" <iws at tadpole.co.uk>
> To: <sparcbook at sunhelp.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 10:10 AM
> Subject: RE: [SPARCbook] Q: Heat build-up in
> SPARCbook3 GX "left on 24x7"
> 
> 
> >
> > On 23-Oct-00 Ken Hansen wrote:
> > >
> > > The laptop sits on a hardwood table, with the
> rear portion "propped up"
> > > on those clever little "legs." I am starting to
> assemble my "lab," and
> as
> > > such will be moving the machine to some wire
> shelving in my basement (a
> > > relatively cool environment - I am thinking of
> placing a small 12 V. fan
> > > or two (from an AT&T UnixPC) under the SPARCbook
> to improve air-flow,
> has
> > > anyone else done such a thing?
> > >
> > You might also like to try a small fan blowing
> into the PCMCIA sockets -
> > that will try to get air moving around the CPU
> itself.  Blowing under the
> > machine is a good alternative, as the CPU heatsink
> is thermally bonded to
> > the middle of the bottom of the case.  Placing the
> unit on a wire mesh
> rack
> > might also help (dunno the make, but similar to
> the stuff on ER), as the
> > large gaps let air move, and keeping the base in
> contact with the metal
> > allows the shelf to become a larger heatsink.
> >
> > > Also, the laptop has remained open for he last
> two or three months, and
> > > while the display turns off after a period of
> time (great!), I know I
> > > can't close the case, as the keyboard seems to
> "vent" heat from the
> > > system - what are folks doing about this? Do
> they just leave them open?
> > > Didn't someone set some of these up as kiosks?
> How are you handling heat
> > > dissipation?
> > >
> > There is indeed heat vented from the top of the
> case.  I would imagine
> that
> > the kiosk problem is solved by not running
> SETI at home/dnetc or any other
> > process which keeps the CPU 100% active.  I have
> used a plain S3 (50MHz
> > CPU) as a firewall/NAT/router at home, and this
> summer it was running 24x7
> > in an ambient of up to 33C, with the temperature
> inside the PCMCIA socket
> > reaching 44.1C at the worst point.  This was
> allowing the kernel to clock
> > stop to keep the core temperature down, and it was
> also on a much slower
> > machine so the heat generated was much lower too.
> >
> > I did have two unexplained crashes, but the rest
> of the time it just
> worked
> > - there were no external fans but I did leave the
> screen up to help move
> > the heat.  I would not recommend running a machine
> like this, especially
> > not with a PCMCIA modem card in it - pulling that
> out really was like
> > holding a hot potato.  I did make sure that the
> hard drive was spun down
> > after a fairly short time, but that was only
> because a firewall doesn't
> > need much disc access.
> >
> > > One final question - by leaving my SPARCbook on
> 24x7, am I damaging the
> > > battery? The battery is installed, and the LCD
> shows battery life
> varying
> > > between 99% and 100% remaining... Is this
> drawing power through the
> > > battery or working independently? For long-term
> storage (I have a
> > > spare!), should I leave the laptop plugged in
> and turned off, or should
> > > I remove the battery and put it away? I am
> concerned an internal clock
> > > battery will give up the ghost and bring the
> SPARCbook down, with a
> > > broken clock battery...
> > >
> > The cycling is due to the charging being cut once
> the microcontroller
> > senses the end of charge signal from the battery
> pack.  After this, the
> > cells will start to loose energy as all
> rechargeable systems do, and once
> > it gets below the top threshold, the micro will
> turn the charging circuit
> > back on again.  You're just watching the
> hysteresis at the end of charge.
> >
> > I'm not convinced that the main battery has
> anything to do with the clock
> > backup - they're supposed to be independant and
> self powered.  I do have
> to
> > add that I haven't read the schematics for the
> SPARCbook machines, so I
> > can't be sure.  I would be very surprised if a
> dying clock battery were to
> > crash the machine though :)
> >
> >
> > --
> > Ian Spray          :  Software Engineer     : 
> Tadpole-RDI
> > iws at tadpole.co.uk  :  +44 (0) 1223 428 224  : 
> http://www.tadpole.com/
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sparcbook mailing list  -  Sparcbook at sunhelp.org
> > http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/sparcbook
> >
> 
> _______________________________________________
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