External USB hard drive and risk of internal condensation?
Apparently you can kill a USB hard drive by moving it from a cold to warm environment and powering it up. The killer being internal condensation.
Q1: How real is the risk? What kind of temperatures are we talking about? I don't want to waste time "acclimatizing" my hard drive every day if it's not necessary.
Q2: Are there technologies/solutions available to mitigate the risk?
Surprisingly, I've found nothing useful on the internet that decently answers the above two questions.
hard-drive external-hard-drive hardware-failure hard-drive-failure physical-environment
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
|
show 4 more comments
Apparently you can kill a USB hard drive by moving it from a cold to warm environment and powering it up. The killer being internal condensation.
Q1: How real is the risk? What kind of temperatures are we talking about? I don't want to waste time "acclimatizing" my hard drive every day if it's not necessary.
Q2: Are there technologies/solutions available to mitigate the risk?
Surprisingly, I've found nothing useful on the internet that decently answers the above two questions.
hard-drive external-hard-drive hardware-failure hard-drive-failure physical-environment
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
1
Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
1
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34
|
show 4 more comments
Apparently you can kill a USB hard drive by moving it from a cold to warm environment and powering it up. The killer being internal condensation.
Q1: How real is the risk? What kind of temperatures are we talking about? I don't want to waste time "acclimatizing" my hard drive every day if it's not necessary.
Q2: Are there technologies/solutions available to mitigate the risk?
Surprisingly, I've found nothing useful on the internet that decently answers the above two questions.
hard-drive external-hard-drive hardware-failure hard-drive-failure physical-environment
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
Apparently you can kill a USB hard drive by moving it from a cold to warm environment and powering it up. The killer being internal condensation.
Q1: How real is the risk? What kind of temperatures are we talking about? I don't want to waste time "acclimatizing" my hard drive every day if it's not necessary.
Q2: Are there technologies/solutions available to mitigate the risk?
Surprisingly, I've found nothing useful on the internet that decently answers the above two questions.
hard-drive external-hard-drive hardware-failure hard-drive-failure physical-environment
hard-drive external-hard-drive hardware-failure hard-drive-failure physical-environment
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
edited Jul 1 '15 at 2:28
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
asked Jun 30 '15 at 23:46
misha256
8,51654061
8,51654061
1
Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
1
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34
|
show 4 more comments
1
Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
1
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34
1
1
Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
1
1
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34
|
show 4 more comments
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
Condensation is a real danger for hard disks.
You can see in a real-life youtube demonstration of a data-recovery
specialist, what a hard disk looks like when taken out of the freezer and briefly turned on, just full of scratches :
Such scratches could possibly damage the disk to a point that even a data-recovery
specialist will be unable to recover the data.
A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard disks says:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with
temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until
the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur
and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package
in the operating environment for the time duration according to the
temperature chart.
It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when the computer is brought
from below 50°F (10°C) into room-temperature, and it may need several hours for
acclimatization.
This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical disk, the head is
supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes.
These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity.
They are also small enough, which slows the evaporation process of internal
humidity.
You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk
in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing,
to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes.
You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk, for the humidity
in the air already contained inside the disk.
This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist
ReWave Recovery :
A hard drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including
overheating and condensation.
A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the
hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which
causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from
rotating.
Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters
to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the
data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a
head crash.
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
add a comment |
I checked PDF on Seagate(can't find much info on WD), and find some interesting info. Its for laptop HDD, the one inside portable external USB drive.
According to the PDF(1, 2), the hard drive can operate at 0-60C and a relative humidity of 5-90%. However Seagate also limits the gradient, the temperature gradient is 20 or 30C/h, humidity is 30%/h.
So according to these PDF, if your HDD is Seagate, temperature wise, it should be safe, for humidity, it varies from 58% to 90%, considering its the extreme case and just a little over 30% I wouldn't worry much then.
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
add a comment |
Answer to Q1: You will not face any internal condensation as long as you are moving a recently used hdd.
If you have left it untouched for a while and suddenly moved it to a warmer environment and also started using it immediately, you may face the risk from condensation issue.
Answer to Q2: I don't see the requirement for a dry box to store a unused hdd. To operate it you need to take it out. As long as your portable has a good casing I don't see any real risk with a regularly used hdd.
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
add a comment |
don't guess. do hard disk error checking, set it to automatically fix file system errors and set scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. and then never do this again, let it sit for a few hours after coming in from the cold
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
add a comment |
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Condensation is a real danger for hard disks.
You can see in a real-life youtube demonstration of a data-recovery
specialist, what a hard disk looks like when taken out of the freezer and briefly turned on, just full of scratches :
Such scratches could possibly damage the disk to a point that even a data-recovery
specialist will be unable to recover the data.
