Electrical components are always at risk from a number of different factors, the most frequent causes of damage or failure being thermal cycling, condensation forming and dust.
An electrical enclosure
is a housing specifically designed for the storage of electrical components. These housings have an access panel or door, and are used in order to protect from the environment and to keep components at ideal conditions for their function. Protecting them from high and low temperatures, condensation, dust, dirt and corrosive substances. These factors are usually maintained via a fan, heater or other climate-controlling accessory.
The majority of electrical compounds give out heat when working, especially over long periods of time. Unless this temperature is managed it can severely affect the longevity and performance. While lower temperatures, are not as damaging. When coupled with high temperatures, a behaviour known as Thermal Cycling a serious strain is put onto soldered joints.
Condensation is formed when the moisture content of the air is high inside a confined space. The presence of moisture is an obvious danger when it comes to valuable electrical components causing huge failures due to short-circuiting. The threat of this moisture also presents the risk of corrosion, dramatically reducing the lifespan of the hardware. The additional factory of dust also severally worsens these processes.
These are all aspect, which could threaten your components, however with proper management these risks can be easily overcome. Axair have recently launched their Enclosure Solutions guide in aid to conquering many of these issues.