Alright I did something stupid and I need some help....seriously

Too Late - Would have Saved the Webber

Not knowing how many floppies you had might ruing your ammo supply.

Trip to range.

Stack several floppies thick at target.

One UNCENTERED hit will eliminate any chance of data recovery.

Second method:

Give floppies and a hammer to young relative and tell that they are indestructible.

Bekeart
 
I think that the advice to lightly sandblast it down to clean metal or toss it are the only two that I would feel comfortable with.

When I had a few hundred diskettes (hard plastic) that I wanted to get rid of, I opened the plastic shells and I took a pair of scissors to the small floppy material inside and that was that.
So, maybe a paper cutter would work to destroy the rest of them for you (without taking them apart)?
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
I am slowly closing the office and have begun destroying files from before the turn of the century. Protocol back then was to have a 3.5" floppy in each file with electronic copies of stuff we typed, etc. Therein lies the problem.
Decided tha ta good idea was to burn them. So I fired up the Weber and threw around 50 on the coals. BAD IDEA Black smoke like you fet with burning tires and plastic. Put it out by putting the lid on. Now I am wondering if I have runied the Weber for furure use. I've scraped it and pressure washed it but my son (the Nurse) says that it will be forever contaminated and he advises against eating anything cooked on it. I'm thinking that if I burn some hardwood in it to get it really hot, then clean again and hit it with some oven cleaner that ought to be enough to "purify" it. I've gotten all visible traces of plastic off and plan to replace the grate that was in there but I ask those of you with more knowlege about these things what y'all think. Is it safe? If not is there somethin gI can do other than wha was suggested to make it safe? Or do I pitch a 6 month old Weber 22" kettle and buy something new.
The Scot in me says to clean and keep, but te spendthrift says this os the excuse you need to get an offset smoker.
What says the brain trust?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a media blast job to me.
Should be several sandblasters in your neck of the woods.
Regardless, it would appear you have experienced a “Meaningful, learning experience “.
Best,
Gary
👍👍
 
In my neck of the woods, I put anything metal out by the curb and the scrappers will remove it within 12 hours. 2 hours on garbage night. Get a new grill AND a smoker. If you have anymore "evidence" burn it now while you still have the disposal unit, then make the scrapper happy.
 
K-22 said:
Sounds like a media blast job to me.
Should be several sandblasters in your neck of the woods.
Regardless, it would appear you have experienced a “Meaningful, learning experience “.
Best,
Gary
👍👍
Click to expand...
Yea...haven't had a meaningful learning experience is quite sometime. Kinda forgot how painful they can be.....At least I didn't blow up a gun or something.....this time.
My son looked me in the eye and said, and I quote: "15 years ago this conversation would be reversed " I really wasn't ready for tat one :rolleyes:
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
Yea...haven't had a meaningful learning experience is quite sometime. Kinda forgot how painful they can be.....At least I didn't blow up a gun or something.....this time.
My son looked me in the eye and said, and I quote: "15 years ago this conversation would be reversed " I really wasn't ready for tat one :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It’s the whole circle of life thing.
It used to be I was the techie in my family. Now it’s my daughter.
 
Hard to hear, but sage advice.

Kill your Superfund Site Toxi-Weber and buy a nice new Kamado in a cool color.
 
Caj. First question, does the son advising you to trash the grill want you to give it to him?

Polyvinyl chlorides, when burned, do indeed produce some nasty byproducts, some of them toxic in the parts per billion range. How good are your cleaning techniques?

Moving on, I am a strong proponent of charcoal grills: BUT, three years ago I bought a Weber gas grill. It was their cheap 2 burner and was on sale for about $200. Best cooking investment I ever made. It gets used constantly here in South Carolina. At least twice a month even in the winter. I bought this little iron box that you can put wood chunks in and set on the back of the grill to produce smoke. The Weber gets super hot, super fast. And I have two gas bottles so theoretically I should not run out (But I have found a way to defeat that). Makes awesome steaks. Simplifies my life. Gets incredible efficiency on the gas bottle.

Be safe, ditch the Orange Globe, pawn your NAA 22, and step up to the Weber gas grill .
Pawn
 
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Kamado?

yeti said:
Hard to hear, but sage advice.

Kill your Superfund Site Toxi-Weber and buy a nice new Kamado in a cool color.
Click to expand...

I have had a Kamado (Big Green Egg) for about 25 years.
One fo the best investments I have ever made.
Steaks, brisket, butts, ribs, and more.
I can cook a brisket overnight at 250f, or sear 1” rib eye at 700f.
Kamados are not plug and play, but put in the time and effort to learn, and you will be well rewarded.
If you would like a lot of good info on Kamado cookers, google, The Naked Whiz.
I kid you not!
Best,
Gary
👍👍👍👍👍
 
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Perfect time for upgrade. I’m with K-22. Got a Big Green Egg as a birthday gift. One of the best birthday gifts ever. Smoker, steak cooker, I’ve done pizza, and great meatloaf.
 
Cag, I get attachments...If your attached to it just start a truly good fire in it with your local firewood or millends whatever you have. We use an old Weber during cold months at our monthly muzzleloading shoot for a fire pit because outdoor burning is against code, we are not burning we are preparing a cooking fire of good coals. We start a fire in that old dude in the early morning and it burns til afternoon. Once you get a good bed of coals, put the lid on with the damper open full and let it burn out, you should be good to go for any carsonagenians left over.
 
yeti said:
Hard to hear, but sage advice.

Kill your Superfund Site Toxi-Weber and buy a nice new Kamado in a cool color.
Click to expand...



You could have your wife apply for a government grant to clean up the toxic equipment and buy new. It seems to be a popular method for other industries. You mess it up and subsidiary cashes in on cleaning up your mess.

My wife has a huge stack of paper files that I moved from her rented storage compartment to fill up a considerable area in a storage building I built. They are reaching their dead line but I have a 6ft diameter fire pit in the back yard. No floppies, but I believe someday there will be a fair size pile of thumb derives.

On floppies I would think that removing the armature from a large 110 motor and then running each through the fields coils left in the case while plugged in should do it. Or you could buy a large rare earth magnet. Glue the magnet down to something and holding a disk flat swirl it over the magnet for a few seconds and bye bye data. The degassing ring from an old tube TV would be serious over kill.
 
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Aint nuttin a good hot fire and some Barkeepers Friend can't solve. And in the future, dig into that penny jar and have one of the many mobile shredding services out there toss your floppies into their grinder.
 
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