When to throw a CF card away?

I think one of my cards is going/gone bad. It may have been a victum in a "partial drwoning" incident. Anyway, now once in a while it "splits" images. I am thinking it is time to retire it to the circular file.

Have any of you had problems with memory cards splitting images (where it looks like the lower third or so has been offset by a tiny bit?)

Here is an example.

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sure it's the card and not the camera that does that? i had one of my cf cards in a puddle on the floor of a pool for a good 20 min, the wiped it off, suck it in my pocket for a while, then put it into my camera (stupid, i know), and it worked perfectly fine until i somehow lost the card. worst comes to worst, 8gb cards are as cheap as 2gb ones where when you got the 20d

Solid state memory, like CF cards, is usually pretty durable. I have seen a few thumb drives survive the washer and drier and I wouldn't think a CF card would be any worse off.

This was salt water... It is the only card that does this so I am tossing it!

Stocky wrote in post #5271570
Solid state memory, like CF cards, is usually pretty durable. I have seen a few thumb drives survive the washer and drier and I wouldn't think a CF card would be any worse off.

My 8gb ExtIII card got a full on wash in my washing machine. Dried it off, let it sit for several days then tested it on the computer. Fine. Tested in the camera, fine. Yeah, this was just soapy water, though.

Toss it.

mikerault wrote in post #5271585
This was salt water... It is the only card that does this so I am tossing it!

Just for grins and giggles, try washing the card very thoroughly with distilled water. Flush it out several times. Then let it thorougly dry. Then, put it into a zip-lock bag with some fresh dessicant (silica gel, for example) for a couple of days to make absolutely sure it's dry inside. Then test it by shooting a card-full of non-critical photos a couple of times. You may just find that you can completely resolve the problems.

If I had a problem with a 'suspect' card, the first thing I'd do is re-format it and try it - If it still caused any problems I'd bin it.
If I dropped it in salt water I'd just bin it!
Cards are relatively cheap so I don't want to risk corrupt images for just a few pounds/dollars.

If you're not sure about it, bin it. The last thing you need is for it to go bad at the wrong moment.

I agree. CF cards are pretty cheap nowadays. Just trash it and get yourself a new 8 GB one.

bsaber wrote in post #5273019
I agree. CF cards are pretty cheap nowadays. Just trash it and get yourself a new 8 GB one.

I'd get some 2 gig cards instead of 1 8 gig card because if this happens again, you lose less memory.