Foreign Object

"Dakotahound" (dakotahound) 05/15/2020 at 10:50 • Filed to: Car Wash, Foreign Object

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Washing the car this morning, I felt something scrape under the sponge. Inspecting the area revealed several hard black objects sticking to the body. The objects were hard to see because the car is dark grey. They are about 1/8 in. (3 mm) in diameter; they crumble easily; and they are magnetic. There were only about 6 of them, but each one left tiny magnetic flakes behind that were difficult to remove from the car.

The first one left a minor scratch which, thankfully, buffed out. Since I was aware of them, the rest were removed before they could cause any damage.

What are they? They seem to be some sort of magnetic road debris. I have never seen anything like this on any of my cars before.

Just Jeepin' > Dakotahound 05/15/2020 at 10:56

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That looked like a UFO photo at first glance.

ttyymmnn > Dakotahound 05/15/2020 at 10:57

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Dakotahound > Just Jeepin' 05/15/2020 at 10:58

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Maybe it is (just a matter of scale). Wasn’t there something in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy about that.

Just Jeepin' > Dakotahound 05/15/2020 at 11:03

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Yep, in fact I shared that quote here a few weeks ago on some post or another. Dog swallows invading fleet.

Dakotahound > Just Jeepin' 05/15/2020 at 11:04

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I knew that I saw it recently.

Roadkilled > Dakotahound 05/15/2020 at 11:10

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These could be fragments of a magnet. There are plenty of magnets in modern cars, mostly in the various electric motors. If there had been a crash in the area, one of the motors could have been hit, shattering the magnet. It’s possible that pieces of the magnet were not cleaned up with the rest of the wreck. The tires of a vehicle ahead of you could have kicked the debris into the air where it could land on your car.

jimz > Dakotahound 05/15/2020 at 11:11

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only thing that comes to mind is a vehicle had something attached via ceramic magnet, and it came off on the road causing the magnet to fracture. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Just Jeepin' 05/15/2020 at 11:17

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RIP Douglas Adams.

He passed away here in Santa Barbara, oddly.

Dakotahound > Roadkilled 05/15/2020 at 11:17

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Yes, it does look like a fragment of a ceramic magnet. Maybe it is more common than I thought, but it certainly was a pain to remove the magnetic flakes without causing scratches.

Dakotahound > jimz 05/15/2020 at 11:19

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I used to have a sate llite radio antenna that attached with a magnet. Thinking about it, this does sort of look like it could be a piece from something similar.

Just Jeepin' > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/15/2020 at 11:28

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I didn’t know that.

I actually have a post in mind  that’s tangentially about Douglas Adams, but I’m waiting until my new laptop arrives.