Smoke damage

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris S
  • Start date Start date
C

Chris S

Hi

We had a minor fire the other day and a lot of smoke got into our server
room, which was then drawn into my servers and switch's. you could tell
there was a lot of smoke as the back of the fans were covered badly in soot,
everything stayed running ok tho!

there was a lot of soot inside the machines, covering practically all the
components, all servers and switches have been cleaned out with air dusters,
but i'm just trying to get opinions on the long term damage if any?

in the meantime tho i'm trying to get them all replaced under insurance, as
2 of the switch's fans have already failed and have had to been stripped and
cleaned out!

just wondering!

Chris
 
Hi

We had a minor fire the other day and a lot of smoke got into our server
room, which was then drawn into my servers and switch's. you could tell
there was a lot of smoke as the back of the fans were covered badly in soot,
everything stayed running ok tho!

there was a lot of soot inside the machines, covering practically all the
components, all servers and switches have been cleaned out with air dusters,
but i'm just trying to get opinions on the long term damage if any?
Click to expand...

There is no long-term damage. It fouls contacts so either
the part is able to be cleaned off and reused, or it isn't.
The damage would come from a destructive cleaning or
handling of the parts.

in the meantime tho i'm trying to get them all replaced under insurance, as
2 of the switch's fans have already failed and have had to been stripped and
cleaned out!

just wondering!
Click to expand...


What's to wonder about then? You can't write them off,
collect on them then keep using them. Either they're
trashed or you only collect for the cleaning bill.

Since they're servers and presumably mission-critical, it's
probably not worth the hassle of trying to salvage anything
but the data. If there wasn't insurance involved or they
weren't company servers then I'd suggest pulling the
batteries and proms then a good immersion cleaning
piece-by-piece except for fans and drives.
 
Hi

We had a minor fire the other day and a lot of smoke got into our server
room, which was then drawn into my servers and switch's. you could tell
there was a lot of smoke as the back of the fans were covered badly in soot,
everything stayed running ok tho!

there was a lot of soot inside the machines, covering practically all the
components, all servers and switches have been cleaned out with air dusters,
but i'm just trying to get opinions on the long term damage if any?

in the meantime tho i'm trying to get them all replaced under insurance, as
2 of the switch's fans have already failed and have had to been stripped and
cleaned out!

just wondering!

Chris
Click to expand...

All electronic components run on,"Smoke".If the smoke escapes the
components stop working :D
 
Chris S said:
Hi

We had a minor fire the other day and a lot of smoke got into our server
room, which was then drawn into my servers and switch's. you could tell
there was a lot of smoke as the back of the fans were covered badly in
soot, everything stayed running ok tho!

there was a lot of soot inside the machines, covering practically all the
components, all servers and switches have been cleaned out with air
dusters, but i'm just trying to get opinions on the long term damage if
any?

in the meantime tho i'm trying to get them all replaced under insurance,
as 2 of the switch's fans have already failed and have had to been
stripped and cleaned out!

just wondering!

Chris
Click to expand...


The collection of soot/dust on components will insulate heat making the
HD's/CPU's/ PS's/etc. run hotter. Will this cause failure - only time will
tell.
 
Smoke should not damage PCs - they'll make em' really dirty but it
should be ok. Just clean them out. What we're afraid of is moisture and
water, really - not soot or smoke.

**************************************************************
Sincerely,
Gary Hendricks, Build-Your-Own-Computers.com
Step-by-step guides for setting up your own computer:
http://www.build-your-own-computers.com
**************************************************************
 
Smoke should not damage PCs - they'll make em' really dirty but it
should be ok. Just clean them out. What we're afraid of is
moisture and water, really - not soot or smoke.
Click to expand...

Normally I would believe you. However, I recently started to work at a
manufacturing plant and I have seen at least 4 computers around the
factory with the power supply fan "stuck". You can hear the power
supply fan still trying to move (kind of a "click-click-click" sound).
I just got a ticket for one PC overheating due to this problem. These
computers are covered with tons of dirt and soot.

Granted, this is due to long term exposure from soot, but I would clean
out each device I could, especially if it has a fan running in it.

Adam
 
Philip said:
Adam.

Your company should consider liquid cooling.
Click to expand...

A novel idea, but it wouldn't fly because it would cost too much money.
Besides the fact that I think that water levels need to be maintained
and periodically refilled each year.

Adam
 
Your company should consider liquid cooling.

Phil
Click to expand...

It might help some but not necessarily a complete solution.
Given a really dirty environment there's still some of the
same needs, to periodically clean the radiator(s) and
fan(s), and the same potential for electrical contacts to be
fouled.

That's what it boils down to, if a system must be operated
in a very dirty environment then a more frequent service
interval is necessary. However, unless the dirt, smoke, etc
was very severe, the rear power supply fan failing is more
likely a sign it was an inferior quality fan. In particular
a power supply rear exhaust fan should be a name brand (fan
manufacturer name, PC parts relabelers often use inferior
quality parts) dual ball bearing model.
 
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