Heat, Humidity and Dust: The Three Killers Inside Cash Machine Cabinets

Machines do not fail in weather reports — they fail in cabinet microclimates. Three enemies dominate, and each has an early signature.

Dust and paper fibre

• First victims: note-path optics and fan bearings. Fibre mats on a fan blade cut cooling by a third long before it looks like a problem.
• Intake filters and quarterly fan-blade checks are the cheapest uptime purchase in the whole maintenance budget.

Humidity

Condensation forms inside cabinets on temperature swings, not just in rain. Corroded connector pins and “mysterious” intermittent read faults follow damp seasons. Desiccant packs and a sealed cable entry defeat most of it; check that gland plates are actually gasketed after any service visit. The building-services discipline behind acceptable indoor humidity bands is codified by ASHRAE standards — the same physics, one cabinet at a time.

Heat

• Batteries and thermal print heads are the two components that age fastest per ten degrees of continuous excess heat.
• Verify exhaust paths are unobstructed against walls and foliage; sun-facing installations need shade or forced ventilation as an installation cost, not a surprise.

Instrument once, then trust

A minimum/maximum thermometer inside the cabinet costs less than one service call and tells you whether the environment — not the electronics — has been the real culprit all quarter.

Turn these checks into a rotation with the preventive calendar; spare-part storage rules live in the receiving-inspection guide, and heat-sensitive standby gear is covered by the UPS placement rules.