Uniti Star: dust cover

Perhaps silly to ask but I’m paranoid about my gear…

Is it Ok to cover my Star when not in use with a handkerchief so it doesn’t get dusty? It doesn’t seem to run too warm when it’s on Standby.

It should be fine it it’s in standby mode, as the main power supply if off and just a tiny switching supply runs in order to allow the app and remote to discover it.
Just be aware that if you enable server mode, or connect a USB drive, the main power supply will remain active, so it could get warm. Using deep sleep mode rather than network standby would prevent this.

It would probably be OK but personally I don’t think it’s good practice. It could be a potential fire risk amongst other possibilities.

Don’t worry about dust. The ‘pixie dust’ that accumulates is well known to improve performance, witness a number of ‘system pics’ here. And in any case a quick dust over with a Johnson’s fluffy duster or similar will remove it in double-quick time with no damage to the equipment.

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I would not do this… But YMMV… :expressionless:

I wouldn’t recommend this. Just the other day, after the app update, my Star reverted to server mode, got very hot, then shut down in overheat protection mode - and it was very hot. There have been quite a few instances of the units getting very hot even when in standby.

It’ll be just fine.

Spoken with authority and conviction.

And if things do go belly-up, well it’s not @sktn77a 's worry is it!

And you declared it could be a potential fire risk?? Do you know what temperature you have to achieve for cotton to combust spontaneously?
400 degrees centigrade

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I would be more assured with wool, as it needs 590 C . :joy:

This is not spontaneous combustion. This would be combustion brought about due to heat from the equipment.

But anyway, leaving that aside, and leaving aside your assumption of the material in question being cotton, putting any combustable material over a piece of equipment that may get very hot under some conditions of normal use, and may get dangerously hot under a fault condition is not good practice. Ask the Fire Service for their opinion on this.

It’s best always to err on the side of safety in these cases. Yes it may be OK - until it isn’t. Would you be prepared to shoulder the burden of any mishap on your conscience?

Have you ever heard of a Uniti Star hitting 100c let alone 400C? Me neither

Unkess there’s enough heat to produce sparks or glowing red metal it would still be spontaneous combustion. Seems rather unlikely to me.

Well, it’s up to the OP of course, but there have been instances of the new Uniti’s overheating and burning.

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If the environment is very dusty, with organic (flammable) dust, as opposed to mineral dust like sand, then keeping it covered when only on standby and removing the cover before use may actually reduce fire risk…

All Uniti Star owners don’t report back to me so I wouldn’t hear.

Neither of those things are required to produce combustion.

Spontaneous combustion is a phenomenon that occurs when something combusts with no apparent cause. So I agree that this is unlikely. As I said, any combustion would be due to heat from the equipment.

Covering it will impede ventilation and reduce heat dissipation even in standby mode.

If there is so much dust around that settling out would constitute a fire risk then it is an unsuitable environment for the equipment to be safely used in.

Whilst I was suggesting an extreme case, it actually would depend on the period of time the OP is talking about it being unused…

But regardless, <2W dissipated across the metal casing of the Star, with the only insulation being a thin cloth such as a handkerchief, even if completely wrapped so direct airflow, in a room with any air temperature likely to be encountered in a habitable property, will not heat up enough to cause ignition of the covering whether cotton, silk, or any synthetic fibre used in fabrics, nor will it result in such internal increase in temperature as to result in thermal damage to components. It is possible to calculate the temperature increase above ambient that such a cover would result in, but I really can’t be bothered to even begin to find the formulae and data as it will be so trivial.

Although unlikely for anything to go wrong I would totally agree it’s not good practice. I certainly would never cover a live electrical device with a combustible material regardless of being on or off.

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I’m not saying that if you cover your Uniti Star with a hankerchief then it will burn down. I’m saying that it not good practice as it poses a potential fire risk and one that is easily and best avoided.

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