Recovering your AC drive after a flood or water damage.09/08/2017We’ve all heard the stories about the friend that dropped the phone in the water. Sometimes it was able to be recovered and work like nothing happened at all. Sometimes it became a paperweight. Probably the most prevalent theory on drying it out is to put it into a bowl of rice and let the rice draw the water out. Even the smallest Yaskawa P7 series drive is too big for a bowl of rice. In cases of flooding, even when it seems like it, your drive may not be doomed. If the drive was not powered up when it came into contact with water, there is a very real chance that you can save it. The first thing you should try is to clean the drive. Chances are if you experienced a flood, there was probably sediment. The drive is already wet so cleaning it out using clean water to get any dirt or debris out is where you should start. Spray with a low pressure nozzle on a hose to loosen and remove any mud or other sediment, but not to cause any small components to be torn from circuit boards because of water pressure causing further damage. After the debris is sufficiently cleared out of the drive, the key is to dry it out thoroughly. If left at room temperature some components will take a very long time to dry. Enclosed components and coiled components such as relays, transformers, and inductors will take a little extra time to dry. If you have available some type of oven or heater with temperature that can be controlled and appropriately adjusted, that will speed up the process as well as a fan or anything that will circulate air throughout the drive. Even if you do have these methods to accelerate the drying process, you will want to allow a few days of drying time. When the drive has had time to completely dry, it’s time to reconnect and apply power. Always keep safety in mind at this point, because you never know what a drive that has been submerged in water will do. It may power up and run fine, it may do nothing at all. It may snap, crackle, pop, or even explode with catastrophic effects. You should use some type of overload protection in line such as fuses or a circuit breaker. For the initial power up test, the protection can be rated low. You’re just testing to see if the drive will power up successfully at this point. You’re not ready to run a motor just yet. If the drive powers up without any problems, take steps toward getting the drive integrated back into its application once you’re sure the rest of the system is ready to run as well. If you're not confident about the drying out process, lack the proper equipment, or if the drive fails anywhere along the testing process, call 800-732-4695 to contact the drive experts at PES to have your drive repaired and completely load tested. Back To Blog
Recovering your AC drive after a flood or water damage.09/08/2017We’ve all heard the stories about the friend that dropped the phone in the water. Sometimes it was able to be recovered and work like nothing happened at all. Sometimes it became a paperweight. Probably the most prevalent theory on drying it out is to put it into a bowl of rice and let the rice draw the water out. Even the smallest Yaskawa P7 series drive is too big for a bowl of rice. In cases of flooding, even when it seems like it, your drive may not be doomed. If the drive was not powered up when it came into contact with water, there is a very real chance that you can save it. The first thing you should try is to clean the drive. Chances are if you experienced a flood, there was probably sediment. The drive is already wet so cleaning it out using clean water to get any dirt or debris out is where you should start. Spray with a low pressure nozzle on a hose to loosen and remove any mud or other sediment, but not to cause any small components to be torn from circuit boards because of water pressure causing further damage. After the debris is sufficiently cleared out of the drive, the key is to dry it out thoroughly. If left at room temperature some components will take a very long time to dry. Enclosed components and coiled components such as relays, transformers, and inductors will take a little extra time to dry. If you have available some type of oven or heater with temperature that can be controlled and appropriately adjusted, that will speed up the process as well as a fan or anything that will circulate air throughout the drive. Even if you do have these methods to accelerate the drying process, you will want to allow a few days of drying time. When the drive has had time to completely dry, it’s time to reconnect and apply power. Always keep safety in mind at this point, because you never know what a drive that has been submerged in water will do. It may power up and run fine, it may do nothing at all. It may snap, crackle, pop, or even explode with catastrophic effects. You should use some type of overload protection in line such as fuses or a circuit breaker. For the initial power up test, the protection can be rated low. You’re just testing to see if the drive will power up successfully at this point. You’re not ready to run a motor just yet. If the drive powers up without any problems, take steps toward getting the drive integrated back into its application once you’re sure the rest of the system is ready to run as well. If you're not confident about the drying out process, lack the proper equipment, or if the drive fails anywhere along the testing process, call 800-732-4695 to contact the drive experts at PES to have your drive repaired and completely load tested.