Did I kill this electronic key card?

General Questions
#1

I was using my friend’s key card to enter the parking garage at work. We share it as we carpool. I kept it today because I was the only person working.

The system works on this principle. The key card is credit card sized. You swipe in front of a reader and it lifts the arm. You don’t have to run the card through anything. You just have to get to within 6-12" of a pad to get the arm to go up.

Cut to tonight, I go to get my clothes out of the dryer and there is the card key sitting in the dryer with my clothes. The key didn’t look too much worse for wear. The key has my coworker’s picture on it and it faded a little, but other than it didn’t break or crack and the writing is still on it.

So did sending this through a wash and dry cycle hurt this thing? Will we still be able to use it come next Monday? Is there any way to test it without actually going to the garage?

#2

It sounds like you have an RF-ID card. Inside is a little computer chip, and not much else. It probably survived the dryer, but I wouldn’t guarantee it. The max storage temperature of an RF tag is usually right around the same temperature as a typical household dryer (about 150 deg F).

#3

Thanks. Killing it would probably be typical of my day. I’m hoping that since it was wrapped in clothing that it might have had better luck.

#4

I’ve left mine in the car while the heat was pretty scorching, and it still works fine. There’s only one way to find out. I’m thinking it’ll be alright.

#5

If any static electricity was present in the dryer, you probably killed the card. The badges used at my work are similar, we can use them to log onto computers without typing in passwords. I know of a couple people whos badges quit working after a trip through the dryer.

#6

Just remember these words:

I don’t know what happened to it. It worked fine Friday.

They expect a certain percentage of these to break, as long as you are not a repeat offender it will be no problem. It’s all part of the calculations when they decide they can replace a human guard with a machine and save money.

#7

Isn’t a clothes dryer pretty much THE place to acquire static electricity?

#8

Depends on whether or not you used fabric softener, a detergent which contains same, or dryer sheets.

#9

I guess know I’ll have a science project to work through on Monday. Can an RFID card survive a trip through a washer and dryer? And will confess that I did it or will I say “Hey, it was that way when I got it!”?

#10

I used one for a few years and washed and dried it several times, I ran over it once, and for the final 3 months I worked there it was half cracked . The “read” spot wasn’t cracked. It only failed when the gate was, for some reason up, when I left. When I’d come back to work, it wouldn’t let me in, because I was already there.

#11

For the curious, the answer was no. I did not kill the card. The gate opened with no problem.

After it opened, then I confessed to washing it.

I’m an honorable ma.

#12

Great news, Mommy!

I once killed an ATM card by carrying it idiotically for a while in the same pocket as my housekeys. The little paper envelope, it did nothing! :o

#13

Really? So I’m guessing that being told that we shouldn’t hang ours from the rearview mirror at night in the winter since “it’s delicate and shouldn’t be subjected to temperature extremes because it might be damaged by cold or moisture” was something the person who gave them out pulled out of his butt. :rolleyes: Our tech people lie all the time, so I’m not surprised.

It also took the geniuses two months to figure out that though the programing in the chip does keep out people who belong elsewhere in the building to open the doors to our section, the elevator, which did not require a card swipe on the first floor, would go from one floor to another for anyone…now it has a swipe too