### Author:  [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/21 "2013-12-23T23:44:09Z")
> [@Poysyn](#):
>
> Apparently our new polymer 20 dollar bills - they “break” at -30. :smack:
OOPS!
that is a serious testing problem for Canada!
That is funny. Mostly because that is the kind of mistake many of us would make. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/22 "2013-12-24T00:22:29Z")
> [@Poysyn](#):
>
> Apparently our new polymer 20 dollar bills - they “break” at -30. :smack:
> [@rbroome](#):
>
> OOPS!
> that is a serious testing problem for Canada!
> That is funny. Mostly because that is the kind of mistake many of us would make. 🙂
I haven’t seen any confirmation of this either. What I _have_ gotten once or twice is _ripped_ bills from a money machine.
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### Author:  [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/23 "2013-12-24T00:27:52Z")
I learned much to my surprise that the glue strip on business envelopes loses _all_ adhesive properties around that temperature. Which is a bit of a problem when you’re bringing them to the post office on a really cold day.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/24 "2013-12-24T02:20:44Z")
> [@Nanoda](#):
>
> The trim on the edge of my windshield snow cover, and the \*#&$%ing _cord_ and _motor_ on my discount garage heater. Seriously people - if you’re going to be selling a product _for cold weather_, make sure it functions there! :smack:\
We were concerned when we bought our new garage door opener - I think it was rated down to -25ºC. The last thing we needed was for the garage door opener to stop working just when we need the garage the most. (It’s been fine so far, anyway - knock wood.)
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#):
>
> I know what shouldn’t work at -0°F temps. Car washes. Really? It’s -15°F. No, I don’t want a car wash with my tank full of gas.
You’ve never seen so many dirty cars until you’ve seen cars in Calgary in winter - we alternate between chinooks where the snow melts and makes our cars incredibly dirty and weather too cold to wash your car - you’ve got about a two-hour window for an entire city to wash their cars every couple of months in winter.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/25 "2013-12-24T02:21:56Z")
When I was in college in Fairbanks, it hit 60 below for about a week. Nothing much moved. Gas turns to jelly at that temperature and oil freezes. The tires of the day (this was mid-60s) froze flat on the bottom, so if you _were_ able to get the car running, you went humpity bumpity down the road. Metal becomes brittle. I remember people lighting small bonfires under their oil pans to try to get things moving. Exposed skin freezes in a matter of seconds at that temperature, the moisture from your breath collects on your eyebrows and eyelashes and freezes into a hoarfrost. The ground squeaks when you walk on it. Because Fairbanks is in a bowl, there is also localized inversion, which creates an ice fog so thick you literally cannot see your hand at the end of your outstretched arm. I frostbit both ears during a quarter-mile walk to the SUB to get french fries for my girlfriend. Why no, I didn’t have anything on my pointed head at the time.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/26 "2013-12-24T02:31:06Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> I haven’t seen any confirmation of this either. What I _have_ gotten once or twice is _ripped_ bills from a money machine.
Here’s a [pdf](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/article_february2013.pdf) from the Bank of Canada.
> [@](#):
>
> Your new polymer notes can withstand
> Canada’s hottest summers and coldest
> winters. During laboratory tests, they
> were tested in temperatures ranging from
> +140°C (284°F) to -75°C (-103°F)
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/27 "2013-12-24T02:36:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> When I was in college in Fairbanks, it hit 60 below for about a week. Nothing much moved. Gas turns to jelly at that temperature and oil freezes. The tires of the day (this was mid-60s) froze flat on the bottom, so if you _were_ able to get the car running, you went humpity bumpity down the road. Metal becomes brittle. I remember people lighting small bonfires under their oil pans to try to get things moving. Exposed skin freezes in a matter of seconds at that temperature, the moisture from your breath collects on your eyebrows and eyelashes and freezes into a hoarfrost. The ground squeaks when you walk on it. Because Fairbanks is in a bowl, there is also localized inversion, which creates an ice fog so thick you literally cannot see your hand at the end of your outstretched arm. I frostbit both ears during a quarter-mile walk to the SUB to get french fries for my girlfriend. Why no, I didn’t have anything on my pointed head at the time.
I’ve never experienced 60 below - the coldest I’ve experienced is -40. It gets cold here, but you can still run outside and grab something from the garage, etc. without putting full gear on; at -40, I had to put full gear on just to stick my nose outside. -40 is too cold; -60 is way too freaking cold.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/28 "2013-12-24T04:10:26Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#):
>
> Personal electronics - when I go walking in really cold weather, I have to keep my iPod in my mitten so it will work. Cameras don’t work well in the serious cold, either - batteries lose their charge in a very short time out there.
try lithium batteries.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/29 "2013-12-24T04:22:14Z")
I knew a girl in Kenai who went out in 20 below with damp hair, and it broke.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/30 "2013-12-24T07:21:57Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#):
>
> Personal electronics - when I go walking in really cold weather, I have to keep my iPod in my mitten so it will work.
