Historic June heat wave smashes records in Europe

A punishing early-season heat wave that tormented large swaths of Europe over June is easing after delivering hundreds of record-high temperatures. This new reality is not impacting only people, but also all outdoor electronic systems. Hence, thermal management in outdoor electronic systems is becoming increasingly important.

Temperature the Silent Killer

As we explained in the previous article “Why is Thermal Management Becoming Increasingly Important?” electronics reliability suffers when devices are too hot for too long. This statement is clearly illustrated by the data. More than half of electronic failures are due to poor temperature control.

This is especially true for outdoor LCD signage systems, as the main component (LCD panel) is also a heat generator. Most fan-based cooling outdoor LCD signs from respected manufacturers have operational temperature bounds around -20 to +40°C. At first glance, the temperature range looks great. But don’t forget that the heat is generated by three factors, by integrated LCD panel, ambient air temperature, and solar radiation.

Black spots on outdoor LCD signage.

Thermal Control is Critical

We can all agree that proper thermal control is critical for the longevity of outdoor digital signs. The first step is always the correct choice of cooling technology. A rule of thumb is if the highest air temperature (peak) in the micro-location is expected to be above 40°C (the highest average temperature is not important), compressor-based air conditioning cooling technology should be used. This rule has its drawbacks. It doesn’t take into account that the heat is generated by other factors. Nevertheless, it’s a good start.

As we pointed out at the start of this article, the weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Record high temperatures are exceeded every year. At Infinitus we acknowledge this fact, so we prepared an update of Controlmotion monitoring software. Which is getting even smarter. Not only are we preparing a cloud-based solution, with advanced analytics (which we will present in detail in the future article), but we are optimizing the logic of the system also.

Inteligent Outdoor Signs

Let’s say you bought and installed imotion FLOW device. In the buying process, our sales managers analyzed the micro-location and agreed with you that the FLOW ventilation thermal system can more than stand the temperature peaks at a specific location. But an early-season heat wave has delivered record-high temperatures. Record temperatures, solar radiation, and heat generated from the electronics have increased enclosure temperature way beyond recommended operational bounds. What to do? Well, it’s simple. Nothing. 

Imotion FLOW outdoor digital signs are smart, self-regulated devices. The ventilators are regulated based on the actual temperature within the housing. If increased ventilation/cooling is not sufficient. Controlmotion shuts down the LCD panel, which is the main heat source in the enclosure. Although this is not ideal, it protects critical components from damage. This feature will now be even smarter. Before shutting down the LCD panel, the system will gradually decrease the backlight levels and check whether the enclosure temperature has dropped to operational bounds.

For more useful information read our blog, with articles that go deeper into the technology behind outdoor digital signage.