Cleaning computers after fire
Greg Rundlett
greg at buzgate.org
Tue Dec 21 11:26:01 EST 2004
Summary of what I've found and been told:
* There are chemical products sold off-the-shelf for cleaning
electronics after fire/smoke: http://tinyurl.com/6n97k
* Just because you can clean it doesn't mean it's worth it. Intel
PC's cost 1K and if insurance covers replacement, you're better
off spending the time migrating info and apps. Cleaning PC
equipment with a solvent obviously means disassembly, cleaning,
drying, reassembly all in a clean 'shop' environment which is a lot.
* Clean doesn't mean it will not die a premature death.
* Following all the sage advice I've received, I consider any system
affected to be running on borrowed time, and close to meltdown.
* I'm not mixing good components with anything from the affected
environment lest crud get from a monitor cable to a new video card
for example.
* My linux servers were on, and operating at the time...a search
indexer was writing millions of records to MySQL. You would not
believe how much soot gets into an operating computer...It's proof
that there is such a thing as cabinet ventilation and air flow
created by those little fans.
* I backed up the most critical data to CD while the PC's were
operating, then powered them down and vacuumed everything, used
compressed air to blow out the (tons) of soot still clinging to
hidden areas (especially the cooling fins of the CPU heat sink).
* There are attorneys who are 'fire truck chasers' and want to get
their hands on some of your claim.
Thanks everyone for your help. As always it is so appreciated.
--
Greg Rundlett
CTO
Knowledge Institute
Free Resources for your Business
www.BUZGate.org www.BUZWorks.org www.NHVBI.org
(603) 642-4720 #3
greg at buzgate.org
Since aerosols are forbidden, the police are using roll-on Mace!
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