Protect Electronics from very low and very high temperature

[vandana_kr]

Hi,
I am a wireless hardware design engineer. I am working for a project which operates in very harsh environment of temperature -80 to +140degC. please suggest some RF Transceiver IC which works for this environment or I need to protect my electronic circuitry on the printed circuit board from this harsh temperature environment. Please suggest some heat insulation material for my application.

Regards,
Vandana

 

[123jack]

Hi Vandana
Generally speaking:

Start with all high (MIL?) spec devices and go from there.

If all else fails - an electronically controlled
environment inside its case. Make the case bigger
to accomodate it. There are things like solid state
temperate controlers you could maybe stick to chips etc (low power ones) and arrays for open air heat/cooling, but I dont know if they could cope with a switchover from power gen(to make heat) to cooling (from power)for that sort of range.
The cheaper ones you can find in those "bedroom" refrigerators people put beer cans in (presumably)

A look around the NASA web sight might give a few leads.

I'd be very interested to hear how you get on with
this

------------------
jack

 

[bert_kak]

Re: Protect Electronics from very low and very high temperat

Hi,
I am a wireless hardware design engineer. I am working for a project which operates in very harsh environment of temperature -80 to +140degC. please suggest some RF Transceiver IC which works for this environment or I need to protect my electronic circuitry on the printed circuit board from this harsh temperature environment. Please suggest some heat insulation material for my application.

Regards,
Vandana

That temperature range is way low & high with a military class chip. what I suggest is you look for an RF tranceiver IC in a temperature range of -55 to 120degC(military class) then try to limit the temperature on that range by doing something on your case/chassis by heating or cooling technique. I guess you need to be very specific with your chassis depending whether you will place it in a very cold or very hot temperature. create 2 designs which will accommodate those 2 extreme temperatures. hope this helps...

 

[vandana_kr]

Re: Protect Electronics from very low and very high temperat

Thanks Jack and Bert,

It helped me to some extent, I will implement them and get back to you with the solution.
meanwhile if you find any solution to it, please post it to me.

Vandana

 

[jiripolivka]

The temperature range is so extreme than possibly there are no components available to work in such environment. I often wonder why people try to make a piece if fine electronics and then try to destroy it this way.
Try rather to install your TV transmitter elsewhere- possibly only the TV camera is to be located in the bad environment. Use a thermostabilized enclosure- for low temperature a simple heater, for high temperature a Peltier cooler would work. You can design simple comparators to activate the heater or cooler as needed, to keep system temperature within reasonable limits.

 

[eziggurat]

You could always conformal coat your PCB and design a casing where you can put epoxy filling in the case. I know the epoxy is used successfully in marine electronics and a commercial outdoor electronics. For the casing you could always look at Bayblend FR110 or something similar. The best bet to find out more about the type of plastics from a local company and they may provide a ideal solution for you. I have used FR110 extensively and I have tested at 100 degrees and -30 degrees and it shows no cracking or deformities. I believe the FR110 is rated higher than the temperature tested.