Well, one of my Unisaw's that was in storage in Biloxi, MS, was completely submerged in brackish water as a result of Kristina.
Ordinarily, I would consider it a small loss considering what others have gone and are going through and junk it, however, it was in storage because it is of great sentimental value to me so I am going to try to recover it.
I'm at a loss as to what to do to the induction motor and starter. It is a three hp tefc Marathon motor and a GPE starter. Compounding the problem is I probably won't get down for a number of weeks, although I might be able to get one of my nephews to do something to it if I knew what to do. Also, I don't have a clue as to when power might be available to try to run it.
Normally I'd suggest getting it out of the water, washed down with fresh water thoroughly, disassembled, and dried. Your nephew might not be able to accomplish all that.
An alternative is to leave it submerged. If it were fresh water, I'd say that would be the best bet for now. It's less likely to oxidize because there is little oxygen that can reach it. While that would also be true > Well, one of my Unisaw's that was in storage in Biloxi, MS, was
Years ago I used to work on the Radars and nav gear onboard the Alaskan fishing fleet. We periodically would have to "rehab" a Radar that went down as a ship sank. I do not guarantee it will work for you, but it just might because a TS is way less complex than a Radar. Bear in mind that the majority of the oxidation happens *when you pull it out of the water* - you do NOT want to let it dry out on its own. Here's what we did:
1) Pull the item out of the water and *IMMEDIATELY* give it a complete rinse in clean, fresh water.
2) Disassmble it and keep rinsing. The more you can take it apart, the better it will be. Once the motor is off, hose it off throughly, inside and out. If you can get the rotor out of the motor, better still. Be sure to open up switch housings, electrical boxes on the machine, and so forth. They have to be cleaned and dried thoroughly.
1) and 2) should take several *hours* of work
3) Take each dissembled piece that is throughly cleaned and wipe it dry with clean, lintfree rags. Now soak/spray it thoroughly in WD-40. WD-40 displaces moisure and leaves a protective reside behind.
4) Let everything stand for a day or two in a dry place. Then wipe everything off completely. You may have to repeat 1-3 for some/all pieces.
At this point, you can try sticking it back together and trying it. Don't be surprised if you have to have the motor rebuilt (shouldn't cost all that much) and/or have to replace starting capacitors, switches or other electrical components.
WARNING: WHEN YOU FIRE THE THING UP, MAKE SURE IT IS COMPLETELY DRY AND ON A COMPELTELY DRY SURFACE. WEAR APPROPRIATE RUBBER SOLED SHOES, PROTECTIVE GLOVES, AND EYE PROTECTION (IN CASE IT SPARKS - IT PROBABLY WILL - DON'T DO THIS NEAR FLAMMABLE MATERIALS).
PRACTICE GOOD ELECTRICAL SAFETY. IF YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, DON'T DO ANY OF THIS. YOU HAVE AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO ELECTROCUTE YOURSELF.
I would salvage the top & make a coffee table out of it . . . . . I work as a CAT adjuster & I know that it is hard to get anything accomplished in the aftermath of a hurricane that does not apply to life or home . . . You can not get any help nor supplies . . . I'm not being smart ass about the coffee table, it would be a real conversation piece with a dulled plate projecting a few inches with a nice hard wood cabinet below . . .
At work when we have a motor get submerged, we "megger" it. I guess that means we run high current through the motor and see if there is a short. Not sure if this is for 3 phase only. If it megers ok, then we go ahead and use it. If not, we replace it.
I assume you have an attachment to the saw itself and not the motor. motors are a wear part.
A few years ago our 7 yo left his toy, but still darn expensive, laptop out in the rain. I figure it would be fine as soon as it dried out, so I opened it up to air. A few minutes later my wife decided to see if it still worked. (fortunately I had removed the batteries...)
Either submerge again in a suitable container, or buy new one through insurance and get sentimental about that. I know, I know it's not the same. But that's life. I lost a 1.5" chisel that belonged to my father. Loaned it and didn't get it back. Went to ask for it, and got it back in pieces! You learn to put it behind you.
means too much to me and hundreds of others to not take a good shot at restoration. I don't need the saw to use, I have several others for that. This one had never been used.
Go here for a crowd that does restorations as a rule of thumb.
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flooding is bad but the saw can be saved with work and $$$.
The motor needs attention as soon as possible, for a chance of a save. I would have friends remove that at a minimum and ship it out by what ever means to a motor shop.
If the saw can receive no immediate attention, hose it down in a light oil to fight the rust till proper attention can be paid to it. I mean a real hosing, inside and outside. Oil can be removed later during proper restoration.
I can only assume that the local folks will have access to any sort of oil but even kerosene would be of help till somthing else can be found. Diesel fuel will work also.
Given the conditions in Biloxi, the saw is way down on the list of stuff that needs attention.
Electronic products are often washed by a manufacturer before shipping. Your key concerns here are:
1) Corrosion -- wash with clean, fresh water as soon as possible and allow to dry.
2) Contamination (producing high impedance shorts) -- wash with distilled water before you power up the unit and allow to DRY THOROUGHLY.
3) Power sources being shorted -- sounds like it wasn't used in a long time so any capacitors would have discharged and the saw wouldn't have any on-board power sources so you should be fine here
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