SD cards and heat??

[feffer]

As has been amply reported the SheevaPlug runs hotter than we'd like. I have one running 24/7 and it runs much warmer than I'd like -- this despite drilling holes all over the cover. It runs debian squeeze from an SD card. If I shut it down and pull the SD card out, it is really hot. This can't be good. Could this contribute to shortening the life of SD cards? I've read the other post about SD cards dying and the workaround to mounting it ro, but I'm just talking about the heat here.

At the recent PlugIn I had a chance to do some "heat-checks." SheevaPlugs I held with the OS on the NAND, were barely warm. Of course, they hadn't been running that long, but still is there something about running them from an SD card that generates more heat? I don't think so, but I can't account for the very big difference. Wondering?

feffer

[superpat]

Hi

I cannot find a copy of the mechanical specification from the official SD card association, but checking several vendors shows the "CLAIMED" operating temperature range of SD cards as -40 deg C to + 85 deg C (ambient)

I too wonder what the operating life is  at +85 deg C.  I think the main problem would not be a constant elevated temperature, but a continual cycling between normal ambient +20 and +85 deg C The thermal expansion and contraction will induce mechanical stress in the I.C. connecting elements resulting in premature failure.

regards

Patrick