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Zinc Whiskers – Worse than White Ants!

What are Zinc Whiskers?

Zinc Whiskers are a phenomenon that can occur on some wood-core computer room flooring panels and understructure. The whiskers grow on the underside (plenum side) of the floor panels and on the components of the understructure.

Zinc Whiskers Zinc Whiskers magnified

The whiskers grow on surfaces with a zinc electroplated anti-corrosion coating. The electroplating method produces molecular stresses in the plated material which causes the zinc to try and separate itself from the steel. This is achieved through the production of crystals hence zinc whiskers. The whiskers are typically 2 microns in diameter and over time (many years) the whiskers can grow to be several millimetres in length.

While the whiskers are attached to the floor panel, they are harmless. When the whiskers break free however, they can become airborne. Once airborne they can circulate freely throughout the facility until they come to rest inside your active equipment.

What happens?

Zinc as you know is a conductor of electricity. If a whisker comes to rest on an exposed circuit card inside your equipment, it could cause equipment failure or a short: most likely an intermittent short. And as you know, an intermittent problem is the most difficult to detect and fix. While several victims of zinc whiskers experience complete failures, you may only suspect you have zinc whiskers when your equipment posts fault conditions or other abnormalities. You may also experience problems with your tapes or drives.

Zinc Whiskers are so small that the normal dust filters used on computer equipment are ineffective.

Moreover, the problem is not affected by environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. If your panels are destined to grow whiskers, they will grow regardless of the environmental conditions.

Why now?

Two things have happened in computer rooms to cause zinc whiskers to be noticed now. First, zinc whisker-affected floors are now old enough to exhibit signs of whisker growth. The floors have simply been in place long enough for reasonably sized whiskers to grow and enough have broken off the panels, been distributed into the environment and landed inside electronic equipment.

Secondly, the continually shrinking size of electronic assemblies in modern IT equipment is more susceptible to damage from zinc whiskers. The lead pitch (lead to lead spacing) on integrated circuits and other components has shrunk dramatically in recent years. A zinc whisker has a much better chance of causing a short on today's micro electronics as compared to 1980's vintage computing equipment.

Our Solution

Computer Site Solutions takes the problem of zinc whiskers very seriously, as they have the potential to cost business millions of dollars each year.

Our solution to the problem is to provide a complete range of specialist services which incorporates:

  • Inspection & Testing Services - To investigate and report on levels of contamination where it is suspected that zinc whiskers are present
  • Abatement & Containment Services - To assess and respond to operational risks where zinc whisker contamination is confirmed
  • Consultancy Services - Our zinc whisker specialists are the foremost authority on prevention and containment strategies in Australia, having successfully assisted customers in a wide range of data centre environments and server rooms.
  • Whether you have general questions regarding the zinc whisker phenomenon, or wish to assess if a particular site is affected, Computer Site Solutions has the knowledge and experience to answer your questions. Contact one of our Consultants today using the Contacting Us page on this web site.

Zinc Whiskers Zinc Whiskers magnified

Computer Site Solutions also offers a range of zinc whisker free flooring solutions that are designed for today's modern business and will stand the test of time.

Our containment services

Computer Site Solutions offers a wide variety of containment services from a simple room clean up to a complete floor change over. We offer a variety of different flooring panels (cementitious / woodcore) and understructure from different manufacturers to give you the most cost effective containment solution.