Georgia Flooding -Larry

[jnealand]

Why not just rinse them off with rubbing alcohol.  Just guessing at this since I have no factual basis, but it would seem to me that it would clean them and sterilize them.  Since alcohol has been suggested as a way to clean flux residue from boards I'm guessing again that it would not have any harmful effect on them.  And it is also pretty cheap.

[mschell]

Vinegar is a mild acid, so it is corrosive.  However, in most cases if you dip  in or lightly spray it on the board, and then rinse, I would expect that it would not have any lasting effect on the components.

The real issue is to be sure the board and components get dried afterward.  I would suggest removing all the chips that are socketed, do the vinegar dip and rinse, and let dry for several days.  Then put chips back in, and power them up.

Rinsing in demineralized water, rather than tap, might be a good idea as well, since that reduces the chances of having deposits of salts get on the sockets and components.

Just a thought...

[Greg]

Well Bill,

I can tell you what I did to recover half a dozen DEC mini computers back in the stone age.  These computers were completely submerged for several days (why the heck do some businesses put multi-million dollar data centers in their building's basement anyway?) and of course some items could not be cleaned and reused like panel switches, muffin fans, etc. totally waterlogged transformers are iffy, etc.

Just focusing on the boards, I took all the boards (fully assembled with hundreds of chips in sockets) to a car wash (no joke) and blasted the heck out of them (soap and rinse) to get all the grime/mud off then into a makeshift dunk tank filled with distilled water and gave the boards a good swishing followed by compressed air until no more moisture could be seen. Finally the boards were sprayed front and back with Freon TF cleaner (anybody remember that stuff) and allowed to air dry for a couple of days while I reassembled the power supplies, refit fans, backplanes, etc.  Cutting to the final outcome all the boards worked reliably for several years when the machines were retired due to obsolescence.

What a mess.

Greg

[blearning]

Back from the swamp today ... we have our temp power permit and a gate on the property now ..

thanks for the replies ... I will try it and report back ...

Fema was there today and we will just have to wait and see what they say. 

SO we are going to take it easy for a few days as the drying takes place.  I for one could use the break ...

Thanks to everyone that chipped in and donated.

next is to reinsulate and panel. 

[blearning]

SHHH ..... larry is back online after several weeks away .... pretend we weren't talking about him ... *SMILE*

[Larry T. Cupp]

   Yes Back on line. it has been a trying couple of weeks. exhaustion, mentally and physically  I want you all to know that all that you have helped any any way you could whether it be with money, loan of equipment  your physical presents is deeply heart felt and appreciated. as bill said I am on some happy pills just so I can cope. I was a real mess by Wednesday after the flood  the anxiety levels were off the chart. the out pouring of help from all fronts, you guys, neighbors , strangers, church members  was overwelming..  I have been so blessed !!!  we are on the road to reconstruction now , FEMA came through with a good start to help recover  and friend  like you and the others I mentioned will help the rest of the way I am sure

Love you guys  my heart is bursting


Larry

[RJ]

Glad you are making headway. Wish I could be of more help Larry. Hope it all works out soon so you can take a deep breath.

RJ

[Larry T. Cupp]

Thanks RJ  for your support.  hope to get back in by christmas, my only wish is that I could get my new tree up as a symbol that we will return bigger and better.  Again a special heart felt sincere thanks

Larry