When Water and Electronics Mix
by Bryan Bergeron, Editor
September 2010
This past May, the Cumberland River crested 12 feet above flood stage, resulting in flash flooding of Nashville. In addition to the lost lives and thousands left homeless, a major instrument storage facility was completely flooded. Tens of millions of dollars worth of guitars, amplifiers, and sound equipment were submerged for days. Many of the acoustic instruments will never grace the stage again because the wood was split or otherwise ruined. The ultimate fate of the electronics is another matter, but odds are, much can be saved. The point of this editorial is that if you know what you’re doing, you can often resuscitate electronics that have been submerged. And, sooner or later, someone is going to bring you a piece of electronic equipment that was either submerged or left out in the rain. So, how will you handle it? First, there are no guarantees — especially if the device was powered up when it went for a dive. And, in general, the older the device, the better.
