Can URINE on an SD card cause data corruption?

[Tallgrass1]

Once they've been copied to another recording media, they're fine.

They were still only on that one SD card at the time the pee got onto it.

Wipe the card off, insert it into a card reader and offload the images. If the images survive, they're just fine. Then treat the card as suspect from then.

I'm more interested in how the bird managed to whiz on your SD card. I mean, did you take photos of it, then remove the card from the camera and put it in your hand, then reached out to pet it? ............. or what?

I think it's pretty clear he got so excited at seeing a national record (which is unbelievably awesome BTW, wow!) that he pee'd his pants* sd card fumbling commenced after that.


*If I had a possible new species record, I'd probably wet myself too.

 

[Drive-By-Shooter]

so where is the pic?!?

 

[unpopular]

Don't worry. Pee is sterile. Your computer will not likely be infected with any virus.

 

[zombiesniper]

Am I the only one that gets the impression that the OP had an event that caused an embarrassing moment and we haven't heard the full story?
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C'mon. We're all friends here. You can tell us the truth about...........the pee pee moment.

P. Ha ha I said P.S. You're card is fine......your pants need a wash but your card is fine.

 

[480sparky]

....... Pee is sterile. ..........

Well, 'fresh' from a healthy person, yes.

 

[unpopular]

....... Pee is sterile. ..........

Well, 'fresh' from a healthy person, yes.

Actually, no. It's a myth. The bacteria in urine does not typically grow in a culture prepared for UTIs, and that's where the myth comes from. But if you do a DNA analysis there are other bacteria present.

Turns Out Urine Isn’t Actually Sterile | Smart News | Smithsonian

 

[jaomul]

I'd be pissed off if the photo wasn't still on the card

 

[480sparky]

Actually, no. It's a myth. The bacteria in urine does not typically grow in a culture prepared for UTIs, and that's where the myth comes from. But if you do a DNA analysis there are other bacteria present.

Hang on. Let me get out my lab equipment. I haven't done anything with my sequencer for quite a while now, so it will take me some time to retrain myself on how to use it.

 

[Peeb]

Waiting for @pixmedic to chime in to give guidance on proper protocol for ferret urine....

 

[unpopular]

Actually, no. It's a myth. The bacteria in urine does not typically grow in a culture prepared for UTIs, and that's where the myth comes from. But if you do a DNA analysis there are other bacteria present.

Hang on. Let me get out my lab equipment. I haven't done anything with my sequencer for quite a while now, so it will take me some time to retrain myself on how to use it.

And you call yourself a biochemist!

 

[Glaucoides]

Doubtful in one day, but it will corrode the contacts so I'd get the images off the card ASAP and then decontaminate the cards contacts.

What would happen if the card's contacts got corroded over time by urine? Would the images on the card be completely inaccessible and unreadable, or would they be accessible but have color corruption?

 

[evancamp13]

I'm from an electronics background, so I'll throw my two cents in on the issue. The acidity of urine is incredibly low, and contact materials on electronic devices are designed to be fairly corrosion resistant, most memory cards I've used have what appears to be an ENiG finish on the contacts (emersion nickel-gold). The nickel gold contacts will not corrode... If they do oxidize slightly, inserting into a reader a time or two would be enough to remove the oxide layer and make contact. Memory is memory, urine will not affect digital memory... I wouldn't try it, but you can likely submerge the card in liquid, remove it, let it dry for a few days and it will still be usable. As long as it is dry when powered on internally, there should be no adverse effects on the electronics

 

[480sparky]

Doubtful in one day, but it will corrode the contacts so I'd get the images off the card ASAP and then decontaminate the cards contacts.

What would happen if the card's contacts got corroded over time by urine? Would the images on the card be completely inaccessible and unreadable, or would they be accessible but have color corruption?

If the contacts (only) get corroded, that won't affect the memory in the card. Trying to offload the images through corroded contact might corrupt the images, but only the offloaded image. The original should not be affected.

If the contacts cannot be cleaned enough to allow offloading, anyone competent I'm electronics could be able to transfer the board to another card case and solder it to the new cases' contacts.

 

[Glaucoides]

I'm from an electronics background, so I'll throw my two cents in on the issue. The acidity of urine is incredibly low, and contact materials on electronic devices are designed to be fairly corrosion resistant, most memory cards I've used have what appears to be an ENiG finish on the contacts (emersion nickel-gold). The nickel gold contacts will not corrode... If they do oxidize slightly, inserting into a reader a time or two would be enough to remove the oxide layer and make contact. Memory is memory, urine will not affect digital memory... I wouldn't try it, but you can likely submerge the card in liquid, remove it, let it dry for a few days and it will still be usable. As long as it is dry when powered on internally, there should be no adverse effects on the electronics

The card may have been still wet when it was inserted in the computer's memory card slot... I didn't realize it may have had pee on it until I had already inserted it into the computer, downloaded the images, and removed it again... The images downloaded with no trouble, but I wonder if they might be corrupted...?

 

[Glaucoides]

Doubtful in one day, but it will corrode the contacts so I'd get the images off the card ASAP and then decontaminate the cards contacts.

What would happen if the card's contacts got corroded over time by urine? Would the images on the card be completely inaccessible and unreadable, or would they be accessible but have color corruption?

If the contacts (only) get corroded, that won't affect the memory in the card. Trying to offload the images through corroded contact might corrupt the images, but only the offloaded image. The original should not be affected.

If the contacts cannot be cleaned enough to allow offloading, anyone competent I'm electronics could be able to transfer the board to another card case and solder it to the new cases' contacts.

The original images are still on the card; I only copied them to the computer (I didn't remove them from the card). But I did use my computer's image-viewing program to view the images while they were still on the card, before I offloaded them. Do you think that could have corrupted the original images in the card as well as the copies that were offloaded?