- Dec 1, 2021
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So, long story short, my PC was in a flood and I’m looking for tips to save it, and if it’s even possible I could still get it running.
Recently a pipe burst in my house and I lost everything in that room, but so far nothing that can’t be replaced. Except the PC.
Under normal circumstances, I could just keep the case and replace the components or toss it altogether, but the thing is that the computer in question is a 1997 IBM PC, which once belonged to my father, and holds quite a bit of sentimental value. So I would really hate to give up on it, and replacement motherboards and PSUs for this model are way too overpriced on eBay or don’t ship to my country.
At the time of the accident there was no power in the house, on top of that it was also unplugged, so I’m certain no power was going through it except maybe the CMOS battery. Also, since I live in another city and only go there for the weekends, I don’t really know how long it stayed submerged. The neighbours drained the water, and when I arrived the next day I moved it to a safe space so it can dry completely before I attempt anything.
Usually I keep my devices away from water and this kind of situation has never happened to me before, so I’m not sure what I should do. I’ve done some reading on the topic, and from what I saw basically you need to give it time to make sure it’s completely dry, disassemble and clean corrosion off the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol and pray. The problem is that most of these cases were just people spilling a glass or half of the tower being underwater, while my PC, having a horizontal form-factor which was common for that era, was 100% underwater, which probably lowers its chances of survival.
Do you have any advice? It’s not like I had any important data on there, I reformatted it recently and did a clean install of Win98, so the HDD is the least of my worries. But the fact that it was in absolutely perfect condition after almost 25 years and then it could suddenly be dead because of an accident infuriates me.
Recently a pipe burst in my house and I lost everything in that room, but so far nothing that can’t be replaced. Except the PC.
Under normal circumstances, I could just keep the case and replace the components or toss it altogether, but the thing is that the computer in question is a 1997 IBM PC, which once belonged to my father, and holds quite a bit of sentimental value. So I would really hate to give up on it, and replacement motherboards and PSUs for this model are way too overpriced on eBay or don’t ship to my country.
At the time of the accident there was no power in the house, on top of that it was also unplugged, so I’m certain no power was going through it except maybe the CMOS battery. Also, since I live in another city and only go there for the weekends, I don’t really know how long it stayed submerged. The neighbours drained the water, and when I arrived the next day I moved it to a safe space so it can dry completely before I attempt anything.
Usually I keep my devices away from water and this kind of situation has never happened to me before, so I’m not sure what I should do. I’ve done some reading on the topic, and from what I saw basically you need to give it time to make sure it’s completely dry, disassemble and clean corrosion off the motherboard with isopropyl alcohol and pray. The problem is that most of these cases were just people spilling a glass or half of the tower being underwater, while my PC, having a horizontal form-factor which was common for that era, was 100% underwater, which probably lowers its chances of survival.
Do you have any advice? It’s not like I had any important data on there, I reformatted it recently and did a clean install of Win98, so the HDD is the least of my worries. But the fact that it was in absolutely perfect condition after almost 25 years and then it could suddenly be dead because of an accident infuriates me.
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