Beware of flood damaged radios.

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[@harbselectronicslab3551]

I once repaired 100 brand new business band radio's that were boxed and completely underwater for 2 weeks......they said the were not insured, so there was nothing to loose in a repair attempt, hence I had a go. I pulled all 100 apart (lids off etc)....... I then hosed them down with a garden hose to get most of the mud and silt out of them, and then put them all through an old Dishwasher I had, and washed them with just plain rain water, no soap added......I am lucky enough to have tanked rainwater. As I pulled them out of the dishwasher in batches, I loaded them into a vertical Nappy drying cabinet I got from the Red Cross shop for $10.....it was the size of a big fridge, so held around 40 at a time, and set it to around 30 degree's C (flat out for that machine I think) .......and left them in there for 24 hours min.....sometimes longer if I had some other job on. Well long story short, the only things I had to replace was speakers and about a dozen Mic's and I sprayed all the pots with cleaner lube......no other parts needed, and that was 25 years ago and they were still all going when they were upgraded just a couple of years back........the secret is the drying process....it has to be done so there is no doubt that all the water has been forced out of the wiring. I did this after a few years earlier talking to a TEK rep who told me about Tektronics doing a similar process to their equipment in for repair....using huge ultrasonic cleaners in some cases......I have since used both a dishwasher and a large ultrasonic heated cleaner for lots of gear with zero failures.......there are quiet a few KZbin video's on the subject. But yes, if you don't do it right, in regards to drying, you will have years of trouble ahead.

[@theodoresears4679]

Can you do a desense repairing Grundig S350DL. I was listening to very strong signal on. 27.165 MHz with my long. Wire antenna then it it went quite.

[@materialsguy2002]

Mike: Good tips on flood damaged equipment. I know that flood damaged vehicles are sold cross-border as so-called bargains, ultimately causing no end of headaches for the new owner. On the subject of water, wiring, and capillary action, I have read about and seen videos on the recycling of ships where they use thousands of feet of cabling. When the cables were cut for salvage, gallons of water came out.

[@geraldscott4302]

From my experience, digital displays are the first thing to get damaged from being wet, and they don't have to be underwater. In super high humidity, water will condense on the display, and it will never work again. A few segments may still show, but there is no way to fix it. I don't recommend using anything with a digital display if it needs to hold up under harsh conditions. That includes not only radios, but cell phones, computers, etc.

[@Willam_J]

I worked in the radio shop at a US national laboratory for many years. We had our own paging system with about 1,200 users. Just about every day, someone would walk into the shop and say that their pager isn’t working because it got wet. I would ask them if they dropped it in the toilet. I could immediately tell when they were lying. I kept asking until they would finally admit it. I would then ask them how they would like someone to hand them something that was dunked in urine and feces. People need to be more honest about things like that. I don’t want some disease because they were too embarrassed to say what happened. Just admit it. Accidents happen and it’s not like they would get charged any more for the water damage. Being honest lets me know what I’m up against and how to protect myself. Be careful with that flood damaged stuff. (The submerged ones.) Flood water also contains sanitary sewerage.

[@argentogoldspier5211]

About 10 years ago I knew a guy who had about 4 CB Radios in a plastic box. It got moved outside his garage one day with other things as his kid was having a birthday party in the garage. It was left out for a week and the top was cracked and the box filled up with rainwater. He worked away and his wife and kid left the plastic tarp cover off the things that they took out the garage. All the CB Radios where under water in the box. He did not plug them in to try them. He took the covers off and put them on a towel in the back seat of his car. It was summer so the car got hot during the day. He left them for 2 weeks. They looked dry so he tried them and they worked and still do today.

[@gadget73]

I bought a Realistic 449 that had been sitting in water. Got it cheap as a parts set, basically I needed the covers and anything else was a bonus. It had obvious signs of water from the back up to about the middle of the board. The transformer can leads on those are copper clad steel, and the steel had rusted away leaving just a foil of tinned copper. No fixing it, the transformers were all bad.

[@902Steeler]

Your awesome Mike thanks for the videos

[@dougsnova1]

You mean I can't spray it out with my garden hose?? 😂

[@cw5059]

HAHAHA, you mean "give it a douche" a term coined by that douche in the desert, Timmah lolz

[@soylentgreen6476]

Don't forget the driveway cleaner! LOL

[@matthewdavies2057]

@@soylentgreen6476 A pressure washer? 10-4!

[@TheOpenAirGarage]

Great information!!!

[@Brenda-jf2pe]

Mike what is the final on the bearcat 980 ssb I need to replace it , it's under marked?

[@greenrefrigerator]

As a general rule this is why I don't buy used radio gear unless I know the seller in person or otherwise trust them. I've been very lucky so far but I know many of those who don't because they're constantly putting their money into these "great deals". To their credit, they do at times get those fantastic deals but there are times they DON'T and that's the aspect of this I can do without. Apart from flood damage, some people tend to abuse the shit out of their radio gear!

[@swampfox5329]

Yeah I'm real careful with the as is listings. Most of the time they want premium prices and it isn't worth it to begin with. If they won't test it or put a return policy on it then I don't waste my time or money.

[@buckaroobonsi555]

I am going to have nightmare now Mike! The heck with Steven King I am scared of ebay now! I agree I do not mind bowing flood damaged items if I have the need for it and I know what I am buying! Like you sometimes I want bezels and knobs and other parts. No matter what though you want to know what you are bidding on so you can bid wisely!

[@johnferguson4989]

What is the small transformer in these? I don't think in this day & age that it's an audio driver or output transformer. Thanks.

[@mikesradiorepair]

John Ferguson Power input choke.

[@karlporath8904]

Submerge in IPA. Preferably in an ultrasonic cleaner.

[@mikesradiorepair]

Karl Porath Definitely don't want to put a whole radio in a ultrasonic cleaner. Guaranteed it will not work after that. Items like crystals, filters and many some It's can be destroyed with ultrasonic cleaning. Tact switches don't take it very well either, I found that out the hard way. It destroyed 8 tact switches in under 3 minutes. The only way you could safely do it would be to check the datasheet for every single component in the radio and see if ultrasonic cleaning is a approved cleaning method. If it's not you would have to remove all those parts.

[@karlporath8904]

MikesRadioRepair works on cell phones that take the toilet plunge.

[@mikesradiorepair]

Karl Porath That may be but I have had destructive results with many components. Many datasheets clearly state that a component can not be cleaned in a ultrasonic cleaner because they will be damaged.

[@bblod4896]

Is that a portable antenna attached to the so239? If yes, where did you get it?

[@mikesradiorepair]

Have a couple of them I acquired over the years. Public auctions, eBay and one that came from my grandfathers and uncles radio/tv repair shop.

[@bblod4896]

MikesRadioRepair Short with a loaded whip? Have an extra to sell?