Absolute disaster....

[jra]

For my computer at least.....
Yesterday, temps dropped to near zero and we had a water pipe freeze up and burst. Being the lucky guy I am, it burst right over top my computer desk between the basement ceiling and kitchen floor. The basement is my "office" so to speak and is finished on my "office" side. The ceiling is insulated tile and the space is heated quite nicely. The water line ran next to an outside wall above the ceiling and it evidently got cold enought to freeze. My wife calls me at about 3pm while I'm working and she's in a panic with water going everywhere and she has no idea how to turn the water off. I tell her where the shut off valve is but the damage is done. I'm just so so so lucky that she didn't go to work that day or it would've been so much worse (don't even want to think about it).
My backup system is an external hard drive that I keep right on my desk....absolutely soaked. My two monitors were soaked also along with my Wacom tablet, printer, scanner,modem, router and many other small various things. The only thing that may be ok is the actual computer tower. Being under the desk, it was somewhat protected. It got wet but not too much. Not being home, I couldn't see it first hand, but my wife said it was about as wet as if it was carried in from a car in a hard rain. I inspected the insides and all seems dry thank goodness.
I spent the day cleaning up and visiting the store to get what I need to get things back up and running. I haven't tryed to fire up the computer yet (still drying out my space) but I just pray that it works OK....that will be tomorrows "big event" :)
I guess the biggest lesson I'm learning from this is that an off site backup could be very valuable...certainly something I'll be looking into.
Thankfully, I'm insured although I feel a bit uneasy after talking to the insurance company today....I'm afraid they may try to screw me on damages, mainly the monitors. The monitors I had are no longer manufactured but the insurance company said they'll price out a "comperable" model...that worries me a bit. What they think is comperable may not be so IMO. I had decent mid-grade monitors that I paid about $700 a piece for 2 years ago (still have receipts). They could be replaced for about $600 a piece for what I feel is a comperable model now...I'm afraid their idea of comperable may be the bargain basement model that matches my size for $100(you know how insurance companies are).....I guess I'll have to wait on that.
Anyways, I just thought I would share my "nightmare before Christmas" with all of you folks here. Wish me luck as I put things back together tomorrow and try to fire up. :)

[TheHoff]

Sorry about that... off-site backup lesson learned, eh?

I would disagree, though, with your idea of monitor depreciation. I think a $700 monitor two years ago would be $400 or $450 today.

[jra]

I would disagree, though, with your idea of monitor depreciation. I think a $700 monitor two years ago would be $400 or $450 today.

Honestly, I would be completely happy if they offered me that for each monitor....I'd gladly make up that difference for the monitors I would want for a replacement.

[rdenney]

Give it several days to dry. Sometimes, it seems dry but there is still moisture lurking in places it shouldn't.

If the computer wasn't on, then there is a good chance that everything will work fine if you let it dry THOROUGHLY before powering it up. It really does take days for electronics to dry out.

There are many ways that water can get in a basement. You just found one of them. I keep an amateur radio station in the basement, but I know where all the pipes are and avoided them. The floor under it has been wet twice (once because the AC condensate drain clogged, and once because the humidifier blew a hose), and everything on the floor is now in plastic tubs.

I am limited to dial-up, so an off-site automatic backup is no solution. But I just saw a Blu-Ray writer in an office-supply store. That might be a good addition to my automatic backups to network-attached storage. With 50G of storage, an unattended backup becomes reasonable.

Rick "who has seen lots of soaked electronics work fine after slow drying" Denney

[eb314]

As they said, make sure your stuff is completely dry before turning it on. It could save you a lot of trouble.

[neilwood32]

Sorry to hear about the disaster but hopefully your computer is ok.

Hope you get your data back anyway - the rest is replacable but if you've lost your data then theres no hope.

I think i would go with Rdenney's solution if you can't back up on line. Network attached storage placed somewhere else in the house other than your basement. Either that or a backup drive you can detach and move to a "safe" location.

[PhotosGuy]

I haven't tried to fire up the computer yet (still drying out my space) but I just pray that it works OK... I'd wear out at least one hair dryer first? I'm afraid they may try to screw me on damages, Do you have "full replacement value"? Do your homework first & stick up for yourself. I'm learning from this is that an off site backup could be very valuable.. You can get a good external 1TB drive for under $200 now.
Let us know how it all comes out.

[airfrogusmc]

So sorry to hear this.
Yep I have a safety deposit box at the bank less than $70 a year and keep one there. I bring it home once a month back up then back to the bank

[Steve In Kentucky]

Sorry to hear that. I had a water filter burst and fill my basement(finished) with about two inches of water. My timing was not as bad as yours right here at Christmas but, is there ever a good time. Hope all goes well with your insurance.

[iceman1]

Sorry to hear...just wanted to say the others are right about drying everything out thoroughly before giving it power. I once had a friend let his iPod take a ride through the washer--it didn't work after. I told him to put it on top of a running TV for at least a few days, so he did. It works great now.

[Grimes]

I would just take the computer hard drives out and try them in a different computer. If your computer power supply got damaged, you dont want to risk shocking other things like the hdd's.

[airfrogusmc]

I hope your images are recoverable. Man the equipment is replaceable the images are not.

[Amamba]

Take your comp case apart, take a fan and aim it at your comp & have it running for a day. Try to disassemble your external drive (if you can) and put it under the fan too.

I had a major coffee spill on my work laptop - a whole cup dumped smack in the middle of k-board - and was able to bring it back to life that way.