Volcanic ash damage?

[tomas710]

So, I am in an odd situation, a volcano erupted south to where I live and now the sky looks blurry. No ash raining or anything so dramatic but i thought it might be an interesting thought, if you are near an active volcano and you got ash at surface level (again not my case but made me wonder) can you kiss your electronic components goodbye? I know sulfur content, either as SO₂ or H₂S can damage PCBs very fast (That's why motherboards don't last long in the more polluted parts of China) Not really asking for help, just thought, this is an unusual situation and who knows, maybe someone here has gone through it. Just wanted to share the thought

[minibois]

I am not sure, but your story sure did sound interesting ^^

 

Pretty sure it will be the same as dust, not good  but you are able to clean it off.

Not sure though. I'm no scientist.

[79wjd]

Volcanic ash is also sometimes conductive iirc (or maybe I'm just thinking about how lightning is common in ash clouds due to physics), so if you were to leave windows open when there was a lot of ash in the air it could theoretically pose a problem. 

[Guest]

Well yeah this is..... Unusual.

From Wikipedia on volcanic ash:

Volcanic ash can cause disruption to electric power supply systems at all levels of power generation, transformation, transmission and distribution. There are four main impacts arising from ash-contamination of apparatus used in the power delivery process:[36]

Wet deposits of ash on high voltage insulators can initiate a leakage current (small amount of current flow across the insulator surface) which, if sufficient current is achieved, can cause ‘flashover’ (the unintended electrical discharge around or over the surface of an insulating material).

If the resulting short-circuit current is high enough to trip the circuit breaker then disruption of service will occur. Ash-induced flashover across transformer insulation (bushings) can burn, etch or crack the insulation irreparably and will likely result in the disruption of power supply.

Volcanic ash can erode, pit and scour metallic apparatus, particularly moving parts such as water and wind turbines and cooling fans on transformers or thermal power plants.

The high bulk density of some ash deposits can cause line breakage and damage to steel towers and wooden poles due to ash loading. This is most hazardous when the ash and/or the lines and structures are wet (e.g., by rainfall) and there has been ≥10 mm of ash fall. Fine-grained ash (e.g., <0.5 mm diameter) adheres to lines and structures most readily. Volcanic ash may also load overhanging vegetation, causing it to fall onto lines. Snow and ice accumulation on lines and overhanging vegetation further increases the risk of breakage and or collapse of lines and other hardware.

Controlled outages of vulnerable connection points (e.g., substations) or circuits until ash fall has subsided or for de-energised cleaning of equipment.

[tomas710]

I am not sure, but your story sure did sound interesting ^^

 

Pretty sure it will be the same as dust, not good  but you are able to clean it off.

Not sure though. I'm no scientist.

Not really like dust, think cement laced with sulfur...........REALLY hoping i'm not getting ash LOL

[KirbyTech]

I would think it would do damage, not a ton but might kill 1 component or something like that. I would just put a garbage bag over it for a bit.

[Guest]

Computers may be impacted by volcanic ash, with their functionality and usability decreasing during ashfall, but it is unlikely they will completely fail.[47] The most vulnerable components are the mechanical components, such as cooling fans, cd drives, keyboard, mice and touch pads. These components can become jammed with fine grained ash causing them to cease working; however, most can be restored to working order by cleaning with compressed air. Moist ash may cause electrical short circuits within desktop computers; however, will not affect laptop computers.[47]

And more

[tomas710]

Are you from chile ? Becasue the way that volcano erupted.dammm

Yeah, I live in Santiago so far away enough to not be sealing my room with ductape 

[flibberdipper]

I can imagine it might.

 

(can you please snap a pic I wanna see the sky)

[tomas710]

Got family that live nearby, they sent me pics they took from their house, pretty massive

[ThomasD]

I wasn't there at the time, but used to live in an area affected by the Mount St. Helens eruption.  Heard all the stories.

 

Biggest problem with any ash that might get into your house is that it is very abrasive.  Think snowflakes made of stone.

 

Whenever possible rinse it away with flowing water.

