Is Farmbot winterproof?

[Talis]

Hi there,

I was wondering, my Farmbot is being outside at the moment, but winter is comming. Our Dutch winter can contain some miserable wet weather but also freezing temperatures, snow and ice. Is Farmbot able to handle those conditions since it is a bit different then the Californian climate? Or is it recommended to take the electronic console inside? Or to cover everything?

Regards Talis

[Cjaramillogrows]

That’s a good question in regards to the cold. The FarmBot is designed to be weatherproof with all of the electronics being housed in a weatherproof box so wet conditions are not an issue.

I do know that circuit boards have the potential to get damaged after 35F/1.7C since the low temperatures can “flex” or cause the board to shrink.

EDIT: After a quick search about operating temperatures I did find this

"The Raspberry Pi is built from commercial chips which are qualified to different temperature ranges; the LAN9512 is specified by the manufacturers being qualified from 0°C to 70°C, while the AP is qualified from -40°C to 85°C. You may well find that the board will work outside those temperatures, but we’re not qualifying the board itself to these extremes"

but the quote above is specifically speaking about the Raspberry Pi.

[Marc]

Hey guys,

Check out this article and other threads about winter proofing your FarmBot:

Thermal Management

[Marc]

Also,

Examine this post from Troy.

Winterizing FarmBot

Middle of winter here. My XL farmbot is sitting out on the rails under a big white tarp. I don’t have the belts installed so its loose. I woke up yesterday to high winds and thought “oh crap” as I envisioned the gantry flying off the rails or getting twisted or bent (or both). I checked and no harm done. Phew. I quickly attached the belt clips (see image). Now I shouldn’t have to worry. What do you think? [20181215_090325] [20181215_090250]