Hi I use a lot of boards outside and as we are about to come into an Australian summer I was just wondering how concerned I should be about the internal temperature of the boards. I live on a farm and it would really suck if it started a fire that I didn’t know about until it was too late. Does anyone use an automation to shut down their boards if it gets too hot?
85°C max operating temperature. There are 105°C versions if you contact [email protected]
Ref https://esp32.com/viewtopic.php?t=8078#p33956
It is unlikely to start a fire. It will likely just stop working reliably. If that means you might run a pump dry or something, then yeah a safeguard would be wise.
I’ll also toss out that I have several outside either in unconditioned spaces (a garage) or in an enclosure (albeit not directly in the sun) and have never had an issue with overheating in the summer. We usually peak around 100F (38C) on our hottest days.
My ESP32cam is in a very small enclosed space and it consistently runs at 90C. It’s been running flawlessly for the last ~2 years. I half expect it to fail anytime, but it hasn’t so far!
As concerned as you are with all electronics. It’s much higher probability that the power supply catch on fire than Esp32 board.
Incorrect voltages/wiring, too high current draw from 3.3V pin or any other abuse is obviously different case.