PC transport & humidity

Imax · February 3, 2023

Hello,

I am relocating to the Netherlands in a few weeks and I am looking at 2-3 days car drive. I am worried that transporting my PC by car in low 0 to -5C outside temp with a wide range of variations (temperature difference from day car drive, maybe 14 to 18C inside as opposed to nighttime stall to outside temperatures) will cause humidity wet spots on it (i do not intend on claiming the cargo in the hotel room at every stop). I can isolate the GPU and PSU on their separate packages, but should i dismantle the mobo, or othe components as well?

Any advice would be apreciated.

Thanks

Thomas4 · February 4, 2023

Just take out the graphics card and the cooler, everything else will be fine, remember all of this was shipped via air and at an altitude of 9,144 - 12,192 meters.

Imax · February 4, 2023

51 minutes ago, Thomas4 said:

Just take out the graphics card and the cooler, everything else will be fine, remember all of this was shipped via air and at an altitude of 9,144 - 12,192 meters.

I work in aviation, high altitude flight outside temp can be around -40(C and F is the same at this value), but this is irelevant because inside the pressurised plane this is controlled not to vary more than 10C (13-23C), and 100% humidity control due to aviation standards.

By cooler you mean the AIO? Its an Arctic Liquid Freezer II. I was thinking whether i should remove it or not, but that unit does provide the CPU some cover… is that surface better off exposed?

Thomas4 · February 4, 2023

Why you want to remove the graphics card is due to weight. The bouncing around may cause the card to break away from the slot. If it too hard to remove, you can pack the inside of the case with either airbags or fill plastic lunch bags with either packing peanuts or newspaper for padding to minimize any movement. The bags will contain the dust produced by the material, especially the packing peanuts.

Or for large voids you can use plastic shopping or garbage bags - here, if your using the packing peanuts, tape the ends and place a second bag over the first one on opposite ends, just for safeties sake. With the newspaper, I wouldn't bother.

The padding is overkill I know, but it cheap and provides extra protection, because there are a lot of stupid drivers out there and you never know when one will greet you.