[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Airport X-rays & Computers



Bill --

Given the very small doses of x-ray (actually typically far LESS than the
additional cosmic ray dose from a transcontinental flight) I would be quite
surprised if the electronics were that sensitive.  Typically, very high
doses are required to "fry" commercial electronics; even the so called
highly sensitive components may need doses in the rad range before they are
adversely affected, at least according to my experience.  It would seem to
me that a proper diagnosis of WHY the printer doesn't work is in order.  Was
it in fact failure of the electronics?  One could postulate, for example,
that the pressure changes from the flight adversely affected the ink jet
mechanism.

Would like to hear more about this very interesting problem.

Ron Kathren


    At 11:49 AM 5/11/98 -0500, William G. Nabor wrote:
>Radsafers:
>
>     Last Wednesday a colleague of mine took her Hewlett-Packard
>portable inkjet computer printer with her on a plane.  The printer
>was in her carry-on luggage and passed through the X-ray detector
>at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA.  Upon arrival the
>printer wouldn't work.  A call to the HP technical support line
>elicited the response that the X-rays had fried the printer's
>electronics.
>
>     How likely do you find this explanation?  Do you get the
>impression that the HP tech might have been too quick to blame
>something not covered by the warranty?  After all, portable
>computers are carried on board planes by the thousands every day.
>
>     Have any Radsafers had a similar experience?  I'm not talking
>about stray magnetic fields erasing a floppy or two.  To my
>knowledge there was no magnetic storage in the printer.  We seen to
>be talking about X-rays themselves zapping an EPROM or something.
>
>     If you do think this is a likely explanation, then why is this
>starting now?  Is it due to smaller/more fragile electronics or
>stronger X-ray fields?  Do we need to post a warning?
>**********************************************************************
>William G. Nabor
>University of California, Irvine
>EH&S Office
>Irvine, CA,  92697-2725
>WGNABOR@UCI.EDU
>mailto:wgnabor@uci.edu
>**********************************************************************
>
>