Extreme cold tough on technology

JOPLIN, Mo. — Keeping tabs on your technology is also a good idea with these frigid temperatures.

What kinds of problems are we talking about?

The colder the temperature, the bigger the risk. It could be anything from cutting battery power in half to shutting down a device completely.

John Motazedi, SNC Squared Tech Group, said, “Technology has a real challenge working at a certain range. Once it’s very very cold, it has a problem.”

Many devices have a normal operating range of zero to 120 degrees.

“That really becomes a challenge when you have outdoor led lights, outdoor surveillance cameras, door locks, motion sensors. Equipment that really needs to stay warm or that’s designed to work at a different temp that what we’re having currently.”

So colder temperatures may mean they’re just not working. The devices will likely return to normal function as the weather warms, but some owners may want to upgrade to models designed for extreme cold. And even cell phones, tablets, and laptops can be affected if forgotten in your car.

“The cold has a terrible tendency to reduce battery power – and it can in some cases reduce your power of your batteries by 50% simply because it just gets cold.”

You want to warm them gradually, giving at least 30 to 60 minutes before use.

For more on protecting technology visit https://www.sncsquared.com/

“If you leave them in the cold then bring them into a warm building, you get condensation on the electronics – condensation is a really bad thing. Electronics and water typically don’t mix well together.”

Also, you’ll want to extra careful handling devices in the cold. Those temperatures can make the housing more brittle, making it easier to crack or shatter.

Shortage of microchips causing delivery delays for many products

JOPLIN, Mo. — If you want to buy a car, microwave, refrigerator, or anything else that contains a particular type of electronic component, don’t be surprised if you have to wait a while before it gets delivered.

Because of their diminutive dimensions, it’s not hard to figure out why they’re called microchips, and they’re found in thousands of products like computer towers, microwaves, washing machines, refrigerators as well as cars.

And they’re in very short supply thanks to the global pandemic. John Motazedi, CEO of SNC Squared, says it started with the initial shutdown of microchip manufacturing facilities around the world from the first wave of covid-19 last year. Then he says the demand for them jumped.

John Motazedi, CEO, SNC Squared, said, “Everybody started working from home, so now everybody needed computers because they typically didn’t have computers that were adequate at home, and even phones, you know cell solutions etc. to work from home.”

Then, he says something unexpected happened, the sale of new cars jumped, creating an even greater demand.

“Along with that the release of new 5G technology, so high speed chips, high speed technology, high speed transmission, so manufacturers of those chips said well, why don’t we get into the high revenue market and actually start generating high revenue chips as opposed to the basic stuff we were regularly doing.”

As a result, depending upon where you by appliances, you may have to wait months for them to get delivered. But that’s not the case at one retailer in the area. Greg Freeman happened to buy many appliances before the microchip shortage started.

Greg Freeman, Freeman Liquidators, said, “Our inventory and the way that we buy is about the opportunity to buy from a loss by an insurance company, so that we, when we buy, we have the product here you come in, you shop, you see it, you buy it, you go home with it.”