# If powerful CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) removehicle computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2021, 8:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868 "2021-05-17T08:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 8:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/1 "2021-05-17T08:55:40Z")
How easily can the computer be removed? To protect its circuitry, I would enclose it in a metal container placed inside our metal filing cabinet in the basement. Does anything else need to be removed and shielded? (Of course I’d also don my tihat.)(OK, no tin, so I would make it from aluminum foil.) Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 9:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/2 "2021-05-17T09:20:17Z")
I’d cover all my electronics with lead sheets. Right before I stuck my head between my knees and kissed my a$$ goodbye. You sir have way too much time on your hands. ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 9:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/3 "2021-05-17T09:32:46Z")
We ain’t got no Pb sheets. (I’m waiting for blood to be ready to transport.) The concern isensitivelectronics being damaged by induced voltages. The 1894?Carrington Event could be devastating today. Morecently, the 1989? QuebeCanada blackout. At leastoday we would have some warning. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s-Me](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/it_s-me/32/12660_2.png) [@It\_s-Me](https://community.cartalk.com/u/It_s-Me)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/4 "2021-05-17T11:21:12Z")
The computer in your car will be the least of your problems. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/5 "2021-05-17T11:38:12Z")
You would need to remove several computers ti sheild them. You would need to practice this so you’d be proficient when the time arrives. But you would need to store fuel for it as well since gas pumps would not work. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/6 "2021-05-17T11:38:17Z")
If the computer isn’t running then it’s extremely unlikely that any harm will come to it. In this case if the car isn’t running. A car itself will provide a lot of protection being metal. It’s fairly shielded. Manufacturers also account for magnetic interference. I wouldn’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/7 "2021-05-17T11:41:26Z")
Unless you’re driving something like a Corvette the computer is already in a metal enclosure. Long exposed wires like power lines are much more prone to damaging electromagnetic pickup since they can act as big antennas. Since the cars electrical system is compact and not linked to any long lines it would take a much more intense event, like a nearby lightning strike or an EMP to do damage. When the US in 1962 set off an H-bomb 250 miles high in the atmosphere, 900 miles from Hawaii, it was long power lines that picked up enough energy to actually cause damage in Hawaii. > **[Starfish Prime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime)** > > Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency. It was launched from Johnston Atoll on July 9, 1962, and was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space, and one of five conducted by the US in space. > A Thor rocket carrying a W49 thermonuclear warhead (designed by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) and a Mk. 2 reentry vehicle was launched from Johnston Atoll in the Pa... ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/8 "2021-05-17T11:44:23Z")
It takes 15 to 18 hours for a CME to arrive at Earth. I’m sure you can get the computer out in that time if you want. The likelihood that the ejecta will reach Colorado is very low. The solid angle for the Earth is small. Add to that the Earth’s revolution, and it is unlikely that any specific place on Earth will be inside the particle cloud when it blows through. It certainly could happen and has, but I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe you should worry about the Yellowstone volcano erupting instead. It’s the biggest volcano in the world, and hasn’t blown its top for about 100,000 years. ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/9 "2021-05-17T11:54:32Z")
Yes, we’re already concerned abouthe Yellowstone Park supervolcano. We probably have only 12,000 years before it again erupts. By thatime wife and I wilhave moved to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/10 "2021-05-17T14:52:42Z")
> [@Robert-Gift](#): > > I would enclose it in a metal container It’s already enclosed in a metal container, which is more commonly known as your car. Your car’s computer isn’t really vulnerable to CME’s. . At least, not until the CME reaches an intensity at which it probably kills you anyway and so you don’t care, and that’s pretty unlikely. Your car is more vulnerable to an EMP, but since the general way to create a car computer-destroying EMP is to air-detonate a nuclear bomb, again, if that happens, you’ve got more pressing matters to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/11 "2021-05-17T15:05:52Z")
> [@shadowfax](#): > > if that happens, you’ve got more pressing matters to worry about. So, an aluminum foil helmet won’t help him? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/12 "2021-05-17T15:48:09Z")
Where be Cu foil when you need it? Wonder if there is copper screen. Wife say: “Wear copper pail over head. You look better!” The car body may not screen well enough from below. Years ago did a Car Talk caller not discuss his car stalling apparently from RFI (radio frequency interference) when he crossed a beam’s path? Outside a military installation? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/13 "2021-05-17T15:58:04Z")
![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/c/1cbb521cc0219408b508936623a9d5f57f5cb51a.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/14 "2021-05-17T16:00:05Z")
> [@Robert-Gift](#): > > The car body may not screen well enough from below. Well then the good news is that if the CME is coming at you from below, it’s got to get through the entire planet before it hits you, and if it manages to do that, we’ve all got much more pressing things to worry ourselves about. > [@Robert-Gift](#): > > Years ago did a Car Talk caller not discuss his car stalling apparently from RFI (radio frequency interference) when he crossed a beam’s path? Outside a military installation? That might be a possibility, although the military should really not be aiming beam emitters that can do such things at civilians. There was some testing many years ago around putting electrical burst generators on cop cars that would direct such a beam at a fleeing suspect and cause disruptions in signaling between the ECU and various other components, hopefully making the car stall. I don’t remember seeing that it had the capability of actually destroying those electronics, though, just interrupting the signals. Something that could destroy the electronics would need to be much higher power, and I would guess anything that could do that would also cook anyone who got in its way. And from my encounters (professional, not criminal) with well-funded police departments, I’ve never seen such a device in the field so it must not have worked the way it needed to even to just interrupt signals. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/15 "2021-05-17T16:23:42Z")
I had a 1984 Dodge, on a daily basis I drove past an USAF radar dome, it would wipeout the presets on the car radio. If I turned the radio off a 1/4 before reaching the dome presets were saved. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/16 "2021-05-17T16:23:55Z")
> [@Robert-Gift](#): > > The car body may not screen well enough from below. Is this what you’re driving? ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/4/c/4ceb3c7379abe3a1111f277c3497b392a781ed49.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/17 "2021-05-17T16:57:57Z")
Elon said my Tesla will be ok. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/18 "2021-05-17T17:55:47Z")
Those tires on my bicycle are looking kinda bad, but I hear there is a shortage of bicycle parts too yet. ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/19 "2021-05-17T18:12:46Z")
Considering the Let$uck GPS directs turning (R) from a westbound arterial [which is directly to the blood center] north to an arterial with many traffic signals, then after a few miles of congestion turn south back to the original arterial, I’d sa **yes**! ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868/20 "2021-05-17T18:18:50Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Those tires on my bicycle are looking kinda bad, but I hear there is a shortage of bicycle parts too yet. DiscounTire was amazed that we done got almost 100,000 miles on the tires - which were the largestires which would fit. But I explained most of the mileage is on state highways and interstates. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/if-powerful-cme-coronal-mass-ejection-removehicle-computer/176868.md?page=2)