[SOLVED] How much humidity is too high?

[devo343]

Hi ive had issues in the past with a corroding gpu heat pipe and a model m getting rust spots and now what im trying to figure out what humidty is too high? i live in a enivorment where its impossible to get the humidity in my room below 50% however the dew point outside has stayed low so would a high humidity but a low dew point hurt things? at most my rooms humidity gets up to 65%

 

[jay32267]

The humidity in my house is 70% and that's fine for PCs. I get zero corrosion on anything ever.
65% is fine.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hi ive had issues in the past with a corroding gpu heat pipe and a model m getting rust spots and now what im trying to figure out what humidty is too high? i live in a enivorment where its impossible to get the humidity in my room below 50% however the dew point outside has stayed low so would a high humidity but a low dew point hurt things? at most my rooms humidity gets up to 65%

In the short term, condensing humidity is too high. Longer term high humidity, even if it never condenses out onto surfaces, can support mold growth that is bad for electronics.

Usually, keeping it on will keep it warm enough for neither of those scenarios to occur.

 

[alceryes]

65%RH is fine at human comfort temps. This wasn't the cause of your previous corrosion.

 

[devo343]

65%RH is fine at human comfort temps. This wasn't the cause of your previous corrosion.

very confused on whats going on then with my corrosion issues then.

 

[alceryes]

Is the room carpeted? Spills in the carpet (or cleaning the carpet) can cause a localized area of high humidity.

Did something spill IN your computer case and sit there? Has water (or something with water in it) ever been used to clean any of your components?

 

[devo343]

Is the room carpeted? Spills in the carpet (or cleaning the carpet) can cause a localized area of high humidity.

Did something spill IN your computer case and sit there? Has water (or something with water in it) ever been used to clean any of your components?

none of the above i have a carpet but i have never spilled anything in it

 

[jay32267]

none of the above i have a carpet but i have never spilled anything in it

As a preventative measure you could wipe WD-40 or something similar on the heat pipes.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Unless you live near a body of salt water, humidity isn't really an issue. The only metal used in computers, that I'm aware of anyway) that suffers from corrosion readily from atmospheric conditions is steel. Gold (used on contacts), copper, aluminum, and nickel (used to plate heat sinks and whatnot) are either non-reactive to most common substances or they form a really thin surface layer of corrosion that protects the rest of the metal from further corrosion.

Solder is a different story since it's an almagamation of metals, and I'm too lazy to see how good it is against atmospheric corrosion.

EDIT: Also I lived on an island that regularly gets 70-80% humidity in the summer, and I had a computer that worked just fine over several years. The only thing that showed signs of corrosion was the case.

 

[helper800]

That heat pipe actually has water in it, albeit a small amount, so you should check where the corrosion is to see if the heat pipe is punctured. It might also be the case that the heatsink came with corrosion on it and you did not notice until later. Is your case near an AC unit? It may be pulling in sub ambient air and hitting the dew point inside or on the surfaces of the case is some places.

 

[devo343]

That heat pipe actually has water in it, albeit a small amount, so you should check where the corrosion is to see if the heat pipe is punctured. It might also be the case that the heatsink came with corrosion on it and you did not notice until later. Is your case near an AC unit? It may be pulling in sub ambient air and hitting the dew point inside or on the surfaces of the case is some places.

its a copper heat pipe on a aircooled gpu so no water is in it unless im reading it wrong and no it is not near an ac

 

[drea.drechsler]

its a copper heat pipe on a aircooled gpu so no water is in it unless im reading it wrong and no it is not near an ac

The way a heat pipe works is it has single drop of water put in and then sealed. The water in that drop evaps on the hot parts, the vapor travels to the cool part and condenses taking the heat with it. There's some sort of mesh also inside that lets the water move back to the hot part and repeat the cycle.

But the heat pipe is made of copper, and possibly nickle plated if it's shiny silver toned instead of bright copper toned. Are you sure this is corrosion and not something else? Some insects can leave deposits where egg cases were placed. Or maybe you've been a bit aggressive with cleaning?

 

[devo343]

this is what the corrosion looks like

https://imgur.com/a/1hOkvqm

View: https://imgur.com/a/1hOkvqm