technobytelabs
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The strange hair-like extensions on the piece of metal are called metal whiskers. They grow from the tin that is used as a solder and a coating substance in many electronic circuits. The first time we realized that they could pose a problem was in the 1940s. Since then, the problem has only gotten worse. Mostly due to a safety regulation that was passed to save humans. The use of lead was banned in 2004, but it increased the chances of growth of this weird hair-like substance in electronic circuits.
Metal whiskers have compromised expensive technologies like satellites and missile systems. We discuss this peculiar phenomenon in detail at the link below. Check it out if you would like to know more about the cause and origins of this problem.
More details: http://www.technobyte.org/interesting-facts/metal-whiskers/
d1d1t4t3hlulz0hl4wdy
Didn't NASA also realize this shit is seriously dangerous in space?
UmmRonYourOn
OMG! Buzzfeed - go home you're drunk! (you'll never believe what metal grows next!)
DHTxTc
It just needs a shave
EmotionallyTransparent
Feels like an elaborately disguised click bait.
SarahKercz
Worst cotton candy ever. 1/10
CaspianQuix
eromitlab
du du du duuu
GinOClock
Hair metal is terrible, gotcha.
ohmegatron
Thought it was a troll, apparently its real.
FawkesSake
10 Reasons why Metal Having Whiskers is a bad thing. (Number 3 will surprise you!). Anyone else annoyed by bait like this?
phasegen
We had a class on this in the Army when they banned the lead in solder, right after they required us to have workbench ventilation...
phasegen
...It was the year before they banned the (untested) anthrax vaccination they'd been giving us due to safety issues.
DingleberryJam
Careful to not inhale the metal spores, that's how they spread to other devices. Definitely do not eat any fuzzy green metal.
spudcosmic
Are you a Xorn?
CigaretteMan
*Mumbles with full mouth* "Why?"
ffilm
"Iron sickness." It affects your magnetic personality.
imadethisaccounttotellyouthis
Was ran glue samples for computer part lables through mass spec to test for tin. Tin migrates through metals and can destroy hard drives.
imadethisaccounttotellyouthis
We*, as in a company I worked for.
thatanonymoususer
The article forgot the Tin Whiskers in Toyota vehicles that caused deaths by speeding up vehicles until they crashed.
thatanonymoususer
https://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/reference/tech_papers/2011-nasa-gsfc-whisker-failure-app-sensor.pdf
GuW69
I still have a kilo of old leaded solder for repairing my old radios, and a glassfibre brush to clean old solderspots with. I have seen this
iluvbaykin
You mean dust?
phe0n1x
Do androids dream of electric sheep?
CigaretteMan
Materials engineer-my old boss described this happening to capacitors. Silver whiskers, or dendrites, would grow through the caps and (1)
CigaretteMan
cause them to short circuit. The solution? Hit the caps with a high voltage pulse. Because the whiskers are so thin, the high (2)
CigaretteMan
power density would make them heat up and vaporize, breaking the short. Thought it was neat. (3)
technobytelabs
That seems like a neat trick. However, dendrites and whiskers are different.
iputmittensonmykittens
I was reading about issues with batteries overheating and learned about dendrites, crazy stuff. What is the difference between the two?
SarcasticHiker
That's so metal
halfchewedcaramel
ha metal pubes
Zultharr
Tin with long hair? Metal.as.fuck.
T3sl4co1l
It's not a big deal, though. Processes and material purity keep it in check. Lots of dumb panic back in mid 2000s but it hasn't happened.
T3sl4co1l
That does mean that cheap, poor QC processes are more susceptible to it, though. It raises the bar for good vs. shit fabs.
T3sl4co1l
Source: also an EE.
suik
And anyways the article says that Ag & Au do it as well, though my oldest silver ring is 17 yrs old, it still has none of this pubic hair
Khrome
is... this where steel wool comes from...
MegaDeuce
They actually shave it off in long strands. Sorta like a cheese grater.
sentx
Pfft no! They get that from sheep with too much Iron and some other stuff in their diet. Why else would it be called steel "wool"?
dynamiteking
No
Dayrest
Tin wool yes, steel wool, no.
mikeatike
No, this is tin.
technobytelabs
And zinc
poorwhitetrash
No, comes from steel sheep.
dajex16
Weissicles
Would those be called Steep?
ISleptWithSomeoneFromImgurAndAllIGotWasThisStupidUsername
0ByteMe1
Jet fuel can't shave steel sheep
ISaidSarcastically
ticktockbent
Do steel sheep have electric dreams?
