Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
Hello,
I had a kitchen/dining room fire on Oct. 20, 2005 and wondering what effects the smoke and soot would have on my electronics. I guess you would say the fire caused "medium" smoke and soot damage. The fire started on my stove and involved, plastics, countertop, etc. My homeowners insurance had a fire/restoration company come in to clean, but they only wiped down the outside of my electronics. Since it's been well over a month since the fire, should I ask them to get the electronics cleaned or should I have them replaced? The items, I'm concerned about are my refrigerator, microwave, Computer, TV, DVD, Stereo, etc. How do I know if they should be cleaned or replaced? Thanks for your help! MCR |
#2
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
My experience with this is fires in the house and in a Nagra tape
recorder. Usually the problem with large items is the smell never goes away. Like in the insulation of the refrigerator. Depending on the amount of smoke peneteration to clean the interior of your electronics could be a major undertaking and probably not cost effective. If there was burning PVC in your fire that can form HCL which will corrode electronics. That was the case with the Nagra tape recorder. It was in a car fire, these guys parked on some straw in a field and the catalytic converter caught the straw on fire. In attempting repair of the tape recorder I found every metal part had been etched by the acid. ( fires in aircraft} so the Nagra was a total loss. Richard |
#3
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
This is a tricky issue. Insurance company is going to pay only if these
items do not currently work or noticeably impaired due to fire damage. They could care less if they stop working next year. I'm sure the restoration company gave your electronics a clean bill of health to the insurance company which will further hinder you. Your best course of action is to seek out any existing smoke odors or signs of hidden damage that you can find. Do research via Google and Yahoo regarding smoke / soot damage to electronics over the long term and present all of this info to your agent. There's tons of info out there on this subject. I'd do all of this quick since it's already been well over a month. If it were me, I'd try to get all of the major electronic items replaced. It's not everyday you file a homeowners insurance claim. wrote in message oups.com... Hello, I had a kitchen/dining room fire on Oct. 20, 2005 and wondering what effects the smoke and soot would have on my electronics. |
#5
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
Hello, 3T39!
You wrote to on Thu, 8 Dec 2005 23:19:42 -0000: m Hello, m I had a kitchen/dining room fire on Oct. 20, 2005 and wondering what m effects the smoke and soot would have on my electronics. I guess you m would say the fire caused "medium" smoke and soot damage. The fire m started on my stove and involved, plastics, countertop, etc. My m homeowners insurance had a fire/restoration company come in to clean, m but they only wiped down the outside of my electronics. Since it's m been well over a month since the fire, should I ask them to get the m electronics cleaned or should I have them replaced? The items, I'm m concerned about are my refrigerator, microwave, Computer, TV, DVD, m Stereo, etc. How do I know if they should be cleaned or replaced? m Thanks for your help! m MCR T Might be a bit late now but insured items should be either restored to T as good as new condition or replaced. The items will always smell of T smoke afterwards unless they are dismantled and cleaned internally by T professionals. Even after a month I would ask the Insurance company to T replace everything. That's what you pay insurance for. And another thing, a cleaning company isn't in any way able to certify a peice of electronics as safe. So get it all replaced. This stuff is fire damaged, Don't take no for an answer! With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: |
#6
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
I have totally cleaned VCR's, T.V.'s, stereos, DVD players,
computer towers, & monitors, as well as the cables, inside, & out. We use a special "soup mix" of aftershave, windex, armourall, & one other chemical...not sure, & it works very good...no call backs. Sky. |
#7
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
No, you pay insurance to be "made whole" after a catastrophic event.
Demanding new stuff when the old stuff looks and works ok could be construed as superfluous. 3T39 wrote: Might be a bit late now but insured items should be either restored to as good as new condition or replaced. The items will always smell of smoke afterwards unless they are dismantled and cleaned internally by professionals. Even after a month I would ask the Insurance company to replace everything. That's what you pay insurance for. |
#8
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
Maybe I misunderstood what kind of cleaning company he used --
we have "cleaning companies" around here that specialize in disaster recovery and have lots of experience recovering electronics. I wish you were my insurance adjuster but I'll bet you wouldn't last long in the job. 3T39 wrote: And another thing, a cleaning company isn't in any way able to certify a peice of electronics as safe. So get it all replaced. This stuff is fire damaged, Don't take no for an answer! |
#9
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
On Thu, 8 Dec 2005 23:22:30 -0000, "3T39"
wrote: Hello, 3T39! You wrote to on Thu, 8 Dec 2005 23:19:42 -0000: m Hello, m I had a kitchen/dining room fire on Oct. 20, 2005 and wondering what m effects the smoke and soot would have on my electronics. I guess you m would say the fire caused "medium" smoke and soot damage. The fire m started on my stove and involved, plastics, countertop, etc. My m homeowners insurance had a fire/restoration company come in to clean, m but they only wiped down the outside of my electronics. Since it's m been well over a month since the fire, should I ask them to get the m electronics cleaned or should I have them replaced? The items, I'm m concerned about are my refrigerator, microwave, Computer, TV, DVD, m Stereo, etc. How do I know if they should be cleaned or replaced? m Thanks for your help! m MCR T Might be a bit late now but insured items should be either restored to T as good as new condition or replaced. The items will always smell of T smoke afterwards unless they are dismantled and cleaned internally by T professionals. Even after a month I would ask the Insurance company to T replace everything. That's what you pay insurance for. And another thing, a cleaning company isn't in any way able to certify a peice of electronics as safe. So get it all replaced. This stuff is fire damaged, Don't take no for an answer! A cleaning company can farm out the assessment to a repair shop, though. Tom With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: |
#11
Posted to sci.electronics.repair
|
|||
|
|||
ELECTRONICS AFTER FIRE
|
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Replacement Baxi coal fire ash box and 'grill' | UK diy | |||
Lawmower fire | Home Repair | |||
OT- Site Yields Early Evidence of Fire | Metalworking | |||
Managing the fire? | Metalworking | |||
Berry Magicoal Berryblaze gas fire | UK diy |