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

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greg at buzgate.org
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