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Soon I will be able to see if my SX survived... — Parallax Forums

Soon I will be able to see if my SX survived...

SteelSteel Posts: 313
edited 2006-11-10 19:30 in General Discussion
I don't know if you have heard...we had a huge storm up here in Washington.· Unfortunately, My house got completely flooded...Not knee deep water...The entire first floor was completely submerged.

Because of inadequate drainage where I live, myself and my neighbor recieved 10 feet of water in about 6 hours after a County Storm drain broke.· Most places that flooded did so because of a river...so the water rose, then fell, and they could get back in.· There is no drainage in our yard so we are currently waiting for the water to drain into the ground, which is the only way it will recede.

My wife and I (with our 3 week old baby) were able to get out of the house fine with necessities, but our car along with my electronics projects and everything else·in the basement/garage/hallway was completely submerged in the water· [noparse]:([/noparse]

So after 4 days, the water has gone down to 2 1/2 feet.· We are not able to go into the house yet, because the gas tank of the car has emptied into the house and the fumes are too strong to enter.· (That with septic floating around isnt a very pleasant experience...)

I am hoping that by Sunday, I am able to enter our house again.

I am wondering if anything survived.·

We are not anywhere near a flood plain, so this was very unexpected.· The county is supposed to help us because it was a county drainage issue...but we will see what happens.

I have an SX-28 development kit and a project with the SX on.· I guess the reason why I wrote this thread is because at the moment I am really curious as to if it survived or not...

Anybody have any flooded electronics labs before?· Any suggestions on what to try to salvage?·

I am currently trying to get the video off of my video camera and onto my computer so I can put it on the net...it is really phenomenal...watching water rise up 4 feet in 45 minutes...and up to 10 feet 4 hours later...

Shaun

Post Edited (Steel) : 11/10/2006 7:11:55 PM GMT

Comments

  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2006-11-10 19:22
    Shaun,
    I wouldn't turn anything on until it is thoughly dried out. I think that causes more damage than the water would.

    One time my brother called me to move a freezer out of his basement because water was coming in. By the time I got there (20 minutes) the freezer was floating so high it was hitting the 1st floor joists. The breaker box was completely underwater too. There was NO WAY we were getting into THAT water. We just stood there and watched it. It was amazing. At first water was gushing in the basement windows, then a little while later, water was gushing OUT of the windows.

    He has a little creek near his house, and it basically took a detour THROUGH his house.

    Bean.

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    Cheap used 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com

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    ·
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2006-11-10 19:30
    Shaun;

    Glad to hear you and your familay are safe and sound.

    While water can create its own problems with electronics, it will generally dry out fine (if not powered while wet).

    The real problem with "flood waters" is that they (as you have noticed) not really water in the normal sense of the word. Depending on what other "stuff" is in the water, you could either come out smelling like a rose, or the septic tank. If there were any compounds that affect the metals, or oxidize the joints on things like breadboards, you could have some fun.

    Besides damage from the slurry, there is also the problem of physical damage from "stuff" floating around and banging into stuff.

    I've had a few minor experiences with flooding, and say that I'm about 50/50 in terms of recovering electronic type items, with about 1/2 the stuff not working due to "physical" damage, and the other half due to water/sludge/slurry damage.

    For those who haven't seen a flood up close and personal, those nice clips on the TV showning what looks like muddy water just don't give you a good picture. That stuff isn't muddy water, its a slurry of all kinds of really nasty stuff.

    Good luck Shaun, and again, I'm glad to hear you and your family are doing OK.

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    John R.

    8 + 8 = 10
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