Someone in an outdoor open area dissembles and repairs an old Television, cars and traffic around, full of dust and dirt and polluted air. Are most circuit boards, electronic components of any kind, manufactured in any generation able to tolerate dust and dirt to some extent by design?

Is it just considered and designed to have some protection so that surrounding pollutants cannot make too much damage or is it not particularly designed but it has to be a lot of dust and dirt ( e.g. which are done by accidents or with intention ) before any damage can occur?

4 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

Someone in an outdoor open area dissembles and repairs an old Television, cars and traffic around, full of dust and dirt and polluted air. Are most circuit boards, electronic components of any kind, manufactured in any generation able to tolerate dust and dirt to some extent by design?

Is it just considered and designed to have some protection so that surrounding pollutants cannot make too much damage or is it not particularly designed but it has to be a lot of dust and dirt ( e.g. which are done by accidents or with intention ) before any damage can occur?

I think you mean disassemble. To dissemble means to lie.

I should think the main risk from ingress of dust will be dirty contacts and hence poor electrical connections at points where subassemblies are joined together. 

 

8 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

Someone in an outdoor open area dissembles and repairs an old Television, cars and traffic around, full of dust and dirt and polluted air. Are most circuit boards, electronic components of any kind, manufactured in any generation able to tolerate dust and dirt to some extent by design?

Is it just considered and designed to have some protection so that surrounding pollutants cannot make too much damage or is it not particularly designed but it has to be a lot of dust and dirt ( e.g. which are done by accidents or with intention ) before any damage can occur?

 

Most electronic circuits are pretty dust and dirt proof by nature.

The main threat to these circuits is that they attract dust and dirt and that dust and dirt will coat the circuit board, components etc with a layer of dirt that sticks.
This layer then thermally insulates the board and components and may cause some of them to overheat and fail.

Most circuit boards can also be taken out and scrubbed in mild soapy water (or scrubbed in situ).
So long as the assembly is thoroughly dried out before power is again applied everything will be OK.

51 minutes ago, studiot said:

 

Most electronic circuits are pretty dust and dirt proof by nature.

The main threat to these circuits is that they attract dust and dirt and that dust and dirt will coat the circuit board, components etc with a layer of dirt that sticks.
This layer then thermally insulates the board and components and may cause some of them to overheat and fail.

Most circuit boards can also be taken out and scrubbed in mild soapy water (or scrubbed in situ).
So long as the assembly is thoroughly dried out before power is again applied everything will be OK.

I have studied some information on web, it's like there is usually a layer of coating applied to the surface of many circuit boards. In that case, how could dust and dirt affect the function of the board? Is it because the coating is an added cost so it doesn't apply to cheap boards?

4 hours ago, exchemist said:

I think you mean disassemble. To dissemble means to lie.

I should think the main risk from ingress of dust will be dirty contacts and hence poor electrical connections at points where subassemblies are joined together. 

 

Yes, typo, it's disassemble. 

Does it practically require significant amount of dust and dirt which is usually due to intention or accident before it is enough to affect the electrical connections?

 

I wouldn't think interior dirt has much effect on connections, just the thermal effect Studiot described.   Dirt where jacks are inserted might be more the problem.

2 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

I have studied some information on web, it's like there is usually a layer of coating applied to the surface of many circuit boards. In that case, how could dust and dirt affect the function of the board? Is it because the coating is an added cost so it doesn't apply to cheap boards?

Please read again more carefully and more slowly what I wrote before.

2 hours ago, kenny1999 said:

Does it practically require significant amount of dust and dirt which is usually due to intention or accident before it is enough to affect the electrical connections?

What connections do you mean ?