Restoration of a Flood Damaged fit-PC3 Pro
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:41 pm
Overview
As I have previously shared in this forum, my former home was inundated in a record flood in late 2016. Among the casualties were my Compulab fanless industrial computers including a fit-PC3 Pro. In a previous post I showed the restoration of a fitlet. In this post I show the restoration of a fit-PC3 Pro, which has been unrestored and neglected for almost 2 years.
For fitlet restoration see: http://www.fit-pc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=5927
Cleaning and Restoration
The restoration process is fairly straightforward as follows
- Completely disassemble the unit
- Clean the case components using hot soapy water
- Rinse the case in distilled water
- Dry the case thoroughly using gentle heat.
- Clean and flush the circuit boards using distilled water.
- Final flush the boards using isopropyl alcohol
- Dry the boards using gentle heat.
- Spray all connectors and contacts with de-oxidizing /protectant solution
- Reassemble all components
Before Cleaning
After Cleaning
Back in Operation
Conclusions
fit-PC3 Pro is the 3rd Compulab computer I have successfully restored following the flood. At 1st I thought there would be no hope for these units, but I have been pleasantly surprised by their renewed operation. None of my other electronic equipment was savable after the flood, and the Compulab equipment has been the exception. I have to believe that such computers which can be brought back to life after being subjected to prolonged immersion in flood waters and 2 years of neglect, will perform quite satisfactorily in the harshest industrial environment.
As I have previously shared in this forum, my former home was inundated in a record flood in late 2016. Among the casualties were my Compulab fanless industrial computers including a fit-PC3 Pro. In a previous post I showed the restoration of a fitlet. In this post I show the restoration of a fit-PC3 Pro, which has been unrestored and neglected for almost 2 years.
For fitlet restoration see: http://www.fit-pc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=5927
Cleaning and Restoration
The restoration process is fairly straightforward as follows
- Completely disassemble the unit
- Clean the case components using hot soapy water
- Rinse the case in distilled water
- Dry the case thoroughly using gentle heat.
- Clean and flush the circuit boards using distilled water.
- Final flush the boards using isopropyl alcohol
- Dry the boards using gentle heat.
- Spray all connectors and contacts with de-oxidizing /protectant solution
- Reassemble all components
Before Cleaning
- Before Cleaning.jpeg (312.67 KiB) Viewed 15507 times
After Cleaning
- After Cleaning.JPG (249 KiB) Viewed 15507 times
Back in Operation
- Back In Operation.jpeg (304.37 KiB) Viewed 15507 times
Conclusions
fit-PC3 Pro is the 3rd Compulab computer I have successfully restored following the flood. At 1st I thought there would be no hope for these units, but I have been pleasantly surprised by their renewed operation. None of my other electronic equipment was savable after the flood, and the Compulab equipment has been the exception. I have to believe that such computers which can be brought back to life after being subjected to prolonged immersion in flood waters and 2 years of neglect, will perform quite satisfactorily in the harshest industrial environment.