 

You can use a vacuum to lift it up - but make sure the filter is good otherwise it will kill the fan/motor. 

 

If you wipe it away (especially by using a damp cloth) you just turn the cloth into sandpaper.

 

Keep the house closed as much as possible, turn off any ventilation (you really do not want the dust in your duct work) and exit and enter your house through a garage, or other anteroom to minimize the amount of stuff you do bring in.

 

And this was all from an area of north Idaho that only got about an inch or two of ash.

[LegacyStijncat]

-Snip-

I would maybe like, go to a location which isn't next to an erupting volcano and take your computer with you instead of asking advice with your tech to ask if your tech may break BECAUSE OF AN ERUPTING VOLCANO NEXT DOORS.

 

On the more serious note, probably not. I think. You'll notice if it does!

[tomas710]

I would maybe like, go to a location which isn't next to an erupting volcano and take your computer with you instead of asking advice with your tech to ask if your tech may break BECAUSE OF AN ERUPTING VOLCANO NEXT DOORS.

 

On the more serious note, probably not. I think. You'll notice if it does!

Here in Santiago we are ok, the sky is kinda opaque but nothing at surface level, just thought it was an interesting topic, if i lived closer to the volcano i would be paranoid about my PC and....idk, it's not exactly a subject you can bring up to conversation often

[LegacyStijncat]

Here in Santiago we are ok, the sky is kinda opaque but nothing at surface level, just thought it was an interesting topic, if i lived closer to the volcano i would be paranoid about my PC and....idk, it's not exactly a subject you can bring up to conversation often

Well Volcano eruptions don't really happen every saturday 

[The Riddlesmith]

I have family in Santiago that I've been unable to reach. I suppose it would be possible that the volcanic clouds could be messing with orbital comms. Glad to know that the volcano isn't effecting you too badly there. How are things closer to the eruption? 

[Trik'Stari]

I read an article today about the yellowstone super-volcano. Supposedly they've found a magma chamber underneath it, that's supposedly more massive than the one that caused its previous eruption.

 

But the scientists are "predicting" that if it did erupt, the eruption would be smaller than the previous one....with a bigger magma chamber.....because that makes sense?

[Delusional Phil]

Not really like dust, think cement laced with sulfur...........REALLY hoping i'm not getting ash LOL

I f you got ash ... Make sure to turn off the power , cover it with fabric so it doesn't get anymore dust . After that , you might wanna try and clean the dust out beofre it start corroding your electronics .

[tomas710]

I have family in Santiago that I've been unable to reach. I suppose it would be possible that the volcanic clouds could be messing with orbital comms. Glad to know that the volcano isn't effecting you too badly there. How are things closer to the eruption? 

Don't worry, the sky was a bit darkened but only high altitude ash, nothing that can affect people. The areas closer basically are waiting since a third eruption is highly likely, but basically the issue with the first eruption was it had no warning, now people are aware and i think it will be mostly ash, pyroclastic flows are not gonna go past the 20 km exclusion zone and lahares, well, those worry me more but low lying areas near rivers are being evacuated as well, so hopefully the economic impact will be the only issue and we won't have any casualties. 

[tomas710]

I read an article today about the yellowstone super-volcano. Supposedly they've found a magma chamber underneath it, that's supposedly more massive than the one that caused its previous eruption.

 

But the scientists are "predicting" that if it did erupt, the eruption would be smaller than the previous one....with a bigger magma chamber.....because that makes sense?

ok, this is a real event and i don't mean to cause any offense, but please no conspiracy bullshit, and you think the whole magma chamber goes out when a volcano erupts? That's absolutely not a determining factor, the instability of the volcanic structure, the composition and particularly density of the magma and the underlying stress on the tectonic plates play a much larger role, that bullshit of big chamber = BOOM is what discovery channel feeds to people too lazy too understand the basics of vulcanology. In other words, if you have nothing to contribute or anything you need help understanding and you just wanna showcase yourself in your paranoid crusade against.....nature?....all i can say is shut the fuck up, i don't wanna listen, start another thread, THORAZINE v/s HALDOL maybe? hugs and kisses, xoxo