Why doesn't water vapour in the air damage electronics components?

[AstroBenny]

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

[kelvindeschutter]

i think it doesn't because the amount is so small that electricity can't  (or almost can't) move true it

[MrChavelo]

I'm no scientist, but I think it has to do with the density of the water. Water vapour is a gas and thus has a much lower density than its liquid or solid form. This would mean that electrons cannot be transferred as easily.

[swordsman247]

3 minutes ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

Yeah there's no minerals in water vapor to conduct the electricity. The moisture it's self can cause oxidation which can ruin electronics but it's unlikely enough will collect to do much damage.

[xnoobftw]

16 minutes ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

Btw water is not conductive (PURE water that is)

It's just that its such a good solvent for charged carriers that it practically makes nearly all water conductive

Since water vapor cannot act as a solvent (not in liquid form)

It is not conductive!

And no water doesnt just suddenly condense at like 20 to 30c 

The only way it damages is that it acts as a catalyst to acceleration oxidation of metallic parts (aka rusting)

[NojusTechTips]

18 minutes ago, MrChavelo said:

I'm no scientist, but I think it has to do with the density of the water. Water vapour is a gas and thus has a much lower density than its liquid or solid form. This would mean that electrons cannot be transferred as easily.

I agree

[AstroBenny]

20 minutes ago, xnoobftw said:

Btw water is not conductive (PURE water that is)

It's just that its such a good solvent for charged carriers that it practically makes nearly all water conductive

Since water vapor cannot act as a solvent (not in liquid form)

It is not conductive!

And no water doesnt just suddenly condense at like 20 to 30c 

The only way it damages is that it acts as a catalyst to acceleration oxidation of metallic parts (aka rusting)

Silly question but why if you were to put e.g. a phone inside a fridge, why would the phone get wet?

[DevilishBooster]

29 minutes ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

Because water by itself is not electrically conductive, it is the minerals that are carried in liquid water that make it conductive. When water suspended in the air in its gaseous state it cannot hold onto dissolved minerals, therefore making water vapor non-conductive. That's why, if you take any kind of water that hasn't been distilled or filtered through reverse osmosis, and boil it away you will be left with (mostly) dried mineral deposits in the pot after all the water has boiled away into water vapor. 

[i_build_nanosuits]

35 minutes ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics?

because it would suck if it would, we wouldn't be able to do anything

[edenmar]

... since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain 

 

Depends on what you mean by 'electronics' -- that sort of covers everything, sensitive and insensitive.  

'Sensitive components' ... mostly ... are sealed with impermeable temperature-resistant plastic.  Water vapor outside the plastic has no effect.  

Transformers may be unsealed and if water condenses on the windings that is a problem.  The same goes for poorly-plated metal components or board traces.

If the temperature goes below the dew point and the motherboard (actually, any circuit board) is cool enough, yes, pure water will condense.  But the water won't remain 'pure' for long if the board's surface is contaminated, and it will be, after a short time in service,  It's usually open to the air, and so, to dust, fumes, etc. pulled in by cooling fans.  So now you have a conductive surface between the traces, damp dirt ... the effect depends on the amount of conductivity and how sensitive the circuitry is, to electrical leakage paths ... 

[DXMember]

water vapor is non conductive

water vapor will not condense unless certain conditions are met and electronics don't meet the conditions

[Sauron]

39 minutes ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

Pure water, contrarily to popular belief, is NOT conductive. What makes water generally conductive is that in liquid form it picks up plenty of particles that allow electricity to flow through it. The condensation of a few particles is not enough to cause short circuits. Now, if it gets to the point where you can see droplets, you may have a problem - but if you turn the hardware off fast enough and let it dry in theory you should be fine.

[ThomasD]

If water vapor was even a halfway decent conductor lightning as we know it would not exist because the necessary charge could never accumulate.

 

It is only when the charge accumulates sufficiently to overcome the rather large spark gap - turning the vapor into plasma (which is a very good conductor) that electricity flows and the charge dissipates.

 

Also, water itself is not much of an oxidizer, but as noted it is a great solvent, so in liquid form it rapidly accumulates ions with good oxidative ability.

[LukeTim]

It can do, if the components become cool enough for the vapor to condense on the surface... Unlikely to happen though.

[bgibbz]

1 hour ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

Common misunderstanding about water- water is NOT conductive and therefore it does no harm to electronics. It IS however polar, which means it very rapidly collects ions which would then make he water conductive and short. Water vapor will not collect as much ions and will not conduct water between different parts of a board. 

[xnoobftw]

2 hours ago, AstroBenny said:

Silly question but why if you were to put e.g. a phone inside a fridge, why would the phone get wet?

The phone wouldnt get wet

Contrary the phone should dry up faster (assuming phone is the only thing in fridge) due to desiccation in fridge

[vorticalbox]

18 minutes ago, xnoobftw said:

The phone wouldnt get wet

Contrary the phone should dry up faster (assuming phone is the only thing in fridge) due to desiccation in fridge

The problem would be when you take it out of the fridge seeing as it is likely below ambient thus could cause condensation.

[vanished]

If you're curious about condensation and why things "get wet in a fridge", you can read the link in my signature

[Rodinski]

Corrosion.

3 hours ago, bgibbz said:

Common misunderstanding about water- water is NOT conductive and therefore it does no harm to electronics. It IS however polar, which means it very rapidly collects ions which would then make he water conductive and short. Water vapor will not collect as much ions and will not conduct water between different parts of a board. 

That's pure water.  Water is rarely pure.

[xnoobftw]

9 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

If you're curious about condensation and why things "get wet in a fridge", you can read the link in my signature

Oh god this is bringing me back to the days i used humidity diagram to study drying of objects in unit operations

[Prysin]

14 hours ago, AstroBenny said:

I was thinking, since all air has a percentage of humidity, why doesn't that damage electronics? Can't particles of water vapour collide with sensitive components and do damage? And since only pure liquid water will evaporate, when it condenses, say on a motherboard, it would be pure water so it doesn't conduct electricity...no..?

Can someone explain

it does over time if the concentration is high enough.

[Yoinkerman]

water is dangerous when it condenses or is otherwise placed onto electronics.  it is dangerous because the water can bridge circuits, sending electricity to places it wasn't designed for.  minute bits of water vapour can't bridge anything.

[WkdPaul]

12 hours ago, Prysin said:

it does over time if the concentration is high enough.

This, not sure what the whole "humidity will not break anything" thing in this thread is...

 

You guys should look up "ambient humidity and data center" ... bottom line is, ambient humidity CAN damage electronic if it's high enough.

[Mira Yurizaki]

In order for water from the air to condense, the object in question must be at or below the dew point of the air. The dew point is always going to be at or below ambient temperature. Electronics never reach that point unless it's being cooled by something that's actively removing heat from the system (like a peltier or phase change cooler) or if you moved it from a cold environment to a hot and humid one.

 

Otherwise, there's so little water in the air compared to the other parts that it doesn't make the air conductive, even in high humidity environments. The worst that humidity does is promotes corrosion, especially in coastal areas.

 

Although strangely, high humidity has a huge plus: it prevents static electricity from building up.