Literal hangar talk- heating small electronics in hangar during winter?

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SkyhawkC172

Filing Flight Plan
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SkyhawkC172
My hangar is uninsulated and has no heat outside of standard electric heaters which I only run when I'm physically there. Typically I take home my flight electronics (iPad, Sentry, etc) when it gets cold and remember to bring it when I'm back out there. However, I'd like to install a cellphone hotspot in the hangar since I've been doing more internet work out there. My goal is to leave it at the hangar so I can check on things remotely, but I'm concerned about the cold winters damaging the equipment.

Anyone have a recommendation for keeping small electronics warm (or at least not freezing) in the hangar without breaking the bank? Thanks in advance.
 
SkyhawkC172 said:
My hangar is uninsulated and has no heat outside of standard electric heaters which I only run when I'm physically there. Typically I take home my flight electronics (iPad, Sentry, etc) when it gets cold and remember to bring it when I'm back out there. However, I'd like to install a cellphone hotspot in the hangar since I've been doing more internet work out there. My goal is to leave it at the hangar so I can check on things remotely, but I'm concerned about the cold winters damaging the equipment.

Anyone have a recommendation for keeping small electronics warm (or at least not freezing) in the hangar without breaking the bank? Thanks in advance.
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I've seen guys get an old dorm fridge and put a goldenrod heater or incan lightbulb in it to keep things from freezing.

I personally wouldn't worry about a hotspot, but I can understand wanting the other stuff warmish so it works correctly.
 
SkyhawkC172 said:
My hangar is uninsulated and has no heat outside of standard electric heaters which I only run when I'm physically there. Typically I take home my flight electronics (iPad, Sentry, etc) when it gets cold and remember to bring it when I'm back out there. However, I'd like to install a cellphone hotspot in the hangar since I've been doing more internet work out there. My goal is to leave it at the hangar so I can check on things remotely, but I'm concerned about the cold winters damaging the equipment.

Anyone have a recommendation for keeping small electronics warm (or at least not freezing) in the hangar without breaking the bank? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
It'll be plugged in the whole time, right? It can generate its own heat to keep the circuits toasty and warm :D
 
Plenty of farmers keeping an old fridge around and putting a cheap plug thermostat on an incandescent light bulb to keep chemicals from freezing. It would do the trick if you are worried. When my partner and I had our mooney we had a hotspot in the T hangar all winter in Iowa. No issues with the cold. So I wouldn't worry and go through the old fridge technique. That is unless you want to keep other things from freezing.
 
Really good suggestions. I just happen to have an old dorm fridge in my garage taking up space. Easy peasy!
 
I have used a small dorm fridge as a fridge in the summer and unplug it and it is a "hot box" during the winter.
I use a heat mat themostat and heat element for a reptile. Keeps it 50° in there easy.

Now i do the same thing only use a 5 CuFt chest freezer as I needed more room.
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50 watts is plenty.
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Remember that some fridges will make pretty effective faraday cages. So if you are planning to put something RF emitting (like a router or a cell phone switch for an engine heater) into it, you'll want to test before making modifications to the fridge.
 
My cabin gets heated only when we’re there and otherwise sees temps to -40° in winter. Never any problem with any electrical equipment including stereos, TVs inverters, appliances, etc.
 
172andyou said:
Remember that some fridges will make pretty effective faraday cages. So if you are planning to put something RF emitting (like a router or a cell phone switch for an engine heater) into it, you'll want to test before making modifications to the fridge.
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This is a really good point. Since the hangar is essentially a big metal box, I was planning to get an external antenna for the hotspot
 
Electronics should generate their own heat and be fine.
 
I run a cellular Jetpack/Mifi hotspot (Inseego Mifi8000) in my hangar and most of them are not designed to be plugged in all the time. It generally works ok but the batteries are cheap and will eventually start failing, even bulging. I've had them fail in my home and in the hangar from being constantly plugged in to power, using OEM cables and chargers. I had one crap out on my in the past month as the temps dropped in the hangar. I swapped out the battery w/ new and I'm back up and running.

Since I've seen some pretty severe battery bulging, I'd be leery stuffing one of these into a fridge in the hangar w/ any volatile chemicals/cans I wanted to keep from freezing over the winter.
 
Yes. Ideally you want one without a battery.

Those “home internet” ones work nicely if offered in your area.
 
My hangar has wifi provided by the airport, but it has no heat. The electronics for the wifi seem to do just fine.
 
As far as I know, here in NY, radio repeater sites aren't heated. They just have thermostatically controlled exhaust fans for ventilation in the winter. I'm sure in warmer climates they have to have AC for the summer.
 
My starlink dish is mounted on my shop and I have a whole stack of network gear in there, I only turn the heat on if I'm working up there and on very cold days it can get down close to freezing. Never had an issue, I don't think I'd worry about it. The one thing I think might be a problem is if you bring a really cold device into a warm building it can get condensation on it.. in other words water which isn't great for electronics.
 
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