Core ESP32 operating temperature?



  • Hi all,

    Has anyone had any luck running a Core ESP32 in non-temperature-controlled environments? I'm in an area of Canada where we'll get winters down in the -25C area and summers up to 40C. The Cores would be in utility boxes, to monitor the gear inside. They'd get a little warmth from the gear in winter, but would still be subzero. In the summer, they'd have the outdoor temperature, plus the warmth off the gear (no air conditioning or fans in the utlity boxes), so it'd likely be 50C.

    Thanks!



  • @aezero Just spit-ballin' here, as a Canadian...
    The circuitry must not be exposed to condensating regimes, i.e. humidity itself is not bad until it condenses. 50C is my personal max for semiconductors...to provide a safety margin.
    -25C the LCD will stop working and may be damaged.
    The specs are here:
    https://docs.m5stack.com/en/core/basic
    "Operating Temperature 0°C to 60°C"



  • @teastain Thanks for the reply!

    I'm actually not too worried about the LCD failing, unless it fails in such a way that it takes down the whole unit. I'm only going to have the LCD enabled for the initial setup, then it will be off. I know Expressif lists the ESP32 operating range as -40C to +125C.

    I'm also running a COM.LTE in it. The SIM7600 lists -40C to +85C.

    I guess I'll need to stick one out in the back yard next month and see what happens :)



  • @aezero if the LCD dies, M5Stack did have replacements.



  • @ajb2k3 Good to know! The Core ESP32 bundle is pretty cheap. The COM.LTE is the most expensive part.



  • @aezero That's because of the proprietary hardware and software blobs.



  • Hi all!

    I figured I'd update this thread with my findings. I've been running a unit in my non-insulated plastic shed for two months of Canadian winter with no problems whatsoever. The screen turned on immediately and is perfectly fine. No unexplained lockups, reboots, or other glitches.

    It has been a relatively warm winter (unfortunate for my testing). Inside the shed, it got down to -15C one weekend, but for the rest of the time, it has been between 0C and -6C. Humidity has been an average of 78% with a peak at 97%.