I am thinking of buying an almirah made up of iron and wish to store my laptop inside it. Is it safe ? My concern is that iron being a ferromagnetic material could interfere with the electronics of the laptop. I have learnt from internet that hard disks are safe even near ordinary permanent magnets, but do not know if there are any other parts which might be damaged by proximity to permanent magnets or ferromagnetic materials. Thanks
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1I very much doubt your iron (a wardrobe, cabinet, or cupboard) is going to have a magnetic charge. Even if it does the strength of this charge would be harmless to your typical machine. I would go as far to say that in most cases your computer case has already has limited EMP Shielding anyways. One could argue a steel case would act more or less like a Faraday cage to some degree.– RamhoundCommented Nov 18, 2015 at 18:14
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2learned a new word today. almirah = cabinet/cupboard. Anyway op, no it should not cause an issue, but perhaps keep the laptop in a bag just to be safe. I would not exect the ambient field to have sufficient power to damage the data stored on teh device.– Frank ThomasCommented Nov 18, 2015 at 18:16
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2A typical stereo speaker has a strong'ish magnetic signal and there is one inside your laptop right next to your HDD– RamhoundCommented Nov 18, 2015 at 18:18
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@Ramhound Thanks for your helpful comments. But by the way, iron/steel does act as a faraday cage for electrostatic field bu not for the magnetic field. Also the distinction between iron and steel is important in the context of magnetic field since iron is ferromagnetic while steel is not.– user90041Commented Nov 18, 2015 at 18:22
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@user90041 - I am aware of all that hence the reason I said it. I wasn't 100% sure if a steel computer case would act like a Faraday cage hence the small uncertainty in my comment.– RamhoundCommented Nov 18, 2015 at 18:28
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1 Answer
It depends safe against what.
An iron almirah would not be in the least directly dangerous to a laptop (just in case, you may want to place a wooden support a couple inches thick - but that's a very large, unnecessary and paranoid "just in case").
It would also be very effective against electromagnetic interference, even if I don't think it's likely that someone might send an EMP gun or vircator bomb your way anytime soon.
It would probably be completely uneffective, and actually probably counterproductive, in the event of a fire. A heated iron enclosure will warp and is likely to become un-openable, while being a good heat conductor and having low specific heat. As a result, whatever is inside will be exposed to almost the full heat of a fire with little chance of recovery. There are special insulating linings (also adhesive linings) that can be used to ameliorate this, and are basically made up of rock wool and aluminum foil sandwiches to stop convection, reduce direct conduction and block radiant transmission as much as possible. (This may be relevant from an insurance standpoint. I know of one case in which a damage policy paid less than it should have because the damaged goods were stored in a conceivably dangerous location. On the other hand, this happened in Italy - our insurers might sport larger shark fins than yours).
The "heat" part can be relevant for modern laptops because some components, such as SSDs, may experience a higher rate of failure if left at higher-than-normal temperatures for days on end, at least if they have become long enough in the tooth. Some kind of batteries, also, can "feel the heat".
If your main worry is about simple storage, i.e. adverse effects of the cold iron enclosure, just go ahead. As long as the laptop isn't powered by evil supernatural energies 1, you should risk nothing.
1 I have long suspected that mine is. Your mileage may vary.
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Thank you so much. My worry was not about the heat aspect, but only about the magnetic field aspect. Commented Nov 18, 2015 at 19:13