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Computer Damage due to flood

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6 replies

by rawfish

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Hi there,

I have a client who has had a water pipe burst on the second floor of their building. This has caused major damage to the computers including server equipment. [50 computers in total need to be checked for damaged].

I was wondering if any one here has had to deal with this situation before as I have not, and I am look king for advice and maybe a check list of sorts to document the damage thoroughly for the client and insurance company? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The data is all good to go as we have been backing up off site for some time now and has been restored and is functioning at a temp site.[wheeeww]

Thanks in advance ! :?]

6 replies

by oh smeg

The first was it clean or dirty water?

The second where the computers running at the time of the water ingress?

Basically if they where subject to dirty water like Storm Water or worse they all should be replaced. If they where running at the time they all should be replaced.

If the water was clean and they didn't have Power Applied they may be OK but it depends on how long ago this happened. You can not leave them sitting wet for any length of time. You have to strip the Boards and all the boards out of the computers cook them in an oven at about 80 or 90 C for 24 hours to dry out the components and that is the Spaces between the Layers of the M'Boards and so on not the actual components that you have to look at and then hope that the water doesn't have too many Salts as other contaminates in it as corrosion will start and very quickly render the Boards useless.

Depending on how severe the damage is and the type of cover offered by the insurance company it may be cheaper for them to just replace all the systems if they will be responsible for any losses due to failures latter things can get very expensive for them. Of course the initial Down Time isn't their problem but any latter may be and that renders the expense of a bit of hardware now small compared to the bigger picture.

When you have the cases bare test the Power Supplies on a load and make sure that they run correctly. Of course if the blow the moment that you plug em in it is OK but it's more than a bit off putting having something explode literally in your hand. ;)

Desktops can be reused if there is not any damage and the Circuit Boards where dried quickly once they where removed from the water. If they get left for days the damage is done and they will fail very quickly if they even work at all. HDD and Optical Drives tend to be junk after submersion in water so don't even bother attempting reusing them.

Servers should always be replaced as they run all the time and are the backbone of the business. If a Desktop fails it's a nuisance but no big deal but if a server fails it tends to affect the entire company so the cost is much greater so it's not even worth the problems of testing or otherwise drying the equipment. As they where probably on and running at the time they are most likely dead already.

CAT5 Cable can also fill up with water and needs to be replaced as well as Switches and so on so you need to look at more than just the computers. When it comes to the CAT5 Cable don't forget the stuff inside the walls as that to needs to be checked. If water comes out of it into the back of a socket latter it can do more damage that is very hard to track down and fix. Of course the more time that needs to be spent finding the problem that has taken out the Network the more money is lost by the business and the costs get greater.

OH don't forget things like Printers, Scanners and so on just replace the lot as it's not worth the time & effort required to try to dry them out it will be cheaper to just replace them now.

If you need any more information just post back.

Col

by rawfish

Thank you for the great response!

Clean water and yes the computers were running at the time.

The insuarnce co. wants the pc's tested and to tell them whats wrong with them and if the should replace components or the entire machines???? [ug, I dont have a crystal ball so , even if they "seem " fine, how can we know if the water that got in there is or is not going to cause some problem in the futer]

The servers are up and running, one of the staff hooked them up and they work [ dunno for how long as they were wet]..

Thanks a bunch and I look forward to your response.

by oh smeg

Or Water Penetration into the Building? Flood means being submerged and Water Penetration means that something like a Water Pipe, Storm Water Drain has been blocked and overflowed into the building and spread a bit of water around the place.

If it is Flood then you [b]Do Not[/b] remove the hardware from the water till you are ready to work on it if there has just been a water pipe burst or overflow things are very different you may get away with just general clean out and look but if they have been submerged it's a different story completely.

If they have been underwater then just suggest replacing everything as it is going to fail very quickly. Here in 1974 we had a small flood which covered a lot of hardware with 30 or 40 feet of water at street lever and more if the hardware was below ground. We reused some of the hardware but none of it lasted more than 3 months but it gave us some breathing space to get replacement Hardware in for all the stuff that had been underwater. The best thing to clean out a computer with a Water in a case like this you hose it out then strip it down and cook the Circuit Boards for at least 24 hours. I still remember standing in a Mainframe room with a Fire Hose cleaning Millions of $ of hardware out so it could be reused till it could be replaced. Not something I even want to do again but it was an interesting feeling to watch it happen.

If it has just been wet on the outside of the cases things like Monitors should be replaced and Printers. Switches and that type of external stuff as it's just not economical to spend too much time on messing around with it unless what they call a printer is a Photocopier that is Network Capable then you should get the Agents for that make of copier in to have a look see as a $40,000.00 Copier is generally speaking worth while repairing if things are not too bad.

The computers themselves open the cases and look on the bottom of them if you see dried mud replace those and the others can be reused if there are no signs of rust in the cases. Look at Air Vents like Fan Grills for early rust signs and don't forget the ones in the front of the cases behind the Front Plastic Panel. Before applying Power disconnect the Power Supply and plug in a ATX PS Tester something like one of these

http://tinyurl.com/38hume

While not Perfect they do give you a starting point to work from. If the PS Tests OK and there is no sign of rust in the case then refit the PS and test the computer. If it doesn't start don't bother any more as it is just time that you will be wasting fit that one up for replacement and move on to the next one and so on till you have looked at them all.

If they work throw some Diagnostic Testing Utility at them like the Ultimate Boot CD and Torture Test the Hardware. If it passes the unit is probably OK to use and if it fails that one needs replacing. Not a perfect test as it's time consuming but all things like this are so you need to work out what is an acceptable amount of time to spend on each computer to see if it's economical to consider reusing. You really need to look at the thing and work accordingly as there are no hard & fast rules here you have to look at every one individually and make a [b]Best Guess[/b] at the time.

With the servers spend a lot of time looking at these and if at all concerned err on the side of caution and replace them. After all you don't want to be involved in a Long Protracted Legal Action for the Company going Broke and suing you and the Insurance Company for the Loss Suffered.

If you haven't got a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD it is available here

http://tinyurl.com/3jnpy

Any computers that you need to test should be lined up and run with one of these Disc's in the Optical Drive for a few days doing one of the Stress Tests that are endless and if they fall over replace the unit. If they run fine for a few days open up the cases completely including removing the Front Panel and have a good look at the condition of the case.

Sorry but that is about all I can suggest off the top of my head. If you have been through it previously you know exactly what to look for but it is very hard to describe to someone who hasn't even seen this previously. But your Eyes are your Best Tool here so use them and use them a lot. Any sign of Dullness on the M'Boards should mean replacing the computer the same as any signs of Blueing, White/Creamy Marks or corrosion don't even bother going any further it's just a waste of time as the unit needs replacing.

If there has been a couple of feet of water through the building don't forget the Networking Cabling either as this along with the electrical Sockets & Wiring also need replacing.

I hope that you are getting well paid by the Insurance Company here as they should be paying for th Quote for Repairs.

Cheers

Col

by rawfish

You have been very VERY helpful!

I truly appreciate all the suggestions you have given and I have at this point finished up the task.

Now I will submit a report informing IC of my findings and recommendations.

Once again, THANK YOU!! I used the information here to guide me thru this project!

;?]

by oh smeg

Glad I could be of some assistance here.

Col

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