MM wrote:
On Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:31:06 -0700 (PDT), Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Mar 7, 1:11 pm, Adam Funk wrote:
On a related note, is there a good & easy way to destroy data CDs?
CDs or CD-ROMs?

If they're CD-ROMs, you can microwave them. You need to space them
apart if you're doing a batch (plastic toastrack, or else a $500
silicon wafer processing boat). You also need to do them for just long
enough to nuke the data layer, but without cooking the plastic or
there's a fume problem. For regular industrial use I was able to use a
cheap domestic microwave from Currys, but had to mod it with a fixed
timer and a single big push button.

CDs can't be nuked to reliably kill the data without getting them hot
enough to cause a fume problem. Shredding is easier, although you do
need a hefty shredder.

I do not understand this penchant for microwaving CDs! Toxic,
extremely obnoxious fumes will be released.

Absolute bull****.

You simply dont understand: you are rapidly heating the conductive
metallisation which arcs and splits apart without even getting the
plastic hot.

It uses the properties of the microwave to put heat into conductors, not
into plastics. A couple of seconds is all it takes and there is no
plastic melting or fumes.


Do people just put up with
the stench permeating their houses?

No,. they do it the way descrued

Crazy, when there are shredders
available for the price of a decent meal for two or a tankful of fuel.
You actually BOUGHT a new microwave, then modded it?!! Risible, when
you could have simply bought a shredder. Since I bought mine, there
are new models on the market that are considerably cheaper (under 40
quid). It's a no-brainer.


No, using a microwave you already have on full power for a few seconds
is far cheaper, faster, uses less energy, creates no fumes and leaves
you with neat disposable platters totally undamaged except inside in the
data later itself

MM


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.