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Flood damaged computer....anything salvagable?

S

skgarach

Member
So i lived in new orleans and my computer had been sitting under water for about 4 weeks...I think i already know the answer, but wanted to know if anybody knew more about this than me. Will any parts of my computer be salvagable? I can understand that the hard drives are damaged and the data is gone (thats not too big a loss as i have most everything on cds and dvds, as long as flooded cds and dvds aren't damaged), and that the hardware will suffer from corrosion in the future. But will the mobo, vid card, etc be useable? I'm trying to judge whether its worth it for me to even go back to new orleans. Thanks.
 
It might be savagable. If it was unplugged it has a higher chance of surviving. But probably all the junk in the water would have gotten too it and destroyed the rest.
 
Well, first my condolences. That's a tough spot. Second, I hope your computer is not the only thing that might motivate you to go back! Third, and sadly, I doubt anything other than the case will be salvageable after that period of time. PCBs are not impervious to moisture, and will have absorbed quite a bit.

Best of luck.
 
Most likely the floppy drive would have survived. Those things can outlast anything. They are like cockroaches, they are rather unpleasant to have around, but they never die🙂
 
It wouldn't hurt to try. But you need to make sure you clean them well with clean water first, blow them dry and let them air dry more for about a day. And then try them one at a time. You'll never know. But be careful. As soon as you see smoke or sparks unplug the thing.
 
I would say anything with moving parts is probably shot, the PSU as well. You will probably be able to save the other parts if you clean them well and carefully. Water will work initially, but I would use alcohol to allow for quicker evaporation on the second clean down. Good luck!
 
i doubt anything will work. spilled a bit of water on my video card once. plugged it in, and it was dead.
 
It depends. If it was unplugged things may have survived. If it was every powered while wet almost a sure thing that things got shorted out. If it wasn't powered you might be able to recover some or all of the. There was a thread about washing computers rescently and one poster said they had a computer that had been under water for a week or more and they cleaned it out, dried it out and had been running it for 2 years since.
 
With all the crap that was in the water too I doubt anything with moving parts will ever work again. The CPU might be ok assuming it didn't get shorted out. Even the computer was unplugged capacitors still hold small charges and may have shorted things out when the water hit. If insurance is paying for it, I wouldn't attempt to salvage any of it.
 
Sorry to hear about the damage. I've lost property to fire, and I know the feeling.

With your computer, it is probably completely lost. 4 weeks in water has probably led to corrosion and the destruction of motors/servos and electrical parts. As well, the numerous pollutants in flood water could have had other impacts that I can't even begin to imagine.

If you haven't been back yet (your post indicated you haven't) it's hard to say what you'll find. If the computer (along with your other possessions) is coated in mud/film/etc.. it is probably lost.

I have friends who experienced flooding (not on the scale of New Orleans) in Perterborough, ON, and mud and sewage ruined most of their possessions. City Health inspectors told them to toss everything because of biological contamination. They were, understandably, heart-broken.

Good luck. I hope you make out better than my friends did.
 
Originally posted by: kpb
It depends. If it was unplugged things may have survived. If it was every powered while wet almost a sure thing that things got shorted out. If it wasn't powered you might be able to recover some or all of the. There was a thread about washing computers rescently and one poster said they had a computer that had been under water for a week or more and they cleaned it out, dried it out and had been running it for 2 years since.
Click to expand...

That was me, I worked in the fire/flood industry.

As long as the power was off, the cpu and RAM will be fine for sure. The mobo should be good too as well as video card and sound card (probably not the video HS fan though)

Rinse it all off, take the RAM, cards and CPU and such out. Get a can of electrical contact cleaner, spray all the slots and connectors with it last thing.

Let it dry for at least a week to 10 days.

I have an Asus mobo with Intel P3 1Ghz and SB Live 5.1 (plus a nice case) that was under water for about a week. That was 2 years ago and its running in my HT setup today.

HD opticals and PSU are no gos, even if the PSU works I wouldnt trust it.

I was constantly amazed at the percentage of water soaked electronics that still worked after being submerged. The power needed to be off at the time and it needed to be absolutely dry when tested. It was pretty high.

edit: dump the HS fan, even if it spins it will probably seize at some point.
 
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