Wild weather and the ensuing scope disaster

[turbo_pascale]

:windy:Melbourne's wild weather got the better of my roll-off shed tonight, as well as my fence.

Not sure if all the equipment will survive. All the electronic type bits are sitting on the dining table while the heating is going to stay on permanently for the next few days in the hope it will all dry out. What surprised me was how dusty/dirty the rain was - brown junk everywhere.

Managed to fish the roof out of the next-door neighbours yard and get it tied down. With the roof on, at least can leave the scope in place for now and wait for it all to dry up. Will see what the result is sometime on the weekend if anything at all fires up.

:(

Disaster area pics here: http://tinyurl.com/3xtblv

[skwinty]

Hi Rob
My condolences on your disaster. Real bummer.
Hope you are able to salvage your gear without too much expense.:(

[snowyskiesau]

Nature can be a real bugger at times.
Hope you're insured.

[nightsky]

G'Day Rob,
Sorry to hear that,unfortunately were going to have to get used to that sort of weather :(,fingers crossed that the equipment is not damaged.
Cheers
Arthur

[iceman]

Sorry to hear it Robert, sure sounded like freaky weather even for Melbourne!

I hope everything gets back online for you soon! I wanna see first light from that modded camera!

[h0ughy]

i hope you salvage things and that the gear is ok when it dries out

[goober]

Sorry to see the damage, Rob. Hope that Mallee dust comes off and everything is functional again.

It was a freaky day yesterday. I was walking home last night along the sandbelt golf courses and there were tree branches on the ground everywhere, and a few fences had blown over. You don't often see storm warnings issued for the Port Phillip Bay. I think our Tassie office even issued a hurricane warning yesterday. Makes you wonder what real cyclone is like ... this was just the remnants of one!

[acropolite]

Matsuyker island, just off the Tasmanian south coast, recorded 160Kmh wind gusts according to this AM's news. In Launceston at around 6 last night there was a gust and rain squall that was so severe I moved away from the windows for fear they were going to be pushed in.:windy:
Hopefully all your gear will dry out OK Rob.

[Terry B]

Sad to see. I hope the gear and you are OK
Windy here today also. I checked my observatory this morning and the roof is still on. No rain here though.

[dugnsuz]

You poor guy!
Hope everything is functional again soon
All the best
Doug

[Tamtarn]

It sure was bad Rob. We were lucky not to have any damage out here. Sorry you had such a bad day and all the best in drying your gear. Otherwise hope your insurance will cover it. Good Luck.

[Ric]

What a total bummer Rob, I hope everything come good and works for you.

We had the winds come through up here last night though not as strong as Melbourne, then it rained and everything is now also covered in a coating of red dirt as well.

[Matty P]

Ouch! I never like to hear things like this. It sends a chill down my spine. :scared:

Hope you are back and running soon.

[MrB]

Sorry to hear about the carnage.

Don't wanna sound like an alarmist, but as someone that has repaired a fair few water damaged electronic devices over the years, you'll want to dry them out quicker than that. Galvanic reaction is already at work and you might end-up with corrosion and dry joints.
If you're feeling confident, open up anything electronic to expose both sides(component and solder) of the circuit boards and use a hair-drier to flash-off the water.
Carefull not to overheat the boards, though most components can withstand high(ish) temps for extended periods, a good rule-of-thumb is don't heat the boards 'till their too hot to hold.

Good luck.

Oh, try to shake-off as much from the boards as you can, will save loads of time with the hair-drier.

[turbo_pascale]

Thanks MrB. Went to get a cheap hair dryer tonight (those of you who have met me know I have no use for such a device!)

To all: thanks for the best wishes. At one level, am hoping everything is OK, at another level, if I knew that the insurance would pay unconditionally, I'd hope that it is all totally beyond repair so I could upgrade! I'll know sometime on the weekend I suppose!

I'm mostly hoping that EzyStyles old camera is OK, as it only had a few test shots fired off - kind of a bummer for a camera that has lead such a productive life (for a very short amount of time admittedly) to die that way!

[GrahamL]

Thats just unbelievable weather you guys had ..Hope it all works out well ..
your policys pretty tight rob ?..not that I dont trust insurance companys
but your shed looks to of been modified a little from how it was made .

[Phil]

God hope everything is ok. Looks like you copped it bad. Hope the gear is ok and works again for you. Sorry to hear the bad news.
Phil

[Jen]

:scared: hope it all works well again and if not look on the bright side its a good excuse to upgrade :thumbsup:

[turbo_pascale]

Errr.... well, it is not stock standard :P..... the assessor rang today but they are snowed under - expecting them to call in a few days to make some time to come and look at it.

I've got Andrew J coming over to pull it apart and see if the bits will fire up tomorrow. All fingers and toes crossed.

[multiweb]

Bummer! Hope you get back on your feet quickly mate.Sorry to hear about that.

[g__day]

Real bummer - if PCs are damaged I hear they can be celean with distilled water - but you really have to dry them well - like for days - before you power them back on!

[Analog6]

Give the bits plenty of time and take apart everything that will come apart.
My Mum once dropped her mobile in the horse's water bucket, wasn't too clean as he'd had a dribble in it! I took it all apart and shook out all the water I could, and placed all the componenets on paper towel in the window so they got the sun.

After 3 days we reassembled. At first it was patchy but after a week or so it worked perfectly and I still have that phone as a backup in case we drop one or something.

So don't lose heart even if it doesn't work perfectly at first, give it a week or so after re-assembly to make sure.

[turbo_pascale]

Everything I have tested appears to functions now.
Scope, Modded 350D, DBK31 webcam.....
I am yet to test the SBIG ST7, but all looking hopeful there too.

Many thanks to AndrewJ who spent 6 hours at my place pulling everything apart and checking everything out, and modifying the shed to add latches and more waterproofing etc.

Other than the ST7, all that remains is to externally clean everything, and wonder how I'm going to deal with the very smelly carpet in there. Might just keep the roof open any time the sun is shining to give it a chance. There was some water damage to books and magazines etc in there, but that's not that big a deal in the end.

Turbo

[Ric]

Hi Rob, glad to hear that everything is working well. there is nothing worse than than hearing about damaged equipment through no fault of ours.

Cheers

[MrB]

Excellent, all the pricey stuff survived, nice work guys!

[CoombellKid]

When I was working as a night club tech for our laser systems we would
be pulling out PC's every couple of months. They would be filled with fog
juice residue. We would take the mother boards out and wash them in fairly
warm water with a little dishwashing detergent and hang them in the sun
to dry for a couple of days. We did that also to our CD players, DAT players
virtually any electronics we were using in the clubs. Water wont effect
electronic unless current is flowing through them. So wash wash wash!!!
you find the electronics will last longer too if there is no crud build up
on the electronics

regards,CS

[iceman]

Fantastic, Rob. I bet you're breathing a sigh of relief!

[Kal]

Looking at all the damage and how wet & dirty things were I am suprised anything worked!!!
:jawdrop:
Glad to hear things are turning out ok though :)

[EzyStyles]

geee's rob just read this post! glad that all your equipment is still functioning especially my modded 350 :D . no seriously, glad everything is ok. Are you insured? might be able to claim some items if they are damaged.

[Aussie Pete]

Hey Turbs!

Just harvest the mushrooms that may sprout from your carpet man. And you plug the dryer in, set it to low/mid power, then point it towards your gear, think hairy thoughts and pull the trigger oh shiny one..hehe

She'll be alright mate. Cya soon I hope.

Pete