Zinc whiskers typically begin to develop four to five years after a data centre is commissioned. When was the last time yours was inspected?
What Causes Zinc Whiskers?
Zinc whiskers form on bare metal surfaces as a result of high molecular-level stresses within the plated metal. To relieve this internal stress, the crystalline structure of the plating attempts to expand, pushing material outward through the surface as fine crystalline filaments — known as whiskers.
Because the process occurs at the molecular level, it is unaffected by environmental conditions such as temperature or humidity. Whisker growth will continue regardless of the surrounding environment.
What Threat Do They Pose to People and Equipment?
Although individual whiskers are extremely small, they are large enough to disrupt modern microcircuitry, causing short circuits, voltage variances, and other signal disturbances. If a whisker physically detaches and becomes airborne, it can travel through the data centre’s cooling airflow and into a mission-critical server, leading to electrical shorts and equipment failure.
Zinc whisker contamination is increasingly recognised as one of the most disruptive failure mechanisms affecting electronic and computing equipment in modern data centres.
How to Determine the Existence of Zinc Whisker Contamination
You should suspect zinc whisker contamination if any of the following indicators are present:
- A consistently high failure rate of equipment such as power supplies and logic boards.
- Failures distributed across multiple equipment vendors rather than concentrated in a single brand.
- A spike in failures following physical activity in the room — equipment moves, construction work, cable pulling, or similar disturbances that can release whiskers into the airflow.
What Do We Do to Fix the Problem?
Once identified, zinc whisker growth must be addressed before it causes further equipment failures. Because whiskers keep forming as long as stressed, zinc-plated surfaces are left untreated, an effective fix needs to do three things: remove existing whisker growth and debris, protect live equipment from further contamination during the works, and treat the underlying surfaces so whiskers do not return.
Our remediation typically involves containing the affected area, HEPA-filtered vacuuming and specialised cleaning of raised floor tiles, cable trays, bus bars and other zinc-plated surfaces, and applying an encapsulant coating to bind any remaining whiskers and inhibit regrowth. Equipment in the area is protected or relocated for the duration of the works, and results are verified with follow-up sampling.
Approach and Methodology
DCS staff are trained and equipped to identify, contain, and remediate zinc whisker contamination as part of our data centre decontamination service. We begin with an on-site assessment and sampling to confirm contamination and map its extent, then develop a remediation plan scheduled around your operational requirements to minimise disruption to live systems. Following treatment, we carry out follow-up sampling and provide a report documenting the work completed.
Contact DCS to discuss our approach and methodology for treating and controlling zinc whiskers in your facility.
Learn More
Want to learn more about how we can help you? Contact DCS Australia on 1300 200 206 or
email [email protected].