When do I need the thermal kit

[nanocyte]

I'm looking at the sbrio thermal kit and I'm curious if there are any guidelines for when you need the kit. Is there a maximum temperature/cpu use/etc that I should be looking at? This is a cost sensitive application (making many units) so the preference is to leave it out.

[nanocyte]

Nevermind, I think I have it. It's all in the environmental section of the SBRIO Spec and here:http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/1A6D7C61349293C986257D80004F56BF?OpenDocument

[yea_likethecity]

Nanocyte,

Which sbRIO are you using? We think generally the thermal cooling kit is unnecessary unless you're working in a hot environment or in an enclosed space with little airflow. If it's possible that you may exceed the maximum operating temperature of the sbRIO, the thermal solution might be worth considering. To my knowledge there are no general guidelines, but we do have a couple of case studies online. Please see the link below.

Cooling NI Single-Board RIO Systems

http://www.ni.com/product-documentation/14134/en/

[nanocyte]

Thanks for the info. It looks like there's some pretty good margins. We are using a 9627. The board is mounted vertically to maximize natural convection. The board will be in a fairly large plastic and aluminum enclosure with some vents and the enclosure will be in a conditioned space. I'm going to monitor the temperature sensors described in the article I linked.