Is it possible to overheat…The temperature in my shop is about 100°. I’m running a job and noticed that the control box was getting hot. Is it possible to overheat, and damage the control box?
Yes it is.
Is it likely to cause damage? No.
The stepper drivers have overheating protection in place, causing the hot driver to temporarely shut down.
Electronics like MOSFETS dont mind heat at all, 140-160degF-range is well within comfort.
How hot is hot? Can you hold your hand on the box for like 3s or is it “Bl*/-*/-/!! hot” after 1s?
Yes.
I have the gen 1 x-carve arduino/g-shield. I have modified things a bit by adding heatsinks with thermal paste on my stepper driver chips, and I have a box fan circulating air over the hardware. My system will still overheat and stall after about 45 minutes of continuous work in a 100F shop.
The driver chip/gShield design moves heat to the bottom of the gShield. You can try to improve your cooling of the driver chips by improving the air flow between the gShield and the Arduino.
If the temp in your work area is 100F, what is the outside air temp?
It was over 100 outside on those days. This is not a regular occurrence for me, just the latest interruption of a big project. It’s moot in the long run… I am insulating and adding cooling/heating to my shop this year.
I also have the xcarve apart for another batch of upgrades, including a custom controller, 9mm belts, and a Super-PID… I am at risk of spending more time this year on upgrades instead of carving 
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I probably should be a little worried. Consistent 105-110 days outside. No AC in shop.