Hi is computer trash strange

fire_mat99fire_mat99
edited July 2004 in Hardware
Hi all my buddy is basement of is house got flooded and computer was in water they had to call fire department to pump the water out of his home is his computer okay to be turn on could it start a fire or is computer trash now ??


I know guy that is 911 fire dispatcher he was saying two calls they had of smoke in building the fire department arrive and found no fire but computer smoking what causes this and why??

was it fan was smoking or want

Comments

  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    IF, and I do mean IF.... EVERYTHING is COMPLELTELY dry, then MAYBE it will work.

    Take EVERY piece out of it, take apart EVERYTHING that you can (not hard drive), dry them all off, put big fans/ blowers on the parts, and WAIT, as in wait several days.

    I have seen a very complex piece of computerized equipment get absolutly soaked with water, after all our efforts to dry it out (as mentioned above) the system powered up just fine. Hope it works for your friend. ;)
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited July 2004
    If the computer was off when it got flooded if it's perfectly dry (as per above post) it should be fine. If it was on when it got flooded you are most likely screwed. In addition you should put some rubbing alcohol on anything that looks dirty as it's a great cleaner and evaporates quickly.

    If the water had a lot of dirt in it you could also be screwed as the dirt will settle in things and remain after the water is dried. Most likely any optical drives are screwed for sure as they'll probably have a film over the lens. Your harddrive is quite possibly pooched especially if dirty water got in it. You'll have grit on the platters and it'll probably trash itself if it works at all.

    Any solid state stuff i.e. mobo, cpu, ram, cards etc... should probably be fine as they are sealed and if there was no power going to it they should short out.
  • fire_mat99fire_mat99
    edited July 2004
    why is it that if power is going to it that it will not work??
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited July 2004
    Electricity and water don't mix, they create shorts, shorts fry electrical components. Kinda like throwing a plugged in toaster into a bathtub of water.
  • fire_mat99fire_mat99
    edited July 2004
    ya but toaster that not plugged in nothing will happen oly if its plugged in ..What about new computers that even when power is off the power gose to mob and network card ..
  • MackanzMackanz
    edited July 2004
    It can take days for a PSU to really get empty on electricity.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited July 2004
    fire_mat99 wrote:
    ya but toaster that not plugged in nothing will happen oly if its plugged in ..What about new computers that even when power is off the power gose to mob and network card ..


    If ti's drawing power it'll short. If you have a single led with a light on it it'll short. Bottom line is it probably shorted.
  • fire_mat99fire_mat99
    edited July 2004
    Also What about new computers that even when power is off the power gose to mob and network card ..
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited July 2004
    If the power is still being drawn by the motherboard then it will short out. So in most cases new computers will have some power in them as long as they are plugged into the wall. So the computer is probably screwed.
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