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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

Gallium? That's only liquid down to 30C. And it expands when heated. So what happens when your laptop is off and drops to room temperature?

Worse, this is what happens when a small amount of gallium contacts aluminum.[1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeghGhVdt9s

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Gallium is liquid to 30C. The alloy Galistan used in this application is liquid to -19C. Unless you plan on storing your laptop outside on a bitterly cold winter day, letting your laptop drop to room temperature isn't a big concern.

I have commuted many times to work in -20C or below. A few times in -30C and below. I don't know how long it would take a laptop in my backup to get down to the outside temperature.

How long would it take a water bottle in your bag to freeze on your back in -30C degree weather? That may give you a baseline to work from.

Water has huge thermal inertia. Laptops don't. They may freeze quite quickly. Something to bear in mind for the future.

I've found iPhones get real wonky <-5C. I think the safe storage temp is like -20C because it can damage the battery.

No shit, I attempted GPS-navigating Oslo using my phone this winter, had to go back to actually talking to unknown people.

Good news, Windows laptops have a high chance of not entering sleep or hibernation correctly despite your best efforts and will continue to pump heat into your backpack while you commute. Just be sure to keep it charged.

Also there's a slim chance that your employer will issue you a gaming laptop containing Liquid Metal as a work laptop in the first place.

Okay suppose it freezes, so what? It will melt again

Gallium expands when it freezes, by about 3%. That might crack something.

I think it's a fair/interesting question. I'd hypothesize the normal heating/cooling and mounting tensions cause variations on the order of 3% or larger mounting strain when you do something as simple as flip the lid open and launch a game. Could be something "cool" for one of those YouTube channels to actually test and find out though.

Yea, don’t use liquid metal on aluminum heatsinks. Nickel or copper heatsinks are fine though.

It's an alloy that is liquid down to -19C.

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