[Duo/24000] Ideas Wanted For Long-term Laptop Storage

[wayne ingalls]

Chuck wrote:

>  I'm considering placing each laptop into a vacuum sealer bag along 
> with some
> moisture absorbing packets usually found with new electronics. I'm 
> thinking
> that the removal of air should mean no moisture and no corrosion.

I thought I should jump in on this one since it's related to how I earn 
a living.
If you want to put desiccants in the bag because that's what you see 
other
people doing, you may or may not be wasting your time. I have yet to see
_anyone_ selling a consumer product use desiccants properly in a 
package.

If you know that your product is sensitive to moisture, you protect it 
by
sealing it in a moisture vapor barrier bag, either with or without 
vacuum
and with or without desiccants, depending on the humidity in the air at
the time you pack it. If you're going to plan on sealing something for 
many
years, you will need a bag that has either a foil or metallized layer; 
clear
bags will not provide an adequate barrier. If your product isn't 
moisture
sensitive, then it doesn't really matter what kind of bag and you can 
skip
the desiccant. If you think you wanted to reuse the desiccant from 
another
package, it's most likely already saturated and won't be any help.

If you want to go to the trouble of buying fresh desiccant, the 
desiccant
salespeople can tell you how much weight of desiccant handles how much
cubic volume of package. If you haven't already guessed, I don't think 
it's
worth the trouble and I have a can of desiccant and good barrier 
material
available to me at the office.

To  protect against corrosion you need a different material, usually a 
special
paper called VCI (volatile corrosion inhibitor). This treated paper 
keeps
giving off vapors that provide protection against corrosion. I've only 
seen
it used for military applications where people were worried about 
extreme
conditions.

Your best bet is to try to keep the laptops in an environment where they
don't see large changes in temperature or humidity (think "store in a 
cool
and dark place") and hope that you still like them as much in ten years 
as
you do today.

-wayne