A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard disks says:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with
temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until
the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur
and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package
in the operating environment for the time duration according to the
temperature chart.
It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when the computer is brought
from below 50°F (10°C) into room-temperature, and it may need several hours for
acclimatization.
This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical disk, the head is
supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes.
These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity.
They are also small enough, which slows the evaporation process of internal
humidity.
You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk
in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing,
to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes.
You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk, for the humidity
in the air already contained inside the disk.
This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist
ReWave Recovery :
A hard drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including
overheating and condensation.
A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the
hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which
causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from
rotating.
Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters
to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the
data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a
head crash.
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
add a comment |
Condensation is a real danger for hard disks.
You can see in a real-life youtube demonstration of a data-recovery
specialist, what a hard disk looks like when taken out of the freezer and briefly turned on, just full of scratches :
Such scratches could possibly damage the disk to a point that even a data-recovery
specialist will be unable to recover the data.
A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard disks says:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with
temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until
the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur
and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package
in the operating environment for the time duration according to the
temperature chart.
It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when the computer is brought
from below 50°F (10°C) into room-temperature, and it may need several hours for
acclimatization.
This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical disk, the head is
supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes.
These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity.
They are also small enough, which slows the evaporation process of internal
humidity.
You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk
in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing,
to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes.
You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk, for the humidity
in the air already contained inside the disk.
This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist
ReWave Recovery :
A hard drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including
overheating and condensation.
A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the
hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which
causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from
rotating.
Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters
to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the
data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a
head crash.
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
add a comment |
Condensation is a real danger for hard disks.
You can see in a real-life youtube demonstration of a data-recovery
specialist, what a hard disk looks like when taken out of the freezer and briefly turned on, just full of scratches :
Such scratches could possibly damage the disk to a point that even a data-recovery
specialist will be unable to recover the data.
A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard disks says:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with
temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until
the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur
and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package
in the operating environment for the time duration according to the
temperature chart.
It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when the computer is brought
from below 50°F (10°C) into room-temperature, and it may need several hours for
acclimatization.
This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical disk, the head is
supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes.
These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity.
They are also small enough, which slows the evaporation process of internal
humidity.
You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk
in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing,
to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes.
You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk, for the humidity
in the air already contained inside the disk.
This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist
ReWave Recovery :
A hard drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including
overheating and condensation.
A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the
hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which
causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from
rotating.
Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters
to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the
data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a
head crash.
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
Condensation is a real danger for hard disks.
You can see in a real-life youtube demonstration of a data-recovery
specialist, what a hard disk looks like when taken out of the freezer and briefly turned on, just full of scratches :
Such scratches could possibly damage the disk to a point that even a data-recovery
specialist will be unable to recover the data.
A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard disks says:
If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with
temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) do not open this container until
the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur
and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package
in the operating environment for the time duration according to the
temperature chart.
It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when the computer is brought
from below 50°F (10°C) into room-temperature, and it may need several hours for
acclimatization.
This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical disk, the head is
supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes.
These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity.
They are also small enough, which slows the evaporation process of internal
humidity.
You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk
in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing,
to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes.
You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk, for the humidity
in the air already contained inside the disk.
This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist
ReWave Recovery :
A hard drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including
overheating and condensation.
A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the
hard drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which
causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from
rotating.
Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters
to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the
data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a
head crash.
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
edited Jul 8 '15 at 8:40
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
answered Jul 4 '15 at 15:05
harrymc
252k12259560
252k12259560
add a comment |
add a comment |
I checked PDF on Seagate(can't find much info on WD), and find some interesting info. Its for laptop HDD, the one inside portable external USB drive.
According to the PDF(1, 2), the hard drive can operate at 0-60C and a relative humidity of 5-90%. However Seagate also limits the gradient, the temperature gradient is 20 or 30C/h, humidity is 30%/h.
So according to these PDF, if your HDD is Seagate, temperature wise, it should be safe, for humidity, it varies from 58% to 90%, considering its the extreme case and just a little over 30% I wouldn't worry much then.
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
add a comment |
I checked PDF on Seagate(can't find much info on WD), and find some interesting info. Its for laptop HDD, the one inside portable external USB drive.
According to the PDF(1, 2), the hard drive can operate at 0-60C and a relative humidity of 5-90%. However Seagate also limits the gradient, the temperature gradient is 20 or 30C/h, humidity is 30%/h.
So according to these PDF, if your HDD is Seagate, temperature wise, it should be safe, for humidity, it varies from 58% to 90%, considering its the extreme case and just a little over 30% I wouldn't worry much then.
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
add a comment |
I checked PDF on Seagate(can't find much info on WD), and find some interesting info. Its for laptop HDD, the one inside portable external USB drive.
