Slappie 9 #1 January 11, 2005 Do you know what they are? I didn't until today. They're something to think about before investing a large chunk of cash on that new "super awesome must have" electronic device. Will it be around for awhile? Will it just stop working far earlier then it should? They are everywhere, and old problem about to resurface. This article is a very interesting read. Quote In the cold vacuum of space, on a gleaming metal surface inside the Galaxy 4 communications satellite, tiny whiskers of tin grew in perfect stealth—until May 19, 1998, that is. That's when at least one of those whiskers bridged a pair of metal contacts in the satellite's control processor. The short circuit killed the satellite. Some 40 million pagers stopped working all over the country. Millions of dollars' worth of ATM and credit card transactions were interrupted. The $250 million satellite became, in the words of NASA engineer Henning Leidecker, "a doorstop in space." The loss of Galaxy 4 was just one of the more visible consequences of a little-understood problem with catastrophic potential for electronic and electrical systems: metal that grows whiskers. An F-15's radar system, pacemakers, fuse switches in air-to-air missiles, electronic relays in a nuclear power plant, and global positioning system receivers—not to mention many other satellites—all have fallen victim to the problem. One group of University of Maryland theorists has estimated that tin whiskers have caused losses of billions of dollars to date. MORE "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turtlespeed 226 #2 January 11, 2005 QuoteDo you know what they are? I didn't until today. They're something to think about before investing a large chunk of cash on that new "super awesome must have" electronic device. Will it be around for awhile? Will it just stop working far earlier then it should? They are everywhere, and old problem about to resurface. This article is a very interesting read. Quote In the cold vacuum of space, on a gleaming metal surface inside the Galaxy 4 communications satellite, tiny whiskers of tin grew in perfect stealth—until May 19, 1998, that is. That's when at least one of those whiskers bridged a pair of metal contacts in the satellite's control processor. The short circuit killed the satellite. Some 40 million pagers stopped working all over the country. Millions of dollars' worth of ATM and credit card transactions were interrupted. The $250 million satellite became, in the words of NASA engineer Henning Leidecker, "a doorstop in space." The loss of Galaxy 4 was just one of the more visible consequences of a little-understood problem with catastrophic potential for electronic and electrical systems: metal that grows whiskers. An F-15's radar system, pacemakers, fuse switches in air-to-air missiles, electronic relays in a nuclear power plant, and global positioning system receivers—not to mention many other satellites—all have fallen victim to the problem. One group of University of Maryland theorists has estimated that tin whiskers have caused losses of billions of dollars to date. MORE Well maybe NASA should have paid more attention to my Trimmin thread then huh? And they say I'm useless.I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
headoverheels 334 #3 January 12, 2005 Yep, with the RoHS-compliant requirement, lots of people will be rediscovering the problems. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slappie 9 #4 January 12, 2005 I was really hoping to see a post from billvon on this subject or some of our electronic engineers. This is a serious subject and could potentialy cause havoc in the future. The name may sounds funny "tin wiskers" but the cause for alarm isn't. "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freakbrother 0 #5 January 12, 2005 QuoteI was really hoping to see a post from billvon on this subject or some of our electronic engineers. This is a serious subject and could potentialy cause havoc in the future. The name may sounds funny "tin wiskers" but the cause for alarm isn't. It's a physics/materials science issue. Has to do with tin's tetragonal crystal structure and anisotropic surface energy and entropy. Been known about for decades.. . www.freak-brother.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slappie 9 #6 January 12, 2005 QuoteQuoteI was really hoping to see a post from billvon on this subject or some of our electronic engineers. This is a serious subject and could potentialy cause havoc in the future. The name may sounds funny "tin wiskers" but the cause for alarm isn't. It's a physics/materials science issue. Has to do with tin's tetragonal crystal structure and anisotropic surface energy and entropy. Been known about for decades. I'm not a metalurgist nor do I completely understand the entire issue. In the article it was said they've (manf comp) have been trying to replace the use of lead with different materials and are having limited success. I'd like to know if products being sold on the market today are lead free. If I go plunk down $2k on a new HDTV will it still be working in 2 years 3, 4 5 years from now. I don't want to spend this kind of money on something that's going to implode from the inside in a couple years. Unless there is some kind of reliable replacement for the lead being used. "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
