25 May
2019
25 May
'19
1:22 a.m.
On May 24, 2019, at 12:35 PM, Mark Matlock via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
The discussion on raised floors in data centers reminded me of an interesting past
experience. My company had installed its first supervisory process control system in an
enzyme plant. ...
The only bad thing about the location of the data center was that it was directly under
some tanks that were installed on the roof. One tank was for concentrated sulfuric acid
which was used to adjust pH in the fermenters....
After all this, miraculously everything seemed ok, but about once every 6 weeks or so
that PDP-11/44 would develop some issue and the DEC field service guy (it was under
contract) would come out and swap a board or two, marveling at how he had never seen
boards that were so corroded.
No kidding...
I've seen microphotographs of corroded circuit boards showing the impact of nasty
environments. Sulphur dioxide fumes are notorious. The examples we were given supposedly
came from one of two kinds of shops: rubber tire factories, or car design studios.
The latter was a surprise. It turns out traditional (and still used) car body design is
done by making full scale models from clay, and the particular clay used for this has a
very high sulphur content.
paul