I discovered today that the ringer on my iPhone doesn’t work well at -30.
I was out and about doing errands and mrs Piper was trying to call me - but I stead of the ringer, I just heard intermittent chirps and didn’t realise at first that it was my phone.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/31 "2013-12-24T09:19:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#):
>
> I’ve never experienced 60 below - the coldest I’ve experienced is -40. It gets cold here, but you can still run outside and grab something from the garage, etc. without putting full gear on; at -40, I had to put full gear on just to stick my nose outside. -40 is too cold; -60 is way too freaking cold.
I think the coldest I’ve ever encountered was -50. I was up north with some friends, and we decided to go for a walk when the thermometer read -50. We got about a quarter-mile away from the house, and said "the hell with this,"and headed back. The fire in the fireplace never felt so good.
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> I knew a girl in Kenai who went out in 20 below with damp hair, and it broke.
That’s happened to me. Dopers who have met me know that I have long hair; and once, while in a hot tub at a resort, my hair (which I had tried to tie up to avoid the water) got wet. The temps were down to -30, and my wet hair froze and broke.
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### Author:  [@Spaghettifrier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spaghettifrier)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/32 "2013-12-24T09:25:42Z")
basically nothing in my car.
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### Author:  [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/33 "2013-12-24T10:46:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Me.
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> Me.
Hells bells, man! I start to ‘not work’ when it gets down below 25°F! :eek:
I’m pretty sure the _entire_ city of Houston would come to a screeching, grinding _ **halt** _ if it were to get down below 0°F. 😛
FWIW & JSYK, I’ve made a half dozen trips on a HD Road King (_ **without** _ a fairing or windshield) between Houston and Dallas when it was 35° and drizzling rain. :eek:
About 45 minutes was all I could manage before I had to stop and ‘thaw out’ before continuing on. ☹
Y’all can add _ **that** _ to the, ‘Things I’ll never do again’, thread. 😉
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### Author:  [@StrangerThanFiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangerThanFiction)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/34 "2013-12-24T11:45:18Z")
My (late model) Jeep had issues at -45C. It would crank, but I couldn’t get it to fire no matter what. Once I installed a block heater, it would start, but was REALLY hard to shift. I had to double clutch to get the synchros to work, and the rubber shift boot ripped wide open. The transmission, transfer case, and axles whined like there was no tomorrow for the first mile or two. The plastic panel on the inside of the door also cracked open one particularly brisk morning. Living up there sucked!
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/35 "2013-12-24T13:50:23Z")
> [@StrangerThanFiction](#):
>
> My (late model) Jeep had issues at -45C. It would crank, but I couldn’t get it to fire no matter what. Once I installed a block heater, it would start, but was REALLY hard to shift. I had to double clutch to get the synchros to work, and the rubber shift boot ripped wide open. The transmission, transfer case, and axles whined like there was no tomorrow for the first mile or two.
Gadzukes, at those temperatures, 90-weight gear oil has a viscosity on par with room-temperature honey. No wonder your drivetrain whined at those temps; churning the gear oil at those temps probably put significant mechanical loads on all those parts.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/36 "2013-12-24T14:50:40Z")
Road salt doesn’t work at -30. Heck, it’s no good below -18 C.
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### Author:  [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/37 "2013-12-24T15:52:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> apparently, neither do electronic thermometers. Our car has an electronic thermometer, but it’s not showing up on the dashboard display this morning.
Can you blame it? It’s thinking “Fuck that, I’m not sticking _my_ nose out there to tell you how cold it is!”
I would _have_ to hibernate if I lived in a place that got that cold regularly. My body would just give up and stay wrapped up in bed.
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### Author:  [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/38 "2013-12-24T16:06:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> Here’s a [pdf](http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/article_february2013.pdf) from the Bank of Canada.
Some soldiers I know are heading up to Resolute Bay in Feb - I’ll get them to test it up there…more to follow. 🙂
The coldest I’ve personally been in is -60ish. It was in Arviat, NU and it was **cold**
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/39 "2013-12-24T16:39:21Z")
> [@Antigen](#):
>
> [QUOTE=Northern Piper]
>
> apparently, neither do electronic thermometers. Our car has an electronic thermometer, but it’s not showing up on the dashboard display this morning.
Can you blame it? It’s thinking “Fuck that, I’m not sticking _my_ nose out there to tell you how cold it is!”
[/QUOTE]
Well, there is a certain irony in a thermometer of all things not working in the cold … :smack:
But now I know - if the thermometer isn’t working, it must be below 30 C. 😛
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-work-at-30-below/677024/40 "2013-12-24T16:40:27Z")
I think my coldest was -40 C. Can’t remember when it was, just at some point here in Saskatchewan.
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