A stupid question???

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Well if some of you havent heard sourthern MN got hit hard by rain and flooding and im sure you can figure out by now my shop got hit.  5 feet of water in the main floor and the basement completly filled.  the shop is a disaster.  My stupid question is, i had no power to my welder as i always unplug it after im done with it, is there any hope that it might still work?
Reply:I lived in the missouri river valley during the big floods of the 90's. I've seen many things recovered from flood waters work fine after being cleaned up. Is this a simple transformer welder? Open the thing up and wash all the gunk out. I would suggest a hose nozzle and a soft brush over a power washer, maybe a bit of mild soap. Dry it well with a fan. Give it several days. A sunny afternoon in direct sunlight while it still opened up would certainly help. Might as well give it a try. The quicker you can get to it and get that flood gunk out of it the better. Hopefully most your shop equipment can be saved.
Reply:MoparGuy313, Sorry to hear of your troubles.  Not a stupid question at all.My engine driven "weldanpower" took a drink.Completely submerged in a fresh water flood.I power washed it, and dried it out with a blast of nitrogen.That was over 15 years ago, it's still ready to use.When computers where expensive; my buddy got a system from a dentist's office that had burned down. They where covered with smoke residue and had been soaked by fire hose.He used the same wash and dry treatment... they worked!A lot of your stuff can be saved. Act now!Last edited by denrep; 09-06-2007 at 10:47 PM.
Reply:I believe it will work.  It's amazing how things like that will work after being soaked.  I dropped my dads uber expensive 2-way radio in the Green River (in Utah for those of you non-locally) on my pontoon boat.  Reached in really quick, grabbed it, removed the batteries, let it COMPLETELY dry for a few days, put the batteries back in, works like a charm to this very day.  As Denrep said, act NOW!!!***Stick welding like, woah.***
Reply:well i hosed everything down and its been sitting in the shop since, havent been down since we cleaned everything up, need to get my mind off things by doing a little black bear hunting.ill have to give it a try once my electrician puts a new box in there
Reply:If you can, try to get an industrial dehumidifier set up in your building. Maybe you can rent one. Start the dry out while you clear your mind.The sooner the better. Rust and mold act fast.
Reply:Originally Posted by denrepMaybe you can rent one