[windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
- From: "Jensen, Douglas" <douglas.jensen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 11:09:49 -0500
I think dryer sheets give off chlorine gas (at least when used in a dryer)
which could be harmful to your computer/TV/electronic stuff.
I know that they are a problem in homes that do not vent the dryer to the
outside. The chlorine gas mixes with the moisture which is a byproduct of
natural gas combustion and creates an acid. That acid eats out the heat
exchanger in a furnace. Not a good thing for a furnace.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sullivan, Glenn [mailto:GSullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 11:05 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
If you end up taking the cover off of the TV, find the air intakes, and
place Dryer Sheets (like Bounce, or something like that) near them.
Don't cover them, just put a few dryer sheets in there.
Almost all bugs, including no-see-ums, hate the smell, or something, because
it keeps them away... I learned this as an effective method when our motion
detector software that monitors the security cameras kept tripping off.
Turned out to be a spider inside of one weatherproof enclosure on one
camera, and a bunch of trapped no-see-ums in another weather proof
enclosure. Adding dryer sheets to the enclosures solved the problem, and
neither have returned.
I got a great spider-web-construction video first though... constant motion
all night long. Actually, he took about thirty 30 second breaks... ;-)
Luckily, I have a building maintenance department, and they have a software
applications to track periodic maintenance (air line filter changes,
etc...). I added "Change dryer sheets in Camera Enclosures" as a monthly
task... you should have seen the looks on their faces when they came to ask
WTF I was talking about the first time it came up on the schedule... You
will have to do something similar, so it might even be worth making a trap
door in the back of the TV so that you don't have to remove the shell every
time.
So give that a shot.
MAJOR DISCLAIMER: the inside of a TV can kill you... don't assume that you
can put your hands anywhere, even if the TV has been unplugged for quite
some time. I've gotten a noticeable shock from a TV that has been unplugged
for 6 months. Treat is as if it were plugged in... touch nothing that you
don't have to.
HTH,
Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.
_____
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Hooper
Posted At: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 11:54 AM
Posted To: Windows 2000
Conversation: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Heya Glenn -
That's *SO* not even funny (well, ok, it is... hysterical even), because
we live between 2 of the grodiest neighbors you can possibly imagine, and
our landlord won't do anything about the bug infestation from them, so we
have to bomb every 3 months or so to keep our place clear of the nasty
things. So we were watching TV the other day, and over the MSNBC icon,
crawls a little tiny baby roach! Inside the screen of my 'new' 52" RCA!!!!
(the cable guys that came out to fix my DVR said that bugs *LOVE* HDTVs)
WOT!?!?! So we trotted down to Walmart and got 4 tubes of caulk and spray
foam and a whole new set of foggers, and have to tackle it again. I'll
check out my computer too. *yikes* I just hope that the bombs don't mess
with the electronics too much.
Jen
PS: If anyone has any good tips... email me off list! :D
_____
From: Sullivan, Glenn [mailto:GSullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 8:45 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Not quite like this, but I have had the classic "bug" rear it's head...
An employee brought their computer in because it started to smell funny and
then shut down. Turns out that a pair of cockroaches (together, so I wonder
if they were in the throes of passion of something) had made their way to
the back side of the motherboard, and to the rear side of the motherboard
power connector.
The 12v DC available at that connector made a very effective bug zapper,
until the fuse in the power supply cut out.
Of course everyone knows that is where the term "a bug in the system" came
from, but I had never had a real example until then...
Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.
_____
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Hooper
Posted At: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 11:37 AM
Posted To: Windows 2000
Conversation: [windows2000] OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Subject: [windows2000] OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Has anyone had this kind of trouble in their data centers? Curiouser and
curiouser... I remember the early days of clean room data centers. Boy
howdee, did that go out the window quick. Maybe with the advent of headless
blade servers, a pure environment is something to consider (never fly in a
corporate forecast these days with the costs of implementation and
maintenance, though.)
Jen
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<http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E2245069,00.html>
"whiskers" zap PCs in secretary of state's office
By <mailto:asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aldo Svaldi
Denver Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 01, 2004 -
Small metallic fibers known as "zinc whiskers" are the likely culprit behind
crippling computer outages in the Colorado secretary of state's office over
the past three weeks.
The fibers "are blowing out the power supplies on the computers," said Lisa
Doran, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Metal on floor panels and even in computer cases can secrete zinc crystals
over time, said Rich Hill, president of Data Clean in Des Plaines, Ill.
Zinc whiskers can appear as a light peach fuzz on a metal surface if they
grow long enough, but typically they are invisible.
Whiskers can get sucked inside computers and short out power supplies, trip
circuits and in extreme cases cause data errors, Hill said.
Aging computer rooms and more compact computer designs have increased the
problem, Hill said.
The outages in the secretary of state's office, which effectively halted
electronic filings of business and elections documents at
www.sos.state.co.us <http://www.sos.state.co.us> , highlight why the
state's various websites should be brought under one authority, said Leroy
Williams, the state's secretary of technology. Legislation this year enabled
the creation of such an authority, which was financed with $7.5 million at
the direction of Gov. Bill Owens.
The secretary of state's office has begun working on a remediation plan to
clean up the whiskers, Doran said.
<http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper36/whisker0701g.jpg>
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or
asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> .
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