shop flood

[harry boyer]

I've seen much in the news about the extreme flooding in TN. It's really a shame. I imagine that quite a few woodworkers there have been flooded. When I went into my shop in the basement this morning, I was greeted by a ft. of water on the concrete floor and quite a bit of floating lumber.

There was a leak in one of the water pipes, possibly the line from the well. Plus the floor drain was clogged. I just got the water pumped out and haven't checked for the problem. I just turned off the well pump. I'm dragging this out a bit. My question does anyone have experience with water logged electric tools? I had 2 circular saws, 3 sanders, Porter Cable compressor and possibly my Grizz 17" bandsaw covered in water. Not to mention several tool boxes with hand tools.

I'm living with my 90 yr old Mom helping out. She has home owners. Haven't had time yet to try anything but how long should I wait to try the elec. tools? If they dry out and run, is that good enough or are they still damaged by the water.

Just looking for a bit of imput.

Thanks,

Harry

[harry boyer]

I forgot to mention that I wasn't in TN but Western Pa. near Punxsutawney. Thanks again!

[Rick Fisher]

Hello Harry..

The first thing I would do is get on the rust prevention.. Especially on the bandsaw..

The other machines need to dry out.. Perhaps take them to a repair place and see if they can put a meter on them.. I dunno..

On the bandsaw, dry it off and wax it, or spray it with T-9 .. keep it from rusting up ..

Sorry about your plight.. That is terrible.

[Ray McCullie]

WD-40, that's what its made for.

Something to remember about water, you could take your computer and dump it in a dunk tank and it'll still work fine. So long as it isn't on and you let it dry out COMPLETELY before you plug it back in. Open stuff up and dry it out, it should be fine as long as it dries and doesn't get rusted.

Also, sorry to hear about your water pipes, hope it doesn't keep you out of action for too long and that it isn't hard to fix.

[Robert gree]

WD-40, that's what its made for.

Something to remember about water, you could take your computer and dump it in a dunk tank and it'll still work fine. So long as it isn't on and you let it dry out COMPLETELY before you plug it back in. Open stuff up and dry it out, it should be fine as long as it dries and doesn't get rusted.

Also, sorry to hear about your water pipes, hope it doesn't keep you out of action for too long and that it isn't hard to fix.

Not entirely true it depends on the mineral content of the water, does not take very much minerals at all to permanently fubar electronics. All the boards that have been subjected to water need to be cleaned with denatured alcohol

[Josh Bowman]

Fans.....lots of fans to stop the mildew in the main of the shop. It also won't hurt the tools. If it's nice outside, put the small stuff outside. You'll be OK. Homeowers may cover it. This would not be under flood insurance. It covers water coming in. You're water was from inside trying to get out. My radial arm saw was involved in something simular, where a pipe broke in the floor above and it rained on it for several hours. Distroyed the top. Hardwood floors on the main floor were on edge! The contractor that came with the insurance guy (who just wrote me a check for new floors), pulled me over and said get lots of fans, open the windows and wait. Came back in 2 weeks and the floors were flat and clean. The radial arm saw still works today (20 years)

[Joe Chritz]

As mentioned most of the electrical motors will be fine once they dry out. If there is lots of crud in the water it could be an issue as will rust.

It is a big project but break it down into chunks and you can manage.

Good luck.

Even the wood will dry back to usable condition unless it soaks for a long time.

Joe

[Nathan Palenski]

WD-40, that's what its made for.

Something to remember about water, you could take your computer and dump it in a dunk tank and it'll still work fine. So long as it isn't on and you let it dry out COMPLETELY before you plug it back in. Open stuff up and dry it out, it should be fine as long as it dries and doesn't get rusted.

Also, sorry to hear about your water pipes, hope it doesn't keep you out of action for too long and that it isn't hard to fix.

Edit: checked wikipedia.

Also floppy drives are ruined by water and I'd be hard pressed to say a harddrive that had water go in the vent would still work considering simple cigarette smoke will damage them.

[harry boyer]

Thanks guys. Nice and sunny hear today so I'll set the tools outside to dry. Made me sick to see all the mess. I had a bunch of walnut and mahogany standing upright plus the tapered legs of 3 mahogany desks and chairs standing in a ft of water. Made me think of the guys in TN. Hope not too many soggy projects. I'll have to do a better ob of keeping the floor drain clear.

Waiting to hear back from home owners ins. agent.

[Rob Steffeck]

Also floppy drives are ruined by water

Water does lots of damage to punch cards as well.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Punch cards? LOL

I remember those back in college. That was a LONG time ago.... LOL

Yes water does a LOT of damage to them. A friend of mine dropped his box of cards in a water puddle...... Ah memories. As I get older I have less and less of them.....

[Brent Ring]

You might consider giving the equipment that was soaked a DNA bath. Alcohol will help evaporate the water. That is an old satndby for motherboards and other electronics. But making sure they dry completely is paramount.

[Keith Blaszak]

Like meantioned before aslong as the power isn't on while its sitting in water you can probably save most of those tools. Cleaning with denatured alcohol was a great idea also (provided you can't take everything completely apart to make sure it's 100% dry you can drop them in rice so it absorbs any excess moisture.

FYI: This also works great for anyone that's ever dropped a cell phone in a bucket of water.

[Brian Tymchak]

Water does lots of damage to punch cards as well.

Exactly what I was thinking... Man, are we gettin' old or what....:D

[Nathan Palenski]

Water does lots of damage to punch cards as well.

Ha. If you're still using punch cards the water probably did you a favor.

[Rob Steffeck]

Ha. If you're still using punch cards the water probably did you a favor.

I'm not, but I also haven't used a floppy disc in the past 8 years either. :D

[Mark Woodmark]

So sorry to hear about your water problems. Since it is not an act of nature, shouldnt your homeowners insurance cover it?

[Wayne Jolly]

you could take your computer and dump it in a dunk tank and it'll still work fine. So long as it isn't on and you let it dry out COMPLETELY before you plug it back in. Open stuff up and dry it out, it should be fine as long as it dries and doesn't get rusted.I have actually done this. A while back I had a computer that had password protected bios. Naturally I forgot the password and there was no reset function on the motherboard. I took the motherboard out of the case and threw it into my swimming pool. Took it out the next day and let it set in the sun for a few hours until I was sure it was completely dry (it was over 105 deg that day). Put it back in the case and re-assembled the computer. Used it just fine for a couple more years.

For your problem, One would hope that your circuit breakers or fuzes have protected you. You have some work ahead of you but I would think that if you get all the water out of the equipment, and take care of any potential rust issues, you should be ok. First thing to do is make sure that all power is off at the panel. Then, as has been said, make sure ALL of the water is removed and that you are CERTAIN it is all dry. You may have to dis-assemble some components like switches and so forth to make sure the insides are dry. Make sure any bearings that need oil and/or grease have been cleaned and re-lubed. Pull your wall sockets out and make sure they are dry too.

After you are sure that all is properly dried, re-lubed, de-rusted, etc., then enable the power and see what starts smoking. :-)

Wayne