Talk:Whisker (metallurgy)

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[edit] Tin whiskers

Material from Tin whisker contributed by 68.163.158.93 merged — PhilHibbs | talk 10:51, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Slashdot recently ran an article on "tin whiskers", which explains the flurry of activity on this date. — PhilHibbs | talk 11:18, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] delete this sentence, it is wrong and not needed

Unlike zinc whiskers, tin whiskers don't have to be airborne to damage equipment, as they are typically already growing in an environment where they can produce short circuits.

Implies that zinc whiskers have to be airborne to cause short circuits. This is wrong; while zinc whiskers may certainly move around via air currents, they cause short circuits only when embedded in electrical circuits. Also, air currents aren't the only way that zinc whiskers move around. I'm really surprised that you (Christopher Thomas) forced this issue to the talk page. It's a very simple point. The article is more clear without this sentence, it is not needed and should be omitted for clarity. --Duk 16:46, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

I've "forced the issue to the talk page" because you appear to be the only editor who's touched the article who feels that the original statement was out of place. Zinc whiskers appear on zinc-coated surfaces (usually zinc electroplated ones, as dip-galvanized surfaces tend not to form whiskers). These are things like equipment cases, and especially the undercoatings of the floor tiles uesd in data centres. If left undisturbed, zinc whiskers from these surfaces don't do anything, as they're nowhere near traces that could be shorted. Damage typically occurs when the whisker-bearing items are disturbed, sending whiskers into the air to settle on nearby electronics. This is especially catastrophic when doing things like data centre renovations, which send vast numbers of whiskers from the floor tiles through the data centre's ventilation system. The links from the article provide ample references for this.

Tin whiskers, on the other hand, grow from surfaces coated with tin alloys - including many solders, and (as noted in the article) alloys used for component pins. Solder-coated traces on printed circuit boards _are_ close enough together for whiskers grown in-situ to cause shorts. Similarly, cases like the crystal case pictured in the article have little clearance between the pins and the casing shell, which whiskers can short across. This too is documented in the article and the article's references.

Claiming that the sentence, either in its original or modified forms, is "wrong" is extremely odd, given these points of context. If you feel it should be _phrased_ differently, by all means suggest alternate phrasings, but deleting it when it accurately describes typical damage scenarios is out of line. --Christopher Thomas 19:12, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ice spikes

Are they related in any way to Ice Spikes? --82.36.20.32 00:20, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

From what I understand, no, not really. Ice spikes are non-crystalline projections caused by mechanical stresses and failure during the freezing process. Tin and zinc whiskers seem to be single-crystal growths forming after the freezing process by diffusion at room temperature. However, the impression I get from the articles is that metal whisker growth is poorly understood, so it's possible that I'm wrong about some of the details. --Christopher Thomas 18:52, 14 April 2006 (UTC)