Beginner's Guide to Cleaning Up Electronics After a Fire

10/15/2021 (Permalink)

An electrical fire can cause a lot of damage to your commercial building, but fortunately, SERVPRO is always here, ready to help you!

Cleaning Electronics After A Fire: A Guide For Beginners

When an electrical fire breaks out in your Miami, FL, business, you may wonder if your electronics can be salvaged. A fire cleanup professional may be able to add to the information found in this guide.

Considering the Damage

Before you can have a computer cleanup done on your device, you need to figure out what kind of damage was done. During a fire, your electronics could be susceptible to multiple kinds of damage:

• Acidity Buildup: Smoke is often made up of soot, which can have a high acidity level. The acidity buildup can start to destroy your devices unless cleaned up promptly.
• Char: If the flames of the electrical fire engulf your computer, it may become charred. It may be hard to repair electronic devices that have this type of damage.
• Magnetic Charge: Depending on the fuel of the fire, smoke can also have a magnetic charge that can cause electronic devices to short circuit. Cleaning out the interior of the device may be enough to fix this issue.
• Soot Layer: Smoke can also leave a black film with insulating properties on the interior parts of electronics. Because of the added insulation, your equipment may start to overheat, so a thorough cleaning is often needed.

Before you can fix damage done to your electronics, you need to know what kind of damage to look for.

Doing the Repairs

As you get ready to do your computer cleanup, you may start to realize that you don't know what you're doing. Even if you know there is an acidity buildup, how do you get rid of it? It's often best to get professional help when cleaning up after a fire. Experts know not to give the computers power until the cleaning is done. They also know what kind of cleaners can be used on every surface of the electronics.

An electrical fire can cause a lot of damage to your commercial building. In some cases, your electronics may be salvageable.