Rust is nothing but a thing
March 1, 2025
There are many causes of corrosion such as molecules (water, chemicals, etc.) or energy release/exchange. Corrosion impacts all types of materials, e.g., plastic, wood and metal. Rust is a type of corrosion. Many people do not consider rust as something that will happen to their electronics or computer. But it is something that can happen especially in the southeast know for high humidity. Why humidity?
Air is mostly nitrogen and carbon. When we breathe in, we filter them. Humidity is a bunch of water molecules floating in warm or hot air. Water has one hydrogen atom and two oxygen atoms. The oxygen reacts with the metal forming rust. Heat expands the metal allowing for atoms to move around more freely.
Electronics have a lot of metal on the surface and between layers of a board. That is how electrons are transported from one area to another. If electrons cannot move there is no electricity. Taking care of your electronics with the proper tools will help them last longer. Rust is preventable.
It takes less effort to prevent rust than to remove it. Just like most things in life, prevention is usually better than curative. However, if there is rust and the electronic device is still working, you may consider removing the rust. Why? The way rust works is that it is a medium that acts as a barrier to the flow of electrons.
So, it has a resistive molecular structure. This means that there is more heat, wasted electricity and insufficient energy to make an electric component work. I.e., the device does not have enough power to do its job. Rust traps heat not as an insulator but increases heat. Heat increases the rate of rust.
Rust spreads which means rust can go between the layers of the electronic board. It also means the device is not able to do its job well, function properly or work at all. A device must power on otherwise it is useless. If you remove the rust it might power back on.
There are many reasons why it might not power back on or work as well. That is why preventative is better than curative. It might not work as well because when rust is removed a layer from the surface area is removed. So, the connection is not as strong. The surface area has a dip or grove.
The two conductive metals are not touching as closely. There is less contact between them. This means that there is less space for the electrons to move. The electrons have to work harder to move which also means there is a smaller Electro-Magnetic Field. EMF effects the amount of current or the speed that electricity flows. It is like the size of a tunnel.
Less electricity means less performance. The component does not work as well because it is not getting the energy it needs to do its job. Imagine if you had to work and lacked the energy needed to carry out your tasks. How would you perform? Would you have better performance or worse? What would your boss say if it was everyday?
Rust has other effects. Rust also degrades the structure of the material. In this case the material is metal. So, when the structure of metal is degraded its properties are also reduced.
Conductivity is one of the properties of metal. Density of metal stays the same and effects the conductivity of metal. Density effects travel for all sorts of particles and frequencies in different ways. Density has a relationship with the number of holes in the molecular structure. The holes allow the electrons to move around which creates electricity by exchanging places. A hole, is not a proton, it is a lack of an electron.
Think of it like Tetris. You have a tile and space within tiles. The tile fills the space between other tiles. The space between the tiles does not just disappear. It changes places with the tile because the tile takes up space.
Different types of strengths are also properties of metal. There is tensile strength, shear strength and compressive strength. That is: There is force pushing on the metal on the X-axis. Force pulling the metal on X-axis. Force pushing on the metal in the Y-axis. Force pulling the metal on Y-axis.
Force pushing on the metal on the Z-axis. Force pulling the metal on Z-axis. That is at least six different types of forces in three dimensions out of ten or twelve dimensions? So, the strength of metal has been reduced since pieces of the structure are missing. Think about how well you work when you break your pinky toe or other toes.
It is not just pain, there is also balance. To rebalance yourself you have to change the posture and structure of your body. How does that change put pressure on your nerves and effect blood flow and communication of cells. Such an alteration in structure has an impact.
Rusted Computer
Here is a real world example. There was a North Carolina resident that didn't think they were going to use a computer again so they put it in outdoor storage. A couple years later they changed their minds and took it out. To the left are pictures of it.
Things to point out are the areas of rust and restoration techniques. Do not try this at home! For a course of a few months, substances' that are rust penetrants were applied then we waited a couple weeks then scrubbed and reapplied, over and over again. It is possible to take rust off but it is a lot of hard work. Sandpaper might have been quicker but would have taken more metal off as well which we do not want.
Restored Computer
All components that worked before the restoration, worked after. How well it worked was not measured at that time. Also, there is no baseline other than very little information provided by the manufacturer's website of each component.
Metal dissipates electricity so it can work as a ground to protect from static electricity. Metal with iron is used for computer cases even though iron has a magnetic property. Repaint is needed to protect the metal that is exposed from rusting in the future. Choosing white would be the best color for keeping a computer cool. Maybe even yellow?
A wax or epoxy enamel can be applied on top to protect the paint. It can also be coated with rubber to absorb sound and vibration which helps with the longevity of computer parts, e.g., hard drives and optical drives. But rubber can also insulate heat so putting it on the outside of the case rather than inside is preferred. It can also be coated with EMF shield to act as a Faraday cage to protect components from different particles and different frequencies from the environment. This also increases heat.
Anything can be done as long as things are taken into account. However, do not do these things yourself.
The luminous of metal has many utilities like showing the lack of impurities like rust. Otherwise, it is an aesthetic feature. The luminous property of metal is from a photon hitting an electron around an atom. The connection of atoms form the structure of the material. The electron is excited to a higher state for a short time then emits the photon of the same frequency as the original photon while the electron goes back to the lower state it was in originally. When doing restoration do not aim to improve luster of the metal. Aim to improve the corrosion resistance of metal.
If you live 10 miles from the beach, there is another type of corrosion to think about. Ocean salt and temperature variation also accelerate corrosion. Temperature variations cause materials to expand and contract. When done frequently it tends to damage, deteriorate or break the material. Eventually there is enough space from the expansion and momentum from the expansion and contraction that the atoms break from the molecular bonds. Also, when there is expansion and contraction there is energy being released in the form of heat. You have to be more proactive in preventing corrosion in coastal areas. Restoration techniques might be different as well.
The information in this article can be applied for electronics in general but more specially for indoor personal electronics. There are different grades of electronics, e.g. outdoor, automotive or industrial, which take these variables into account in the design.
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