Lexar CF Card "Crash" followup from Lexar!

[BCdives]

Last week my Lexar 1G 32X card just bit it ???? I had no idea why. I contacted Lexar's On line support and had help in about 20 seconds. I couldn't believe it. I returned the Card the next day to Lexar with an RMA. 2 days later I sent their support my RMA and asked about the status, and also informed them that I would like to know what happened to the card.

10 minutes later my phone rang and it was their head of tech support (I was stunned) the first comment he giggled out was "You use that card alot don't you" 7500 shots over 6 months. They can see things on the card we can't for their own diognostic purposes (just FYI)

He said the card had experienced a "Low voltage corruption spike" and that there was a few ways it could happen, insertion into the 10D with a very low camera battery, and or not seating the card quickly and gingerly, such that it is only making partial contact. He also informed me that a new card had already been shipped out and they were keeping mine for their forensic lab.

I can honestly say, their customer service is without a doubt the best I have ever delt with in my life.

Now for the shocker (no pun intended) I thought for an hour about what he had said, but for the life of me could not figure how I could have possibly spiked the card. Later that day it hit me.

Often times while I am working in my digital lab, I put on professional head phones ( the kind that cover your entire ear) and listen to music, when I stand up and move around, (in the winter which Im pretty sure it is ) I will occasionally get a shock into the side of my head as the element in the headphones will act as a ground for the built up static electricity. Out of some weird habbit, I always hold the CF card in my lips, while I use my hands for for the keyboard, then transition across the office to put the card back into the camera.........Sssssnnnnnnap! in my eardrum (Oooch) I took the card out of my mouth, took off the head phones and continued working, later I put the card in the 10D.....hey wait a minute, the camera dosen't see the card anymore......and so began my saga!

Is it possible ???????????? The world may never know, but it is something to think about!

Lexar RULES!

BC

[Tom W]

That's fantastic service! :)

I suspect that most companies would tell you to get a new CF card.

An important point you bring up is the issue of static electricity. My house gets very dry in the winter. If I don't humidify the air, I draw static on everything I touch, including my laptop. Obviously, static discharge doesn't do well with electronics, so I was very worried when I drew a small arc when I touched my laptop. I now have a humidifier and a digital humidistat to keep an eye on things.

[2new]

I have only killed one PC part with a static electric charge in the past 10 years working on computers, but I have witnessed dozens of others kill multiple parts with a static discharge. The lack of moisture plays a big part in the winter. Get an ESD wrist strap or just remember to ground yourself before touching the card with anything. lips included

Great customer service for lexar! You killed it and they are replacing it free!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Two very important lessons here BC!

1. Customer service still exists! And it can be found at Lexar!!! I don't own any Lexar cards,. they have seemed pricey to me. But I tell you having read this (and havng dealt with todays Idea of customer service to often) If the New "1D" is something I can afford,. and it will use the faster cards speed like the 1D does,. I think I will be buying Lexar!

2. The static electricity warning you read all over computer parts are not there for light reading only! Static kills! (circuit boards anyway :) )

Thanks for the info.
I'm glad Lexar is taking care of you.

[Tom W]

I have only killed one PC part with a static electric charge in the past 10 years working on computers, but I have witnessed dozens of others kill multiple parts with a static discharge. The lack of moisture plays a big part in the winter. Get an ESD wrist strap or just remember to ground yourself before touching the card with anything. lips included

Great customer service for lexar! You killed it and they are replacing it free!

Yes, I always ground myself when I go "inside" of any electronic device. But what bothered me was that I was getting discharge just touching the doggone thing. Not the keyboard, but the network cable, or certain parts of the sides. I'm probably very fortunate that whatever I touched was well grounded (and the laptop was always plugged in to a grounded receptacle when this happened).

BTW, I was getting the same discharge touching just about any metal object in the house, including door knobs, switch plates, and the like. I found that my relative humidity in cold weather was dropping to around 25% - that's way too low. Now that I'm humidifying the house, the problem has disappeared.

[BCdives]

CDS, Tom, 2new I guess it should fundamental that sparks and CPU chips don't mix, I will no longer be storing CF cards in my mouth.

God Bless Lexar, they didn't even question it, they just sent a new one and after the fact I guess you could make the case that I ruined the card. But I won't look the gift horse in the mouth.

Lesson learned! ( I'll save the sparks for the dogs wet nose, but I don't have a dog anymore, I wonder if lexar would replace him too)

Now lets go take some pictures!

BC

[sdommin]

That's good news about Lexar customer support. Did you write them a letter or something to know that you're satisfied with the support? Its always nice to acknowledge people when they do something right!