[PPRAANet] Temperature Cycling breaks Rigs

[Paul Signorelli]

Hi Jim,
The LCD's in your radio control head just get sluggish at extreme temperatures. 
They are not necessarily going to fail. Most LCD's have elastomeric pressure connectors.
Maybe you have seen the elastomer connectors in old wrist watches (that are broken). 
When they fail you usually just loose a single segment. The "8" becomes a "4" as an example.
The cold temperature failures are different for Through Hole Parts than Surface Mount Devices.
The culprit is usually the same (CTE)  Coefficient of Thermal Expansion.
The temperature extremes pull the piece parts apart.
The radios and computer electronics that auto makers design are tested for and designed for reliability over
a wider temperature ranges than Ham equipment. They perform accelerated temperature tests by subjecting the equipment to Thermal Shock, (quick transitions between extremes). They find the weak points and make those points more robust.
I would protect the entire radio because there a lot of parts in the main part of the radio than can fail.
You just have to make that trade off. Is it an expensive radio, Can it easily be repaired? Then you decide to keep the radio in your car so it is always ready to go.
I don't always need my radio so I usually don't keep it in the car in the winter.
I have had some good luck with my Kenwood 2570 mobile radio. It has not failed because of temperature cycling after about 20 years. It is inexpensive and I can fix it myself.  I have other electronics that have almost been destroyed by temperature cycling. It pulled all the through hole parts right out of circuit board solder joints. I just had another 20 year old Radio Shack clock just fail
with an open connection on a LED readout.
Paul   w0rw