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ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE

Hi,
I had a kitchen fire on 10/20/2005 with " medium" smoke and soot
damage. It burned my cabinets, but not all the way through, but there
were also plastic bowls that melted.
My question is... How does the smoke and soot affect my electronics
such as Fridge, dishwasher, TV, Computer, cameras, DVD player, stereo,
speakers, phones, etc.?
I asked my Insurance Adjuster about them and he said they could be
cleaned. That's fine, but it's now been over 3 months since fire. Now
I'm wondering if sending them to be cleaned will correct any damage
that may have started. I just need to know the best way I should
handle this. Last week my DVD player just quit and it was only 1 yr
old. I do pay for the " replacement value" on my homeowners insurance.

Also, how does the smoke and soot affect my ceiling fans/lights? The
cleaning company wasn't able to clean the inside of them. Should these
be replaced?
What about electrical outlets, etc.??
I appreciate all your help!!

Thank you!
ClassieM
 
J

jakdedert

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,
I had a kitchen fire on 10/20/2005 with " medium" smoke and soot
damage. It burned my cabinets, but not all the way through, but there
were also plastic bowls that melted.
My question is... How does the smoke and soot affect my electronics
such as Fridge, dishwasher, TV, Computer, cameras, DVD player, stereo,
speakers, phones, etc.?
I asked my Insurance Adjuster about them and he said they could be
cleaned. That's fine, but it's now been over 3 months since fire. Now
I'm wondering if sending them to be cleaned will correct any damage
that may have started. I just need to know the best way I should
handle this. Last week my DVD player just quit and it was only 1 yr
old. I do pay for the " replacement value" on my homeowners insurance.

Also, how does the smoke and soot affect my ceiling fans/lights? The
cleaning company wasn't able to clean the inside of them. Should these
be replaced?
What about electrical outlets, etc.??
I appreciate all your help!!

Thank you!
ClassieM
I had a shop fire. All the electronics, except one computer power
supply, survived even the dousing that some of them got (I poured water
out of a couple units).

Mechanical things (VCRs, printers, tape decks and anything with a fan)
took a beating. Some things worked initially and died later, some died
before the fireman left, and others survived with a superficial cleaning.

Anything bad that might have happend to your stuff, is not going to get
any better. If it still works and was exposed to that environment--and
you are concerned--get it cleaned, expecially if someone else is paying
for it.

jak
 
A

Asimov

Jan 1, 1970
0
"[email protected]" bravely wrote to "All" (05 Feb 06 15:57:47)
--- on the heady topic of "ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE"

mc> From: [email protected]
mc> Xref: core-easynews sci.electronics.repair:357611

mc> Hi,
mc> I had a kitchen fire on 10/20/2005 with " medium" smoke and soot
mc> damage. It burned my cabinets, but not all the way through, but there
mc> were also plastic bowls that melted.
mc> My question is... How does the smoke and soot affect my electronics
mc> such as Fridge, dishwasher, TV, Computer, cameras, DVD player, stereo,
mc> speakers, phones, etc.?
mc> I asked my Insurance Adjuster about them and he said they could be
mc> cleaned. That's fine, but it's now been over 3 months since fire.
mc> Now I'm wondering if sending them to be cleaned will correct any damage
mc> that may have started. I just need to know the best way I should
mc> handle this. Last week my DVD player just quit and it was only 1 yr
mc> old. I do pay for the " replacement value" on my homeowners
mc> insurance.
mc> Also, how does the smoke and soot affect my ceiling fans/lights? The
mc> cleaning company wasn't able to clean the inside of them. Should
mc> these be replaced?
mc> What about electrical outlets, etc.??
mc> I appreciate all your help!!

mc> Thank you!
mc> ClassieM

I think your claims expert is trying to bilk you. Most electronic
components have a storage temperature of 250'C and since in a fire the
ambient temperture usually exceeds this by quite a lot, your adjuster
should really be writing off the electronics in one fell swoop.
Consider that if the plastic inside the cupboards melted then likely
too the solder in a circuit board and insulation in wires.

A*s*i*m*o*v

.... If all else fails, hurl it across the room a few times!
 
W

William R. Walsh

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi!

Fires are not great for electronics. That said, I think a lot of your
chances lie in how hot the devices got.

If they didn't get very hot, you might only need to clean them up. Depending
upon the device, an exterior cleaning may be all you need to do. Devices
that handle tapes, or contain sensors of any type should be probably be
disassembled and have any sensing, tape path related or optical devices
inside cleaned.

For devices that were exposed to temperature extremes...you'll just have to
try them and see. It really depends upon the quality of the device and...to
a certain extent...luck. Some devices will shrug off even severe abuse.
Others will turn upside down and die if you just look at them wrong.

I'd expect that your refrigerator, dishwasher, speakers, stereo and phones
will be fine, depending upon how hot they got. At most I'd expect these
devices to need nothing more than a simple surface cleaning. Your TV and
computer stand a pretty good chance of being OK as well. (However, I'd make
a backup of the important things on the computer.)

The cameras and DVD player may need to have their optics cleaned. For a
camera, cleaning the lens would probably do, depending upon how far the
smoke got. As for the DVD player, it should probably have the laser pickup
cleaned.

