6 Mar
2007
6 Mar
'07
8:23 a.m.
On 6 Mar 2007 at 9:56, Arno Kletzander wrote:
That condition (called "Zinkpest" in German)
is also well known (and
loathed!) for attacking the rotor disks in some types of old pinwheel
calculating machines, especially those made in GDR and Russia.
I was wondering if there was a name for this.
There is a completely unrelated phenomenon known as "Zinnpest" which
affects tin. At low temperatures, pure white tin undergoes an
allotropic self-catalyzing change to a gray powdery form. Objects
made of tin simply disintegrate.
Apparently, this was first noted in organ pipes of northern Germany.
The Scott Antarctic expedition was thought to have suffered from this
when their caches containing tin-soldered cans of kerosene
mysteriously leaked their contents away.
Cheers,
Chuck