Xref: utzoo comp.misc:2065 comp.terminals:616
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!Howeird
From: Howeird@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.terminals
Subject: Re: Does Turning off PC's everyday do any real damage?
Message-ID: <3730@cup.portal.com>
Date: 7 Mar 88 20:56:06 GMT
References: <1727@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 46
XPortal-User-Id: 1.1001.2569


>dme@ssc-vax,UUCP (David Geary) asks if it does any damage to turn
> a PC off at night

As a technician with 10 years in the field (yes, there WAS electronics
before PCs), I can assure you that no damage is done to a PC by
turning it off for the night. However, there are some long-term
decisions involved here.

Here's the trade-off:

Passive electronic components, and I mean passive in the mechanical
sense, not in the digital electronics sense, are stressed each time
they undergo a heat change. So turning your PC off and on stresses
the components.

However, they also are stressed by the application of heat,  so since
keeping the machine on all night means keeping the components hot all
night, you actually decrease the life of the machine by keeping it
turned on. 

So the question  is, which does the worst damage--leaving the machine 
on and letting it stay hot all night, or turning it off and stressing
the chips? 

Most engineers I deal with tell me that as a rule of thumb, if the
PC is not going to be used for 8 hours or longer, turn it off.

IF YOU HAVE A HARD DRIVE, you can change that to 3 hours. The reason
is it takes a lot out of that hard drive motor's life to keep it
spinning--much more than the spin-up and spin-down cycles. Also,
ALWAYS park the heads on drives which are not self-parking. 

A couple of things to remember about turning the PC off for the night:
If you are attached to a network of any kind, LOG OUT first. 
Back up your files. Like airplanes, PCs tend to crash and burn the most
on takeoffs & landings.
If your monitor has a separate power switch, don't forget to turn IT off,
too.

hope this helps.

 ===================================================================
| Howeird@cup.Portal.com           |The opinions expressed here are |
| Sysop, Anatomically Correct BBS  |a figment of your warped        |
| (415) 364-3739                   |imagination.                    |
 ===================================================================