My Collection Storage Got Flooded!!

[fargo]

I store my collection in different warehouses. One of the warehouses is built over an underground water reservoir. The flow to the reservoir is controlled by an automatic valve that keeps the water at a certain level. The valve malfunctioned, and the water flooded the warehouse.

I received a call from a neighboring warehouse telling me that water was coming out from under the gates. I rushed there and found the floor covered with 2 to 3 cm of water. Unfortunately, some of my items were sitting directly on the ground. I picked up the flooded items and put them in the sun for two days. All the boxes were damaged, and some were beyond repair.

I haven’t tried turning anything on yet, but I hope nothing suffered major damage.

Here are some of the items I rescued:

 

[RetroAND]

Sorry to hear that.

If it serves to you, only the paper and cardboard elements may have received damage. Most old electronics aren't that sensitive to water and once they dry they work well again.

 

[Gary C]

Its the dissolved salts in tap water that do the damage, especially as it dries and you get an oxygen/water/salts mix. If anything electronic gets wet, the best thing is to wash it in demin water then dry. Ultra pure water is the best, but quite hard to get hold of.

 

[fargo]

Its the dissolved salts in tap water that do the damage, especially as it dries and you get an oxygen/water/salts mix. If anything electronic gets wet, the best thing is to wash it in demin water then dry. Ultra pure water is the best, but quite hard to get hold of.

Thank you for the hint. I just ordered distilled water from Amazon. I'll rinse the boards with it to remove any corrosive residue.

 

[Gary C]

Thank you for the hint. I just ordered distilled water from Amazon. I'll rinse the boards with it to remove any corrosive residue.

Probably a bit late now.

 

[fargo]

Probably a bit late now.

I don't think so. Since there are no damages now, then cleaning the boards would prevent future corrosion that might be caused by salty residue.

 

[Timo W.]

Its the dissolved salts in tap water that do the damage, especially as it dries and you get an oxygen/water/salts mix. If anything electronic gets wet, the best thing is to wash it in demin water then dry. Ultra pure water is the best, but quite hard to get hold of.

Tap water mostly leaves limescale behind, which is not really that dangerous. PCBs were cleaned in production with tap water for decades and they all survived...

You only have to worry about salt when your stuff good flooded by sea water.

You are right however that stuff that got wet should not be let dry by itself. This takes too long and it only takes days for rust to emerge. And mold, if you did not take the parts out of the wet cardboard boxes.

 

[cb01854]

I learned a similar lesson years ago when I found a leak in my basement: never put paper/cardboard boxes directly on the floor; always use some risers or platforms to raise items at least an inch or more. Its not going to save you if the basement gets truly flooded, but will buy you time and should help with most minor water issues.

 

[DougM]

Everything in my basement storage is on pallets for this exact reason.

 

[Unknown_K]

Tap water mostly leaves limescale behind, which is not really that dangerous. PCBs were cleaned in production with tap water for decades and they all survived...

You only have to worry about salt when your stuff good flooded by sea water.

You are right however that stuff that got wet should not be let dry by itself. This takes too long and it only takes days for rust to emerge. And mold, if you did not take the parts out of the wet cardboard boxes.

Depends, if your water comes down from the mountains or from wells and has a ton of calcium in it (hard water) it will leave calcium deposits that can be seen. Some well water also has sulfur and smells bad let alone leave deposits after use.

The LGR guy that had a tree cut his house in half during a hurricane has plenty of videos on water damage and mold to boxed items on YouTube.

 

[Ruud]

Do you, the warehouse and/or the owner of the water reservoir have an insurance? Here in the Netherlands we have a bit more trouble with water than a lot of other places in the world and the insurance companies don't pay out at once but first offer the services of companies specialized in restoring goods with water damage.

 

[Gary C]

Tap water mostly leaves limescale behind, which is not really that dangerous. PCBs were cleaned in production with tap water for decades and they all survived...

You only have to worry about salt when your stuff good flooded by sea water.

You are right however that stuff that got wet should not be let dry by itself. This takes too long and it only takes days for rust to emerge. And mold, if you did not take the parts out of the wet cardboard boxes.

Yes, but this water has flowed around a floor and we have no idea what if could have picked up from it.

Basically, if water conducts, it has ions. If its mainly Calcium carbonate your probably ok, but if there is any significant chloride burden, you can get calcium chloride and thats quite aggressive. At work, our supply varies between the river and the reservoir and the chemical make up is significantly different.

In cases of very fine pins, it can promote corrosion and a good wash with clean demin then drying is a sensible precaution.
Yes, drop something in sea water, wash the whole thing in tap water if thats what you have, immediately

 

[jafir]

Depends, if your water comes down from the mountains or from wells and has a ton of calcium in it (hard water) it will leave calcium deposits that can be seen.

Limescale and calcium are the same thing.

 

[fargo]

Do you, the warehouse and/or the owner of the water reservoir have an insurance? Here in the Netherlands we have a bit more trouble with water than a lot of other places in the world and the insurance companies don't pay out at once but first offer the services of companies specialized in restoring goods with water damage.

Unfortunately, I don’t have insurance. The idea of insuring my collection had crossed my mind many times, but I never applied for one. I might reconsider it after this incident.

 

[Istarian]

Its the dissolved salts in tap water that do the damage, especially as it dries and you get an oxygen/water/salts mix. If anything electronic gets wet, the best thing is to wash it in demin water then dry. Ultra pure water is the best, but quite hard to get hold of.

Distilled water or water that has been purified through reverse osmosis may be easier to obtain.

I don't know if rinsing the board in isopropyl alcohol (pref. at least 90%) would be of any use here, but using a fine brush[n] would help to remove any small particles.

[n] ideally an ESD-safe one, but barring that a natural fibers would be preferred to synthetic/plastic and I would definitely avoid polyester bristles.