So how's this for a repair job.

[voogru]

I somehow managed to walk myself into this one, this computer was about to be thrown away because the family that owned it just spent a fortune getting the house tented to get rid of a roach infestation problem, they told me they paid $8000 for it brand new December 2005. They just finished remodeling the entire house, and it's no longer a roach infested house and they wanted me to take extra special care to make sure there are no eggs or roaches in the computer.

The computer also did not turn on.

So, I must disassemble the whole thing, and I took pictures while I did it, because this is the nastiest repair job I ever had to do.

We planted this thing in a box just barely big enough to fit the case and placed a bug bomb that was designed to do an entire room. The box was sealed shut and we let it sit overnight.

Upon disassembling it, there were still roaches alive inside the case and various parts. I found 2 inside the floppy drive (alive), 4 live ones inside one of the DVD drives and when I shook it, it sounded like there was sand inside it. They have decided to change out the DVD drives (there?s 2 of them), and the floppy drive as they want absolutely no risk of any eggs. I disassembled the drives completely anyway and I did find tons of crap, but since they want new drives, they get them.

I also disassembled the water cooling system to see what surprises laid in store for me there, and my hunch was right as I separated the cage that holds the radiator in the top of the case when it was crammed with roaches and crap.

Enough talk, here are the pictures, they are NOT 56k friendly they are right off the camera so you see things in full detail. You almost feel bad for the little roaches as you see their expressions on their faces.

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010080.JPG (SLI cards, notice bottom of the case)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010081.JPG (Side cover, motherboard side of the case)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010082.JPG (Side cover again)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010088.JPG (Power supply area)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010089.JPG (Optical drives)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010095.JPG (IDE cables)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010096.JPG (Top of one of the CD/DVDRW drives)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010097.JPG (Top of the hard disk drives)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010098.JPG (Second DVDRW drive prior to removal)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010099.JPG (Inside the top DVDRW drive, the roach you see to the bottom right was actually stuck on the board.

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010100.JPG (Inside part of the cover for the DVDRW drive.

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010102.JPG (another inside picture)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010105.JPG (inside with the first board removed)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010106.JPG (IDE connector from the inside!)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010109.JPG (It's almost like trying to find easter eggs!)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010110.JPG (Heres one of the live ones, squish squish)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010111.JPG (Top of the case by the water pump)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010112.JPG (Top of the case by the front)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010114.JPG (I wonder what's inside the tempature moniter...)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010115.JPG (More eggs of course!)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010116.JPG (Apart it comes!)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010117.JPG (Inside the area where the radiator sits towards the back of the case)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010118.JPG (Back of the radiator area where the connectors sit)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010119.JPG (Another angle of above)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010121.JPG (Picture of the cage)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010122.JPG (Picture of all of the connectors for the water pump & fans/tempature sensor)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010123.JPG (This cockroach was alive, but not for long)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010124.JPG (Part of the radiator setup)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010125.JPG (Picture of the fins kinda)

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010126.JPG (In the process of putting stuff back together, still needs more cleaning but theres no live cockroaches, meaning I can actually take it in the house now!!! )

The following has to be replaced:

1. Power supply (replacing it with 700W OCZ)
2. 2x DVD-RW drives, it came with two, even though they really only need one, two are going back in.
3. Floppy drive (they don?t ever use it but woohoo $6)

Total parts cost: ~$240
Labor: I lost count, but way over 4 hours.

I?m curious, if anyone does PC repair, what would you charge for this type of job?

 

[myocardia]

Um, your usual hourly rate, multiplied by the amount of hours that it took.

edit: And you'll want to subtract the time that it took you to take all of those pictures, host them, and write your AT review.

 

[yh125d]

ewww.....

 

[taltamir]

I would recommend that they expunge it with FIRE...

 

[stogez]

"One buggy computer" LOL
Charges are simple. $240 + (4 or whatever hours x your hourly rate)
You can let them know exactly what it looked like (show them pictures) and how you had to carefully take everything apart and clean it off. If they want to pay you extra, thats up to them.

 

[Newfie]

Im sure that job was a total joy.

 

[Jiggz]

I wonder if you did the cleaning distance away from your house? For if you did it nearby, standby, roaches are coming your way. Me personally, I will spray that darn thing piece by piece with water based bug spray. Let it sit under the sun for a day to dry before taking it into the house.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Um, your usual hourly rate, multiplied by the amount of hours that it took.

edit: And you'll want to subtract the time that it took you to take all of those pictures, host them, and write your AT review.

That's basically it. Most real repair shops charge $35-80/hour for in-shop labor (if you bring it to them) and $50-120/hour for on-site labor (they come to you). Prices vary depending on local competition and quality of work (though that varies too).

 

[atchon]

Sounds almost as bad as one of the tech stories I heard when I worked for a large retail company. One of the techs opened a case and there were a bunch of live roaches inside that the owner had not forewarned anyone of, and a couple ran up his arm and one supposedly bit him on the back of the head. Least you came out bite free.

 

[Frintin]

<boggle>

How do people that can afford to spend what you say they did on that computer live like that? There house must have been a pigsty.

My skin is crawling at this moment!

 

[bugsysiegel]

Originally posted by: stogez
"One buggy computer" LOL

lol.

That's gotta be the grossest thing I've ever seen!

 

[imported_Nacelle]

I don't think I would have cleaned that. I think I would find a way to make it look like lightning struck and took out the computer. Then called the insurance company. Not that I've ever done that. I've heard stories though.

 

[Philippine Mango]

If I had to deal with a computer like that, I would have first drained all of the power from the compuer, remove the power supply and then proceed to submerge the computer into a vat of distilled water.... that is absolutely disgusting...

To be honest, I don't think I'd have touched that system now that I think about it...

 

[Roguestar]

Oh my. Why did I read this at lunchtime??

 

[arcas]

I hope you didn't accidentally carry some roach eggs back to your house after working on this...

 

[yh125d]

I'd charge an additional 25% due to the extreme nastiness and risk of your own infestation that somes with this repair job.

 

[voogru]

It works!

http://www.voogru.com/images/roachmotel/P1010141.jpg

Replaced:

Power Supply
Motherboard
Floppy Disk Drive

Yet to be installed:

2x DVD burners, waiting for them from Fedex.

 

[imported_Imp]

Holy mother eff. Had to close the browser when the first roaches loaded up. I'd charge a huge premium having to even touch those suckers... then burn it and buy a new one.