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What are most doing with expensive electronics?
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bedwarrior
newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 34
Posted 1 month ago
Thu Oct 15 2009 16:54:26
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I have scoured older threads on this and see a wide range of opinions on what to do about expensive electronics- notably computers- that one does not want to be without for 18 months, nor risk frying at 120+ F in a Packtite. Even if microchips do fine at 120-140 F for an hour or tw, as some have suggested and which is certainly debatable (and of course not recommended by Packtite), it is not easy to really assess the temperature inside the chips even if one stuffs a probe inside the computer case. Spraying some insecticide inside a case would not kill eggs and could definitely short some connections. Buying new computers is very unappealing, and doing without them not practical. What is everyone doing? I am thinking of just using an electronics vacuum and later surrounding all the components with a moat of double sided sticky tape but am afraid that will not satisfy my paranoid wife. At least camcorders and the like do not have the zillions of openings that computers have.
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Bugbitten Meg
junior member
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 59
Posted 1 month ago
Thu Oct 15 2009 17:34:21
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IIRC, we pulled the batteries from all electronics before thermal treatment, (and unplugged routers, etc.) but left the stuff itself in the house. When reunited with batteries, everything still worked. It may well have shortened the total life of the stuff, but given Moore's Law (or whatever the current rate of obsolescence works out to be) I'm betting we'll reach 'ungodly slow antique' status well before the board delaminates.
I should add, though, that we're usually good with data backup, so what we were risking was only the physical machines, and they're not that new. -
petong
newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 16
Posted 1 month ago
Thu Oct 15 2009 19:37:25
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they get in computers? how likely is that?
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bedwarrior
newbite
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 34
Posted 1 month ago
Thu Oct 15 2009 20:02:29
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Thanks-- yeah data backup would certainly be essential. I have a backup external drive and it doesn't have any 'holes' to speak of. Personally, I consider the chance of BB's or eggs in the desktop computer negligable but my wife, understandably since she is the one who is a reactor, not me, is terrified of some loophole hiding place when we move to the new place.
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Bugbitten Meg
junior member
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 59
Posted 1 month ago
Fri Oct 16 2009 8:05:55
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If you have a small infestation, still localized in areas not near the computer, the odds it's 'bugged' aren't actually that high (it's not intrinsically bedbug-attractive or anything) but there are no guarantees...
We DDVP'd the batteries, and CDs/DVDs, etc. (1-2 weeks in sealed bag in unoccupied area.)
It looks to me like the reports of possible corrosion or softening finish in stuff stored with DDVP strips originates from the museum-curator crowd (where they would be using the stuff continuously, for years on end) -- if anybody has seen any problems with anything they've no-pest-stripped, please tell me I'm wrong! -- but nothing we've unpacked has had any problems, so that's another possibility to consider (still can't call it risk-free, tho', and takes some time to finish.) Follow all the precautions if you use the stuff -- it airs out with fairly low residuals fairly quickly, but it's a serious neurotoxin while it's around. (check the DDVP tag at top right for more info)
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