Solid State Drive and cold weather

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bobharmony
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Solid State Drive and cold weather

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Post by bobharmony »


I have been struggling with the 1TB HDD that came in the laptop I use for AP imaging and processing. Both space and reliability have been issues for a while. So I recently replaced it with a 2TB SSD, a Samsung model. The PC boots and is ready for use much more quickly (30 seconds, much better than the 5-10 minutes I needed to wait for disk utilization to drop below 100% with the HDD). Software loads faster and some operations are much quicker - and all that space for data!

I notice the specs on the SSD show a minimum operating temp of 0°C. Does anyone have experience with using the laptop outdoors when the temp drops lower than this? I keep my laptop inside a box and drape it with a towel in cold weather. To date the only thing that has suffered in the cold has been the battery, even when I have the laptop plugged in. I am hoping to get out next week when the nighttime low is supposed to be 11°F.

Any experience with this is appreciated.

Bob
Hardware: Celestron C6-N w/ Advanced GTmount, Baader MK iii CC, Orion ST-80, Canon 60D (unmodded), Nikon D5300 (modded), Orion SSAG
Software: BYE, APT, PHD2, DSS, PhotoShop CC 2020, StarTools, Cartes du Ciel, AstroTortilla

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Juno16 United States of America
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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

#2

Post by Juno16 »


Hi Bob,

Thanks for posting this. I can’t help you, but I’m hoping that someone will chime in with some info.
I bought a refurbished Dell laptop back in 2018 to use for imaging and after I loaded all of the imaging apps and checked it out with a session, I then cloned the hdd to a ssd and have been using it since. I never even considered operating temperatures.
Of course, I live in in a much more temperate area than you, so I am limited to a rare 0 degree C session and even rarer session in the minus C range, but there have been a few. No issues at that range, but I guess that ignorance is bliss.
I also have my pc in a box with a towel covering it. Maybe that helps a small bit?
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

#3

Post by Juno16 »


Hey Bob,

I was just reading this thread on CN where someone mentioned using a heating pad under the laptop.
Great idea!
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8562 ... ry12374362
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

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Post by bobharmony »


Juno16 wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 3:30 am Hey Bob,

I was just reading this thread on CN where someone mentioned using a heating pad under the laptop.
Great idea!
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8562 ... ry12374362
Thanks for the link, Jim. I don't have a spare outlet for a heating pad but I do have a box full of foot warmers we bought for going to the HS football games my granddaughter cheers at. I'll be getting out a pair for my feet, I could grab a couple of extras for the laptop along with all the other precautions.

Bob
Hardware: Celestron C6-N w/ Advanced GTmount, Baader MK iii CC, Orion ST-80, Canon 60D (unmodded), Nikon D5300 (modded), Orion SSAG
Software: BYE, APT, PHD2, DSS, PhotoShop CC 2020, StarTools, Cartes du Ciel, AstroTortilla

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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

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Post by dcrowson »


I've been using SSDs in my control laptops for years with no issues. The temp has been 100F to -10F. The only issues I've ever run into is that the Dell's might not power up if the AC adapter is cold. If it is below freezing, I will bring in the AC adapter for a couple of hours before I plan to start them up. None of my laptops have batteries in them.

Dan
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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

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Post by yobbo89 »


i would boot your laptop indoors, you should be able to monitor hard drive temps with seatools or hwinfo ,almost every hard drive manufactures should have thier own diagnostics tools , i'm guessing that min temp range is for moister/ cracking on the nand chips
scopes :gso/bintel f4 12"truss tube, bresser messier ar127s /skywatcher 10'' dob,meade 12'' f10 lx200 sct
cameras : asi 1600mm-c/asi1600mm-c,asi120mc,prostar lp guidecam, nikkon d60, sony a7,asi 290 mm
mounts : eq6 pro/eq8/mesu 200 v2
filters : 2'' astronomik lp/badder lrgb h-a,sII,oIII,h-b,Baader Solar Continuum, chroma 3nm ha,sii,oiii,nii,rgb,lowglow,uv/ir,Thousand Oaks Solar Filter,1.25'' #47 violet,pro planet 742 ir,pro planet 807 ir,pro planet 642 bp ir.
extras : skywatcher f4 aplanatic cc, Baader MPCC MKIII Coma Corrector,Orion Field Flattener,zwo 1.25''adc.starlight maxi 2" 9x filter wheel,tele vue 2x barlow .

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Re: Solid State Drive and cold weather

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Post by Juno16 »


bobharmony wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 4:35 am
Juno16 wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 3:30 am Hey Bob,

I was just reading this thread on CN where someone mentioned using a heating pad under the laptop.
Great idea!
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8562 ... ry12374362
Thanks for the link, Jim. I don't have a spare outlet for a heating pad but I do have a box full of foot warmers we bought for going to the HS football games my granddaughter cheers at. I'll be getting out a pair for my feet, I could grab a couple of extras for the laptop along with all the other precautions.

Bob

The wormers should work well Bob. Good idea.

I like Dan's experience @dcrowson and with my limited low temps, I plan to do nothing.

The heating pad might not be the best choice if you are power limited. I have everything plugged into a 15 amp outlet that I would not want to overstress.

The wormers along with having the laptop in a covered box should keep everything toasty!

Great choice on the ssd. They are getting so inexpensive that I recently upgraded my imaging laptop 128GB ssd to a 512GB ssd for $26! I also upgraded my 512GB desktop M.2 to 2TB for $130. Heck, I remember that my first hdd upgrade years ago (850MB) was over $200!!!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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