Determine Which Water-Damaged Electronics Can Be Saved

4/18/2019 (Permalink)

Water damage assessment professionals will know how to dry out and salvage many of the electronic devices, cutting business losses to a minimum.

Business owners in South Oceanside, CA, may depend heavily on computers, security systems and other electronics. They have invested quite a bit in getting them set up and rely on their accuracy and performance. But what happens when a pipe breaks, a faulty sprinkler system is set off, or there is water damage from extinguishing a fire and the owner ends up with a room full of flooded electronics? It can be an expensive process to deal with the mess and repair, to say nothing of the electronic damage that they experience.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has some strict guidelines about what may be salvaged in the event of flooded electronics. Each piece of equipment must be evaluated to determine what may be refurbished and what must be scrapped.

NEMA Guidelines - Dealing With Water Damaged Electronics

1. In many cases, the manufacturer must be consulted.

2. Inspection will determine what needs to be replaced and what can potentially be reconditioned.

Items such as electrical distribution equipment, motor control equipment, adjustable speed drives, and motor control centers are all subject to corrosion and insulation damage and will likely need to be replaced. However, some power equipment, transformers, outlet boxes and fittings, conduits and tubing, wire, cable and arc-fault circuit interrupters, surge-protective devices and cable trays could potentially be rewired and tested for reuse.

Batteries on the other hand, are subject to internal corrosion and rust, may expel harmful corrosive elements and should be destroyed. These are just a few of the items that must be considered and may vary depending on time and saturation of water exposure.

Meeting all of those requirements can be very intimidating. Determining the extent of the damage and what needs to be done about it is a job for professionals who are versed in the NEMA guidelines for flooded electronics. This is not something that a business should decide. A business owner in South Oceanside, CA should call local water damage assessment professionals to make that determination. They will know how to dry out and salvage many of the electronic devices, cutting business losses to a minimum.