Counterfit
They have iron dreams
OMFGWhatHaveWeDONE
Yup:
Falos
Explained for your friend: Boards that had to use eco-unleaded and did cold solders are known to get broken (ie incomplete) circuits (1/2)
Falos
A ghetto fix is to remove nonmetals and cook a board in an oven to reflow the solder. A holy-shit-ghetto fix was to wrap the xbox ...
Falos
... the xbox in towels so it would forcibly overheat itself.
BeardsleyMcTurbanhead
Why don't they just peel them off?
valen00
They often exist underneath chips between pins that are a fraction of a mm in size and a fraction of a mm in spacing from other pins
PermenantlyBannedClubMember
Or use a curling iron for the curling iron
slipmagt
I just watched that episode!
dynamiteking
Then you remove the only thing keeping them from rusting
postmodest
How did he make those? Did he walk up to the Replicator and say "Sideburns, Dark Brown; Smokin' Hot."?
Bluetastic
He keeps a big "R" shaved in his pubes. Those are the weekly trimmings on double-sided tape.
QuantumSupersexposition
http://imgur.com/JgHPoXH
MungoVitoGotHellaCats
It'll mess with the metals sense of balance.
blarglebrle
They can grow in as little as 48 hours with no warning.
Drarra
Proof?
blarglebrle
the site was listed in NASA's metal whisker site. https://nepp.nasa.gov/Whisker/video/index.html
technobytelabs
Thanks for this!
blarglebrle
12 minutes of growth from NASA linked page http://www.calce.umd.edu/tin-whiskers/movies/calcewhisker2_web.wmv
technobytelabs
They can be very tiny. And how do you peel off hair from circuit boards?
Strostkovy
Ever heard of blowing out shorts? It can be quite fun on a very bad board.
MinorityRetort
Last time I blew out my shorts it was NOT fun.
TheVakarian
My guess is carefully.
AllHailTheCritbow
Duct tape?
VerdantApollo
Shaving cream and a razor.
Unagi604
With fire! Do they burn like steel wool?
cancerriddenlung
With a straight razor.
AveragegamerdudeBANNED1
With tiny tweezers
Atria
SuperLongEmail
technobytelabs
Where can I send my satellite?
helpusdrzaius
I don't know man, you're going to have to call direct tv or some shit.
AveragegamerdudeBANNED1
Any bodies with a sufficient mass to allow orbit, example: your mom
illydilly
BAZINGA!
Silkiestfiend
Jesus man
lordofhouselurker
sofakingtired
OH SHITTTTTTT
AveragegamerdudeBANNED1
KingZullu
Poseidoposeido
Or from a satellite when it's already in space?
creamedLead
With tiny tweezers in space.
Poseidoposeido
or with really long tweezers from earth (and good aim)
mikeatike
Didn't you see Tom Riker peel them off. Seems pretty easy.
TheVRay
Tom?
JupiterMiningCorpRep
Wills alternate universe twin, transporter accident brought him into the normal universe, joined the marquis
xDownSetx
He's actually a copy. Transporter operator used two beams and one reflected back to the planet.
IvorJBiggun
Literally stole the image straight from Wikipedia and watermarked it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zinc_whiskers.jpg
TANEY500
No, some Wikipedian stole this from the poster, un-watermarked it, then traveled back in time to fabricate some evidence
toothandlyes
Why not just tell us what the issue is?
Sionas
We wouldn't visit the website otherwise
Meqad
Wouldn't that make it clickbait, which is against Imgur regulations?
Sionas
Yup
imposter22
(1/2) I'll save you the click bait bullshit. This WAS bad for anything electronic that had Tin solder (basically everything)
JustBeCoolBruh
What imposter22 reveals next will blow you away.
imposter22
(2/2) They added Lead (3%) to the Tin solder and this went away. Now with RoHS compliance you cant really use Lead, they have better solder
valen00
EU decided to ban lead in solder to "save the children" or something. Ignoring that lead in solder is bound up and not a hazard.
KnucleheadFlow
63/37 4 lyfe
xakh
It's bound up until it degrades in landfills and pollutes the water table, you mean.
xakh
The problem with having lead in things isn't really much to do with how they're being used when they're new, it's what comes next.
valen00
yeah, that's the thing, it doesn't.
valen00
no I don't mean what I said. There is no evidence that lead in electronics in landfills was a problem and the better solution is to not put
valen00
electronics into landfill in the first place.
xakh
WOW. The best solution is to not throw away electronics? You mean the best solution is to do things correctly? No fucking shit. If people
valen00
As a result electronics manufacturers need to use lead free solder and that is prone to forming tin whiskers that short shit out.
valen00
It directly decreased the reliability of electronics so now they need to make and throw out way more stuff. Also the entire world is ROHS
valen00
these days for compatibility except a few space/military things which often still need to use ROHS parts