Ceiling fans and lights should be fine as long as they're intact. Your
outlets should be OK too. Any of these that have melted or deformed should
probably be replaced unless you can be absolutely sure the melting has
caused only cosmetic damage. Outlets are so cheap that if they're even
minorly deformed I'd still replace them.

William
 
M

Mark D. Zacharias

Jan 1, 1970
0
William R. Walsh said:
Hi!

Fires are not great for electronics. That said, I think a lot of your
chances lie in how hot the devices got.

If they didn't get very hot, you might only need to clean them up.
Depending
upon the device, an exterior cleaning may be all you need to do. Devices
that handle tapes, or contain sensors of any type should be probably be
disassembled and have any sensing, tape path related or optical devices
inside cleaned.

For devices that were exposed to temperature extremes...you'll just have
to
try them and see. It really depends upon the quality of the device
and...to
a certain extent...luck. Some devices will shrug off even severe abuse.
Others will turn upside down and die if you just look at them wrong.

I'd expect that your refrigerator, dishwasher, speakers, stereo and phones
will be fine, depending upon how hot they got. At most I'd expect these
devices to need nothing more than a simple surface cleaning. Your TV and
computer stand a pretty good chance of being OK as well. (However, I'd
make
a backup of the important things on the computer.)

The cameras and DVD player may need to have their optics cleaned. For a
camera, cleaning the lens would probably do, depending upon how far the
smoke got. As for the DVD player, it should probably have the laser pickup
cleaned.

Ceiling fans and lights should be fine as long as they're intact. Your
outlets should be OK too. Any of these that have melted or deformed should
probably be replaced unless you can be absolutely sure the melting has
caused only cosmetic damage. Outlets are so cheap that if they're even
minorly deformed I'd still replace them.

William

Don't forget the smoke smell - sometimes they can't get that out - and the
DVD laser pickup gets contaminated inside, at the turning mirror, wnich
cannot be cleaned.


Mark Z.
 
J

jakdedert

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mark said:
Don't forget the smoke smell - sometimes they can't get that out - and the
DVD laser pickup gets contaminated inside, at the turning mirror, wnich
cannot be cleaned.


Mark Z.
My fire was caused by a malfunctioning window mounted AC/Heater unit;
and was confined to only that window. The plastic face, plastic blinds
above it, and a very small portion of the window sash were the only
source of actual flame. The smoke and soot from burning plastic left a
film of soot over every surface...with long streamers of soot--like
cobwebs--hanging everywhere.

The FD caused much more damage than the fire, breaking every window and
the door; spraying down that entire end of the building (where the bulk
of the electronics were set up). I'm not complaining.....

The soot and the fire retardant (not to mention water and axes) were far
more damaging than any temp extremes or flames.

The CD player which was within six ft. of the fire, and from which I
poured a quantity of water, operated (still operates) fine. The VCR
never worked again. A computer which was in the direct stream of water
booted as soon as the power came back on. I slammed off the power
switch as soon as I saw it. The one which died was maybe 15 ft. away.
A good vacuuming and a new p.s. fixed it.

None of the optical or floppy drives (in the three computers) in the
room suffered any malfunction...although one eventually ate the pulley
which operated the sled...might have been related.

jak
 
W

William R. Walsh

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi!
Don't forget the smoke smell - sometimes they can't get that out - and the
DVD laser pickup gets contaminated inside, at the turning mirror, wnich
cannot be cleaned.

I've yet to run into a smoke smell that just wouldn't come out. Some do take
a long time, though.

An electric fan or repurposed DC "muffin fan" can help with this problem. I
once had a web page up showing how I'd cleaned up a nearly new computer
monitor that was involved in a very messy fire. Patience and a fan cleared
the smoke smell completely out.

As for the DVD player, I'd definitely try it. Laser pickups do seem awfully
vulnerable to external contamination under the right circumstances.

William
 
D

David Nebenzahl

Jan 1, 1970
0
William R. Walsh spake thus:
I've yet to run into a smoke smell that just wouldn't come out. Some do take
a long time, though.

Incense can go a long way toward masking (and eventually eliminating)
objectionable smells. Really.


--
If the United States government, with all its capacity to collect
and interpret information, did not see Hamas doing very well in the
Palestinian election in the wake of these other Islamist victories,
then it is either willfully blind or totally incompetent—-
and neither possibility is a very comforting thought.

- Rami G. Khouri, editor at large of the Beirut-based _Daily Star_
 
M

Mark D. Zacharias

Jan 1, 1970
0
William R. Walsh said:
Hi!


I've yet to run into a smoke smell that just wouldn't come out. Some do
take
a long time, though.

An electric fan or repurposed DC "muffin fan" can help with this problem.
I
once had a web page up showing how I'd cleaned up a nearly new computer
monitor that was involved in a very messy fire. Patience and a fan cleared
the smoke smell completely out.

As for the DVD player, I'd definitely try it. Laser pickups do seem
awfully
vulnerable to external contamination under the right circumstances.

William

My shop often does work for a fire/water restoration company. They use an
ozone chamber to remove smoke smell, and often the pieces still smell when
we get them. Maybe additional treatments get the rest of the smell out.


Mark Z.
 
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