Water Pipe Broke - Table Saw & Router Soaked

[Kelvin McConnell]

I had a pipe freeze/break this past weekend and flood my garage and basement. The reason this applies to this forum is that a lot of water wound up on my table saw and in my router (was mounted in a table). Two questions:

1. I wiped down the table saw top and put several coats of WD40 on it. This seems to have stopped/slowed the rust. What’s my next step?
2. A very large leak was almost directly over my router motor. A lot of water flowed in/around the router. I removed the motor from the table and shook out all that I could and then placed it in front of a fan. What’s my next step?

I have not tried to turn either the table saw back on or the router. Should I? There is a good chance that I’ll have to file a claim with my insurance (lots of sheetrock and insulation damage). Should I put down some sort of lost with these tools?

[Dan Keeling]

Perhaps denatured alcohol could be used to displace any water from the internal components?

[Ray Phillips]

I made a stupid mistake and set a freshly cut piece of walnut on my table saw on a rubber backed rug. I went on vacation and came back a week later and I had a large rust spot on the table saw. I used WD-40 with a ROS and scotch brite pad and was able to get all the rust off. I then put three coats of Johnson paste wax on and I have had no more rust. You stated that you dried your router in front of a fan. If you think the router has completly dried then see if it will run. If it doesn't then report it as part of your insurance loss. Your homeowners insurance may not cover your tools if you are in business and sell your crafts. If your tools are strictly for hobby use then they may be covered. Good luck.

[scott spencer]

I get a fan on any motors that got wet to dry them out.

[Jason White]

Grab a compressor with a nozzle and blow the crap out of everything and spray WD-40 everywhere -- inside the saw and out! If water got into the tablesaw motor, it might be a lost cause, but blow it out with air and let it air dry for a few days before you try plugging it in and starting it. Also run a dehumidifier in the area for a few days.

The router on the other hand.........

JW

I had a pipe freeze/break this past weekend and flood my garage and basement. The reason this applies to this forum is that a lot of water wound up on my table saw and in my router (was mounted in a table). Two questions:

1. I wiped down the table saw top and put several coats of WD40 on it. This seems to have stopped/slowed the rust. What’s my next step?
2. A very large leak was almost directly over my router motor. A lot of water flowed in/around the router. I removed the motor from the table and shook out all that I could and then placed it in front of a fan. What’s my next step?

I have not tried to turn either the table saw back on or the router. Should I? There is a good chance that I’ll have to file a claim with my insurance (lots of sheetrock and insulation damage). Should I put down some sort of lost with these tools?

[Bill Petersen]

If this is something you are insured for it might be time to think about replacing them. Not that you couldn't salvage the TS & router, but if you are going to turn in an insurance claim for other damage from the flooding it might be worth a shot to see if your adjuster would also replace the damaged tools.
Whatever you do, good luck in getting up and running again soon.

Bill

[JayStPeter]

I agree with others that WD40 is a good place to start for some stuff. It will displace the water and prevent further rust from starting.

I had a slight flood in my basement shop a few weeks ago that ruined the top on my Festool MFT. I was lucky that was all the damage as the water flowed for at least a couple days. Fortunately at a slow rate.

I guess you can chalk potential water damage up as another disadvantage for basement shop .

Jay

[Bill White]

Then you can work on a rehab if you wish.
I sure wouldn't fire up either one before several days under a fan. Don't like elec. surprises at all.
Bill

[Joe Chritz]

Chances are extremely high that once they dry out they will be fine. If you are doing a settlement anyway it would be worthwhile to toss them on there and get a couple new motors out of the deal.

Once the tables are dry just treat them like you would any other time. For me that is just paste wax.

Joe

[Bryan Parlor]

Don't use any solvent on the electronics.

Don't switch it on until its completely dry.

Dry the motor and any switches with heat and a fan. Just getting the outside dry is not good enough, its the inside that counts. Let it bake for a few days if you can.

Bryan

[jim sauterer]

i had a pc690 submerged in water.ran a fan on it for a week and fired it up that was 18 months ago and still runs.run the fan.good luck

[dan lemkin]

After you get up and running.. Consider installing a water cop. Not an alarm, but an automatic valve... Has wireless sensors which trip a ball-valve at the water main... Requires no intervention, can be wired into alarm system. They advertise that insurance companies give discounts for it. USAA does not.

Actually works. My cats knocked over water bowl, ran under washer and tripped mine... Scared me, until I found the source.

http://www.watercop.com/

Easy to sweat in. Placed right after water main valve inside house.

If the damage is not that severe or costly... may want to consider not filing a claim. There was just an article in Family Handyman which noted that this was a #1 cause for jacked insurance rates - due to anticipated costs associated with mold, future leaks from bad plumbing.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I have had several tools get soaked coming back from the jobsite. Several times the rain beat me home and everything got soaked. All you have to do is let it all dry out via fan. All will work fine as long as you don't turn them back on when wet.

Sorry about your mess though...that had to be a heart sinker!

[Bruce Wrenn]

I'm going to go against most of the advice here. Kill power at the breaker box. Plug in and turn on device. Turn breaker back on. Most likely motors will start up and run OK. Run long enough to get them warm. This will displace water faster than a fan. Electricity always seeks the path of least resistance. Water by itself is a non conductor. The minerals in it allow for conduction of electricity. The windings in your motor will have less resistance than any of the water in the motors. Once I bought a PC-690 that had been used to cut dry wall. Motor was full of dust. I took the water hose and blasted out what dust I couldn't get with air hose. Plugged it in and ran it till dry. Still use this router almost daily.

[Jules Dominguez]

I had water drip onto a router tabletop from an overhead drain pipe during a period when I wasn't in the shop for several days. The tabletop surface was waterproof but the inside edge of the cutout was unprotected MDF, and it swelled to the point that the top was bulged around part of the opening. It didn't bulge much, but it was enough to ruin the top. You might want to check for that.