According to the PDF(1, 2), the hard drive can operate at 0-60C and a relative humidity of 5-90%. However Seagate also limits the gradient, the temperature gradient is 20 or 30C/h, humidity is 30%/h.
So according to these PDF, if your HDD is Seagate, temperature wise, it should be safe, for humidity, it varies from 58% to 90%, considering its the extreme case and just a little over 30% I wouldn't worry much then.
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
I checked PDF on Seagate(can't find much info on WD), and find some interesting info. Its for laptop HDD, the one inside portable external USB drive.
According to the PDF(1, 2), the hard drive can operate at 0-60C and a relative humidity of 5-90%. However Seagate also limits the gradient, the temperature gradient is 20 or 30C/h, humidity is 30%/h.
So according to these PDF, if your HDD is Seagate, temperature wise, it should be safe, for humidity, it varies from 58% to 90%, considering its the extreme case and just a little over 30% I wouldn't worry much then.
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
answered Jul 3 '15 at 7:58
Chris.C
99846
99846
add a comment |
add a comment |
Answer to Q1: You will not face any internal condensation as long as you are moving a recently used hdd.
If you have left it untouched for a while and suddenly moved it to a warmer environment and also started using it immediately, you may face the risk from condensation issue.
Answer to Q2: I don't see the requirement for a dry box to store a unused hdd. To operate it you need to take it out. As long as your portable has a good casing I don't see any real risk with a regularly used hdd.
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
add a comment |
Answer to Q1: You will not face any internal condensation as long as you are moving a recently used hdd.
If you have left it untouched for a while and suddenly moved it to a warmer environment and also started using it immediately, you may face the risk from condensation issue.
Answer to Q2: I don't see the requirement for a dry box to store a unused hdd. To operate it you need to take it out. As long as your portable has a good casing I don't see any real risk with a regularly used hdd.
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
add a comment |
Answer to Q1: You will not face any internal condensation as long as you are moving a recently used hdd.
If you have left it untouched for a while and suddenly moved it to a warmer environment and also started using it immediately, you may face the risk from condensation issue.
Answer to Q2: I don't see the requirement for a dry box to store a unused hdd. To operate it you need to take it out. As long as your portable has a good casing I don't see any real risk with a regularly used hdd.
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
Answer to Q1: You will not face any internal condensation as long as you are moving a recently used hdd.
If you have left it untouched for a while and suddenly moved it to a warmer environment and also started using it immediately, you may face the risk from condensation issue.
Answer to Q2: I don't see the requirement for a dry box to store a unused hdd. To operate it you need to take it out. As long as your portable has a good casing I don't see any real risk with a regularly used hdd.
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
answered Jul 7 '15 at 13:28
Gautam Jose
1287
1287
add a comment |
add a comment |
don't guess. do hard disk error checking, set it to automatically fix file system errors and set scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. and then never do this again, let it sit for a few hours after coming in from the cold
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
add a comment |
don't guess. do hard disk error checking, set it to automatically fix file system errors and set scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. and then never do this again, let it sit for a few hours after coming in from the cold
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
add a comment |
don't guess. do hard disk error checking, set it to automatically fix file system errors and set scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. and then never do this again, let it sit for a few hours after coming in from the cold
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
don't guess. do hard disk error checking, set it to automatically fix file system errors and set scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. and then never do this again, let it sit for a few hours after coming in from the cold
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
answered Dec 1 at 11:20
Bruce
1
1
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
add a comment |
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
The OP didn't say that they did it. They only wanted to know if the risk is real so they could avoid it.
– fixer1234
Dec 1 at 11:42
add a comment |
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Depends on the humidity of the place you move it to. No real mitigation when dealing in high humidity environments.
– Moab
Jun 30 '15 at 23:51
What type of conditions are you planning to expose your hard drive to?
– CharlieRB
Jun 30 '15 at 23:52
@CharlieRB Potentially as bad as moving from 4C (39F) to 22C (72F). Relative humidity typically between 58% and 90%. None of the environments are air-conditioned in any way, just heating of ambient (outside) air in the offices.
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:27
Lol, maybe I can retro-fit my hard drives with a Dew-Sensor and some power logic. Prevent power-on if dew detected: tinyurl.com/qbzfu35. Come to think of it...my father's SLR camera has dew detection. More things need this!
– misha256
Jul 1 '15 at 0:34
1
@misha256 On top of all of that, most of the pathways which make up an SSD circuit all do the same thing at the same voltage (the memory bus lines). So even if you randomly shorted out circuits on purpose, it is still less likely than an HDD to cause permanent problems (can't say your data is going to be safe at all if you did this though).
– krowe
Jul 11 '15 at 5:34