Flooded American Beauty

[skott nielsen]

I was part of the Northern Minnesota flooding and my Robust American Beauty was submerged just below the ways. The motor stayed dry but the VFD was under water. I am drying out now but wonder if anyone has experience and/or advice regarding flooded power tools. My bandsaw motor also went under. Do you think they will work. Power to the shop was cut prior to the flood.

[Dick Strauss]

Scott,
I'm sorry to hear about your flooding and possible losses. If you have compressed air (assuming you have power), try to get the motor and VFD very dry using compressed air at a low pressure before you try to power them up. If there was sediment being carried by the floodwaters, your chances of success are limited. You may consider buying some silica gel desiccant packs and bagging the items once you get the free water out to make sure they are really dry. The bottom line is make sure they are really dry before powering anything up.

[Steve Vaughan]

WOW! So sorry to hear that, but maybe all is not lost. Some years ago, 23 to be exact, a water pipe upstairs burst and flooded all of my handheld power tools down in the tiny basement. They were drenched or submerged. I pulled them all out, let as much water drain out as possible, shook as much water out as possible, then soaked - no, I mean SOAKED - them all in WD-40. I sprayed them in every position and left it to sit and dry out. I am still using some of them today!
Perhaps that would help, and maybe when you get some things restored, you could use an air compressor to help blow a lot of the visible moisture out, then go with the WD40. I'm thinking not all is going to be lost. Hope that helps! Best of luck!

[Michael Mills]

Truly a bummer. I have use a CRC product with good results, maybe this one but I am not sure now. This also came up at Ace Hardware….probably at lots of places.
http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05101-QD-Electronic-Cleaner/dp/B000CCMLD0/ref=pd_sbs_auto_5

If you have a Napa near you they should have a cleaner for automotive electronics and electrics (starter, etc).
Wish you luck.

[Jim Burr]

+1 on CRC. I used it on my Goldwing for years after getting caught in the rain. Shoot some CRC into the turn signal switch, starter button, CB controls...it works great! Best of luck and call Robust...see what they say.

[Greg Ketell]

Growing up in Hawaii we took our television in to be repaired. The first thing the old gentleman did was open the back case and hose it out with water. Moral: if the water is clean, just make sure it is dry and you should be fine. But, were the flood waters clean? Somehow I doubt it. But until you power it up, it isn't damaged, just dirty. Get it clean and dry and you should be fine.

[Bill Wyko]

I own a mobile electronics business, the problem we usually find is not getting it to come back to life but corrosion that occurs later. You'll want to be sure that any connections you can get to can be cleaned thoroughly. Best of luck with your situation, sorry to hear about your water damage.

[Noah Barfield]

Will your homeowner's / flood insurance cover these tools?

Noah

[Patrick Grady]

My house and shop and car were flooded by brackish bay water during Hurricane Isabel. I had to attend to structural house damage first (completely gutted kitchen down to ground and started over, all electrical wiring, furniture, fences, trees etc). Most everything in the shop was flooded (including mowers, machinery, motors, welders, and storage bins of materials). You must get the electrical controls, pc boards, and connectors apart immediately for cleaning and drying. Label everything and take pictures and make drawings. Take the motors and all wheels and bearings apart as soon as you can. You can even save gas motors with quick repeat oil flushes and carb disassemble etc. Soak the bearings in oil and clean. Obviously disassemble motor armatures and commutator components and wiring. Label carefully and remove all wiring connectors and clean (wire nut connectors have to be stripped back to clean wire and redone with new nuts). You can save many things if you work fast. You can save books and manuals by inserting drying sheets of paper between every page and spreading in the sun (I still have valuable manuals that were partially destroyed -the print pages glue themselves together- that I didn't reach in time). Yes the corrosion never stops, and stuff looks like rust and crap but you can still make it work. I'm sorry for your situation. It is a nightmare and the best way to not think about it is to just work like hell to save what you can.

[Patrick Grady]

Sorry to hog the thread, but I wanted to say one more thing regarding safety. Don't trust any switch or electrical outlet or wiring that was submerged - even in 'fresh' water. Don't trust any electrical component you cannot take apart and clean and inspect. They might work fine a week after the flood but you should discard and replace them because they are absolutely fire hazards later on because the corrosion can and will cause high amperage hot spots. Replace every single piece of house and shop electrical components. Get a contract electrical outfit to do the house stuff and have it inspected by the code people and get everything in writing and then get an on site inspection by your insurance company because if you don't - then you essentially have no insurance because they have an out and believe me, they will use it. Obviously it is not just insurance; you don't want to wake up at night worrying about your family. But rebuild that bandsaw motor- it will work (my old delta lathe motor was submerged for hours in salt water and it now works fine these years later. Good luck.

[James Combs]

Growing up in Hawaii we took our television in to be repaired. The first thing the old gentleman did was open the back case and hose it out with water. Moral: if the water is clean, just make sure it is dry and you should be fine. But, were the flood waters clean? Somehow I doubt it. But until you power it up, it isn't damaged, just dirty. Get it clean and dry and you should be fine.

Exactly what I would do in the flooded situation especially if the water was dirty or salty. I have even done this for restoring old equipment that was just dirty form long use. Working soon and fast is key to saving flooded equipment. The first thing I would do is disassemble the equipment and re-flood it with distilled water several times, then air hose it out, then as previously mentioned CRC or WD40 it. Everything would then be quickly dried either in the HOT sun or a low temp oven for several hours. I would replace all bearing lubricants with new or with new bearings, replace wire-nuts with new etc. I have even been known to run some things through the dishwasher if bearings were not involved or if I was planning on replacing the bearings anyway.

[skott nielsen]

Thanks for all the tips. Floodwater was reasonably clean with little silt and fresh water. I have pulled the motors and rinsed them and blown them out and will take them to a motor shop tomorrow. No flood insurance like most around here who went under. Got all the stuff out of the shop and will start opening the wall cavities tomorrow. My house is fine and we have fared better than many.

[Greg Just]

Skott;

Sorry to hear about your flood problems. I think there has been some good advice in this thread and hopefully all will work out OK. I was camping this past week with a Boy Scout Troop about 60 miles west of Duluth and we experienced about 9 inches of rain. It was a tough week but the Scouts persevered and we made out OK. Hope everything works out OK.

[charlie knighton]

Skott, sorry for your experiences, hope you see blue skies ahead

[Marc Himes]

I have family in Duluth who are, thankfully, safe. I hope your equipment turns out OK.