<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Oh man, so sorry to hear of this, Steve, glad you and your kin are unscathed.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Similar thing happened a month ago at a brother's inlaw's house in Westvale -- Khalid, the the house is just around the corner from your place!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">If you make a claim, the insc people will just toss that equipment to a recycler.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">One possibility is to ask the claims adjuster to let *you* dispose of the equipment.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">I would not tell them of this plan however because I would think any insurance underwriter would frown on using electrical equipment that was subject to water/smoke damage and may deny a future insc claim in case the future claim is a fire.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">But you try your best to get the bits working again.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Tough one.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Personally, I would go this route assuming the insc people/claims adjuster lets you dispose of the equipment.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">This is a fan fav for water/liquid dispersal:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><a href="https://www.long-mcquade.com/6205/Pro_Audio_Recording/Accessories/Hosa/DeoxIT_-_Contact_Cleaner_Rejuvenator.htm">https://www.long-mcquade.com/6205/Pro_Audio_Recording/Accessories/Hosa/DeoxIT_-_Contact_Cleaner_Rejuvenator.htm</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">A bit spendy, but a very effective and low(no)-residue spray.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">It can be had from Amazon too for the same price, but Long-McQuade is local and I like those folks.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">There is likely a lower-cost equivalent from folks like CT or Home Hardware, but I have never looked.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">All the best Steve and reach out please in case of need.<br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><br>Ron S.<br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Dec 13, 2023 at 12:20 PM Steve Izma <<a href="mailto:sizma@golden.net">sizma@golden.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Hi folks,<br>
<br>
We had a serious fire in our house on 2 December. We lost one of<br>
our two cats but the rest of us are fine and living in a house<br>
across the street from our home. It looks like the insurance<br>
process is working fine in respect to most things.<br>
<br>
A lot of my computer equipment, including several laptops, a<br>
couple of desktops and two printers were in my office directly<br>
above the garage, where the fire started and was most intense. It<br>
turned out that the dry-walled ceiling of the garage prevented<br>
the upper room from catching fire, but there is considerable<br>
water and smoke damage.<br>
<br>
I grabbed two of my laptops before leaving the house, although<br>
without the power supplies, and I got my main desktop out the day<br>
after the fire. I cleaned the outside and used compressed air on<br>
all the exposed internal electronics. It didn't boot until I<br>
removed the NVME card, sort-of cleaned it, and re-seated it.<br>
I thoroughly cleaned the keyboard (an Ultimate Hackers split<br>
keyboard, which is easy to disassemble and clean). Just the same,<br>
it took me four or five days to piece together a reliable setup<br>
and Internet connection.<br>
<br>
Monitors in particular seem to be a problem. My newest one got<br>
thrown to the floor when the firefighters needed to tear open the<br>
ceiling looking for a hidden fire in the house's roof, and there<br>
is considerable water damage to anything that was on the floor<br>
(my main machine, under a desk, seemed unaffected by that). Over<br>
the first two or three days after the fire, I couldn't get any of<br>
the monitors to work, and the best one would turn on then rapidly<br>
cycle through all the settings of the monitor's menu, as if the<br>
touch-buttons (which I dislike anyway) were being continually<br>
pressed. I figured that smoke and soot had seeped in and shorted<br>
out the "switches". A week after that, desperately needing<br>
another monitor for family members, I tried it again and it<br>
started working as if completely unaffected by the fire. I've<br>
never tried to open up a modern monitor, and it appears to me<br>
that any cleaning would require prying the front and back pieces<br>
apart. Is that a worthwhile thing to try?<br>
<br>
Also, some power bricks seem not to be working, and I'm having<br>
difficulty determining whether cables are okay, especially USB<br>
and HDMI.<br>
<br>
Has anyone had experience with equipment damaged in this way? I<br>
could leave everything up to the insurance and restoration<br>
people, but I think they will tend to discard older equipment<br>
rather than fix those things up.<br>
<br>
I'm particularly worried about several printers I have, e.g.,<br>
Xerox Phaser solid-ink printers, still the best thing around for<br>
printing in quantity, but they've been off the market for years<br>
and are likely irreplaceable. They are largely mechanical (and<br>
thus easily cleaned and re-adjusted), but have some circuit<br>
boards that may need treating. Would an anti-oxidizing spray be<br>
worthwhile here? I haven't been able to find this at Canada<br>
Computers or hardware stores, but I suspect I can get it from<br>
Orion Electronics.<br>
<br>
Any advice here would be appreciated. And don't worry about our<br>
living situation, we rescued almost 200 jars of preserves that I<br>
had been working on since August, and quite a bit of other food;<br>
our neighbours filled the fridge with donations, and the house<br>
we've got is fully furnished. We realize that we're extremely<br>
lucky, especially as we follow the news about Gaza.<br>
<br>
Thanks.<br>
-- Steve<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Steve Izma<br>
-<br>
Home: 35 Locust St., Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 1W6<br>
E-mail: <a href="mailto:sizma@golden.net" target="_blank">sizma@golden.net</a> cellphone: 519-998-2684<br>
<br>
==<br>
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best – and<br>
therefore never scrutinize or question.<br>
-- Stephen Jay Gould, *Full House: The Spread of Excellence<br>
from Plato to Darwin*, 1996<br>
<br>
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