Cleaning soot from computer?

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Ravynmagi

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 12, 2006
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My home recently burned down. Fortunately most of my computers seemed to survive. But there is soot inside and it does smell strongly when the computer warms up.

I've been using some anti-static lint free cleaner wipes and just wiping down what I can, but the smell is still there. Any suggestions on what else I could be using to better clean this? I believe it is just the motherboard and video card. I have a P-180 case with the power supply at the very bottom which seems to have escape most of the smoke and soot.
 
You could take processor and cmos battery from the motherboard and wash it. As long as you give it plenty of time to dry out it will be fine. For the video card? You might want to take off the heatsink and wipe all of that down. Sorry to hear about your house man, hope you have insurance.
 
If it was me, I'd claim them as a loss to the insurance company and build new ones. Not only is the soot most likely conductive, it's in everything from your fan bearings to your hard drives reducing their lifespan. Even if parts don't start failing because of the soot, chances are the heat has done a number to the electronics and at the very minimum, has severely shortened the life of all your components.

Besides, if you don't make the claim now, you won't be able to do it later on when the problems become evident and your system starts to die.

Then, when you get the check, hit up Newegg for a new build and go top of the line.
 
blackrino9 said:
If it was me, I'd claim them as a loss to the insurance company and build new ones.
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That is, if you didn't have a conscience...
 
What's consience got to do with it? The hardware is damaged and needs to be replaced.
 
+1 for claiming on insurance. I friend was sort of in the same boat when a similar incident happened. He was smoking and put his cigarette down next to the computer in the ash try, but somehow it cought papers on fire that were over a foot away. It burned his desk up, but he got the fire put out with a fire extingisher. It left some soot inside the computer and melted some of the plastic on his computer case. He didn't make a claim though because he thought his rates on insurance would go up if he did so since it was just a small fire and he got it put out so it didn't damage a whole lot. All he had to do was repaint the wall and replace his desk and periphials. But a few weeks down the road, his computer started acting funny after he cleaned all the soot out and got it running again. He thinks his motherboard died, but still isn't sure. (this was over a year ago) Since then he has just replaced the entire computer at his own cost. As a lesson learned, YOU should claim on insurance if you say your house burned down. That includes everything inside of it for the insurance company to cover. Get your important data transferred off that hard drive ASAP!
 
insurance claim gets my vote, you have no idea if the machines will break a month down the road and if the fire was or wasnt to blaim.

thats the whole point of insurance to me
 
My homeowners policy has a clause for smoke damage and it is definitely covered. Who knows what you are churning up when those fans spin. Melted and burned particulates are not only annoying, but can affect your health. Turn it in, claim it as a loss.

For all the reasons posted....
Definitely damaged equipment, worst case, health affecting.
 
PWMK2 said:
That is, if you didn't have a conscience...
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His house burned down idiot - thats why he PAYS the insurance company to replace his stuff when its damaged. He's not stealing.
 
Insurance!!!!

That's why you have it.

Best case, you get the check, build a new rig, and your old HDs will still fire up long enough to copy any important data over to the new machine.

Extreme heat and smoke damage will kill your computer. It might not be immediate, but the death will be much faster than without.

-Jeff
 
hungryduck said:
His house burned down idiot - thats why he PAYS the insurance company to replace his stuff when its damaged. He's not stealing.
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I just don't see how you can justify claiming a loss on something that works. Sorry if I'm an idiot.
 
PWMK2 said:
I just don't see how you can justify claiming a loss on something that works. Sorry if I'm an idiot.
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Because more than likely it was damaged, and though it works right now, its lifespan has been severely reduced.
 
wholly rants ...the poster only says its smells and hasn't even said if he has insurance or not

couple pine tree air fresheners stuffed in here 'n there? =) g'luk!
 
Well, personally, I would feel morally wrong claiming insurance damage from I fire that I set myself from a cigarette, but if it was a house defect, or a random thing, I would have no qualms about it.
 
Friend of mine had his apartment have smoke damage, a real mess. The unit below him had a kitchen fire. His computer has been running ok in the 2 years since, but he has odd intermittent issues of rebooting post-fire. Could be something else causing it, but that soot is very nasty stuff.
 
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