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Have a question about signal or power integrity? Ask our Expert - Dr. Eric Bogatin

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Eric Bogatin

Dr. Eric Bogatin received his BS degree in physics from MIT, and MS and PhD degrees in physics from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has held senior engineering and management positions at Bell Labs, Raychem, Sun Microsystems, Ansoft, and Interconnect Devices. Eric has written four books on signal integrity and interconnect design and over 200 papers. He has taught over 4,000 engineers in the last 20 years.



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  • Dr. Bogatin,

     

    I'm looking at your Ph.D in Physics from Tuscon as the expert for my Relative Humidity Electronics Question.

     

    I've noticed that Dell Computer has a Relative Humidity specification from 20% to 80% (noncondensing) on their Mini Tower Computer Specification (OptiPlex 755).   At 100% RH things can get wet and thus short.  But why the low limit at 20%.  Things can get dry here in Colorado, even lower than 20%.  Does this mean Honeywell should not buy Dell computers?  (I find this hard to believe since I have operated a Dell at home for the past 11 years here without any consideration for Relative Humidity.)   I've called Dell and talked to 5 different departments in New Delhi, India.  They said that 20-80% is the operating range, but can tell me nothing else.  (One tech told me that the computer would not cool down if RH was below 20%.)

     

    I would have thought that the dryer the better.  Oh yes,  ESD is more of a problem, but isn't this a problem when one goes to service the equipment, which means the computer is not in the "operational mode."  But should this even be called a problem if my company has proper ESD procedures in place to service the equipment.

     

    Question: Why should any electronic device need a low limit on the Relative Humidity specification, considering the case is grounded and thus provides ESD shielding?

     

    Thank you,

     

    Jerry Kelley, PE

Reply

  • Dr. Bogatin,

     

    I'm looking at your Ph.D in Physics from Tuscon as the expert for my Relative Humidity Electronics Question.

     

    I've noticed that Dell Computer has a Relative Humidity specification from 20% to 80% (noncondensing) on their Mini Tower Computer Specification (OptiPlex 755).   At 100% RH things can get wet and thus short.  But why the low limit at 20%.  Things can get dry here in Colorado, even lower than 20%.  Does this mean Honeywell should not buy Dell computers?  (I find this hard to believe since I have operated a Dell at home for the past 11 years here without any consideration for Relative Humidity.)   I've called Dell and talked to 5 different departments in New Delhi, India.  They said that 20-80% is the operating range, but can tell me nothing else.  (One tech told me that the computer would not cool down if RH was below 20%.)

     

    I would have thought that the dryer the better.  Oh yes,  ESD is more of a problem, but isn't this a problem when one goes to service the equipment, which means the computer is not in the "operational mode."  But should this even be called a problem if my company has proper ESD procedures in place to service the equipment.

     

    Question: Why should any electronic device need a low limit on the Relative Humidity specification, considering the case is grounded and thus provides ESD shielding?

     

    Thank you,

     

    Jerry Kelley, PE

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