computer care

Salty Air?

Unless you are getting spray directly off the ocean onto your computer (which is doubtful unless you live on a boat) air does not contain salt. Salt doesn't evaporate with water.

Urban myth it seems we have here....

JET

Right, Air does not contain salt. However, the Air here is high in humidity, which does carry the salt. It seems to eat into things quite rapidly here. I have a home here and in the northeast US. I am replacing electronics here twice as fast as I do in the US. Some of it due to bad power surges, but rust is clearly visible on screws, unpainted metals (back of computer) don't get the same result on the mainland. Then again I don't live on the coast in the US. Make sure you get a UPS, surge proctector. The heat your computer makes when it is on will help drive out the moisture. The key is to leave it on.

Everything rusts fast down here that has metal......

what? air does not contain salt? salt does not evaporate? hhhmmm well that runs square in the face of what me grandpappy done toll' me. i'll have to do sum study'in on that one.
thanks jet, next you will be tell'in me there actually are no necks in wooded areas

Anyone who took a high school physics class will tell you that salt does not evaporate. It's a solid. When sea water evaporates the minerals are left behind. The water vapor in humid air has NO salt.

Physics 101

JET

Well, any chemistry class in high school will tell you that salt dissolves in water and can be carried in solution for miles, in tiny water droplets, along coastal waters by wind(not water vapor). Also, rust only needs oxygen and iron. The salt only acts as a catalyst.

Chris is right Jet. I lived on Cape Cod for 8 years about a mile from the ocean. The salt is carried by the humidity and the rain and the wind. Salt spray can wreak havoc on electronics and it had me out cleaning my windows a couple of times a month! They would literally get a white salt film on them after a windy rainstorm.

I don't know anything about science, so I can't comment on the above. I do know that since we moved to Hull Bay, I have to remove salt deposits on my metal eyeglass frames at least 3x/month.

ok, to start out, i know salt is a solid, a mineral and does not evaporate. ever heard the phrase 'salty sea air'? well i have and i was just using it informally to enter into a conversation wherby i hoped to gain information on computer care in the virgin islands climate because i have heard things rust quickly. as to my second post, ever heard of sarcasm? if you are so worried that people are misinformed on the salt, air issue maybe you start a new topic on the board. 'salt, why it does not evaporate'

that last comment was meant for jet. thanks to the rest of you for your information.

I really laughed when reading this thread - the sarcasm, the science 101 - thanks guys. LOL

Chris is right - salt isn't necessary for the rusting which does happen here, had a couple printers go because of getting rusty spots in the back. The biggest problem I have had is not with the salt or rusting but with the power surges.... I will give you one horror story; power went out and was out for a bit, when it came back on, off, on and off several times during the morning my fax died, my modem died, an answering machine phone died - that was all at home. Then when I went to work, a computer died, an office machine, the main program that ran the network was corropted because the ups had died.... that was one of bigger bad days. Some folks have said TV and DVD players have gotten messed up too. Get surge protectors - really good ones.

--Islander