COASTAL TECHNICAL SERVICES, LLC., is a high-tech consulting and disaster recovery company with advanced expertise in chemical, electrical, electronic, and mechanical systems. CTS provides consulting and damage assessments for a variety of clients: businesses, manufacturers, insurance adjusters, property owners, and risk managers. Our range of services includes: emergency mitigation, inspection and assessment, laboratory services and analyses, restoration and repair, environmental rehabilitation, and technical consulting. We are prepared to assist from the date of the loss through the conclusion of the recovery process. CTS also offers expertise in datacenters, clean-rooms, industrial settings, medical and dental spaces, offices, campuses, etc. As a partner with Cisco, Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, and other major OEMs, Coastal Technical Services is fully prepared to provide relief for clients that are struggling to recover in the aftermath of the hurricane. Coastal’s mobile restoration and laboratory facilities and trained personnel can be rapidly deployed to the disaster site with the equipment and experience needed to restore full functionality.
 
*Please note that rapid response is critical to speedy recovery. If your accounts have been affected by the repercussions of hurricane storm damage, it is advisable to get an experienced consultant on site as soon as possible so that impacted equipment can be scientifically evaluated, and stabilized. Appropriate recovery options can be determined from the analytical data that is collected on site.
 
It is advantageous to retain experts who are conversant with OEM recovery requirements and protocols. This helps to ensure that your client’s and your company’s interests are represented in a timely manner.
 
Our technologies, recovery practices, engineers, scientists, technicians, and highly trained partners are recognized and respected by manufacturers and insurers nationwide.
 
What we will do to assist you in getting your client’s issues resolved and productive ASAP:
• Inspect equipment and assess damage.
• Provide corrosion abatement techniques and technologies to preserve affected equipment.
• Provide a complete and comprehensive inventory of potentially damaged equipment.
• Provide analytical testing of contaminants to identify any negative impact to equipment.
• Analyze critical-path priorities.
• If desired, coordinate and interface with insurance adjusters and other property loss personnel.
• Provide restoration vs. replacement analysis.
• Provide estimates regarding restoration.
• Provide objective report, SOW, and costs to client.
• Perform restoration and all recovery work.
• Ensure manufacturer’s recognized recovery protocols are adhered to and restored in accord with any   service, maintenance, and warranty policies.
• Set up hot-site and recovery centers.
• Recover data, including handling sensitive information.
 
 
Emergency Response Line: (800) 662-2627
 
or Complete a Service Request Form at our website:
www.coastaltechservices.com
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Zinc & Metal Whiskers
Coastal Technical Services is actively involved in the study of the effects of Zinc and other metal whisker phenomena concerning electronic assemblies and printed circuits. Moreover, Coastal Technical Services has been instrumental in assisting original equipment manufacturers in addressing field failure problems as well as developing remediation efforts associated with metal whisker exposure events.

What are Zinc Whiskers? Zinc whiskers are electrically conductive, crystalline structures of Zinc that sometimes grow from surfaces where Zinc is used as a final finish. Zinc whiskers have been observed to grow to lengths of several millimeters (mm) and in rare instances to lengths in excess of 10 mm. Numerous electronic system failures have been attributed to short circuits caused by Zinc whiskers that bridge closely-spaced circuit elements maintained at different electrical potentials.

Zinc is only one of several metals that is known to be capable of growing whiskers. Other metals that may form whiskers include some cadmium, indium, antimony, silver, tin and tin alloys.

Differences between Whiskers and Dendrites
People sometimes confuse the term "whiskers" with a more familiar phenomenon known as "dendrites" commonly formed by electrochemical migration processes. Therefore, it is important to note here that whiskers and dendrites are two very different phenomena. A "Whisker" generally has the shape of a very thin, single filament or hair-like protrusion that emerges outward (z-axis) from a surface. "Dendrites", on the other hand, form in fern-like or snowflake-like patterns growing along a surface (x-y plane) rather than outward from it. The growth mechanism for dendrites is well-understood. While the precise mechanism for whisker formation remains unknown, it is known that whisker formation does not require either dissolution of the metal nor the presence of an electromagnetic field. 

For more information concerning metal whisker phenomena visit the following NASA Government website: 
http://nepp.nasa.gov/WHISKER/

While chemistry may seem an unlikely discipline to measure the risk of electronic failure, it has proven to be invaluable in assessing damage and recovery after a disaster. Armed with industry standard and approved methodologies and quantifiable data as proof, Coastal Technical Services is unraveling some of the age old questions relating to electronic restoration.

Printed circuit board and component manufacturers have known for years that ions (atoms that are positively or negatively charged) cause corrosion on printed circuit boards and provide a pathway for stray/ damaging electrical signals between circuit components. As the performance of modern devices has escalated and circuit complexity grown exponentially with each generation, the tolerance for contamination has correspondingly shrunk. In today’s electronic systems, levels of ions no greater than that left by a fingerprint are sufficient to damage a circuit. Visual inspections are simply inadequate when the measure of acceptable residue levels are in the “parts per million” range.

The IPC organization is a worldwide consortium of electronics manufacturers that has set standards for electronic circuit cleanliness. Using Ion Chromatographic analysis of samples harvested from board assemblies per IPC-TM-650-2.3.28 as specified in the IPC/EIA J-STD-001C Joint Industry Standard- “Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies,” the Coastal Technical Services laboratory is equipped to assess the nature and extent of a contamination event (fire, hurricane, flood, toner spill, extinguisher release, environmental exposure, etc.)
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IPC-TM-650 Ion Chromatographic data provides a quantified and calibrated gauge for our analyses, and a basis upon which expert judgment can be understood, documented, and scientifically supported. It allows us to:  

• Trace the source of contamination.
•  Decide whether equipment was involved in a disaster and avoid the cost of replacing or restoring unnecessary components. 
• Characterize the chemical composition of residue and tailor the remedy accordingly.
•  Take before and after “snapshots” of cleanliness to document the success of restoration measures. 
• Establish objective expectations for all involved parties.
•  Communicate results, and support one’s position in the event of litigation.

With years in the technical recovery business, Coastal Technical Services has heard much of the common wisdom from both believers and disbelievers. In the end, we believe that unbiased scientific data tells our story best. Thus, this “work in progress” addresses some legitimate concerns and questions by presenting real world case studies, photographs, and experience. We will add to this paper as new lessons are learned, and technology unfolds.