I went to see a friend last week, and on our way to the pub, we swung by his office. To our utter shock and amazement, when we got into his office, the roof was leaking in several places. One place didn't affect the computer much, except that the was was squelching right up to and including the tower which say on the floor.

There a big drip-drip-drip onto the desk that was secondary splashing onto the keyboard and the poor old mouse was stood in a pool of water. Another drip unfortunately, was straight onto or rather into the Flat screen monitor. It was drenched really, because it had been doing this for hours. The base unit sits under the table, and so it has a kind of umbrella, i suppose, and as far as i could see, there was no water dripping on or around the wires or cables that go into the base unit. Now he does switch his computer off, but not at the mains. So everything is kind of 'live' in terms of being ready to go if you switch it on. The monitor was in stand-by mode.

My instinct, was to switch it off at the mains, and drag everything out of the room. Water was also cascading down the walls affecting the IP phone socket, and the phone itself got secondary splashes off the monitor.
So i got all the stuff out, but of course it might be damaged. i don't really know.

i didn't check to see at the time, whether the monitor had 'blown' or not.

So could someone provide me with advice please on equipment to check for electrical safety before plugging anything back in.

i don't think the base unit would be affected, unless the fact that things like the keyboard, mouse and monitor can affect the electrical connections.

Well it was a lot of fun i can assure, you, because it was still raining as we were moving the stuff and we got quite wet.

I put down four, 2 gallon storage boxes, that had files in and when he went into work on Monday, so he tells me, they were not only full, but the leak had gone downstairs into the reception area too. All of the reception area was also sodden in water.

I went to his office a few days ago, and he can't sit in it. A significant number of his written papers are runied by being stuck together. The wall paper is peeling off the walls and ceiling. The lights have fused, and the carpet is all swollen and wonkey, you can't walk on it properly.
I really can't believe how much damage has been done. The amazing thing is, he isn't on the top floor, there is a floor above him and nothing above him was damaged.

First off if the leak didn't damage anything above him then it may have been caused by a leaking pipe.

The best thing to do with the computer equipment, assumming this was FRESH water and not sewage or roof sump water, would be to dry off the hardware as best you can. Remove to a dry warm area and let all set until completely dry. The case should be opened and kept that way. The KBoard may dry better placed keys down. If any liquid water entered the case it might be better to disassemble the components. Water in the card and RAM slots would take longer to dry out.

It was defintely rain water. Their office is a kind of house converted and its got a funny structure. Its a bit weired, becuase when you go into the attic and stand above his office, its all dry. i understand that there a roof below the attic and its here the rain water is getting in. It will make you laugh: They had minor trouble with it before, nothing like this, but because of the minor leaks, they spent £20000, yes thats right, £20000 to fix it permanently!
Hmmmm!

If you have even the slightest worry take it to a professional repair center and let them fix it. Otherwise dispose of it.

I'm sure dell would fix it.

The insurance should cover all damages.

"So could someone provide me with advice please on equipment to check for electrical safety before plugging anything back in."

A proper way would be to take it apart and clean it in an electronic washer. The motherboard from some lines are washed. In fact all boards used to be washed for years. They use warm very pure water to distilled water. They quickly dry it with warm air.

Must be clean and dry.

Put it back together and start it up.

That works for all sealed devices. Some speakers and some devices will be damaged.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

Well i understand what you mean by 'take it to a professional' But i am supposed to be the professional! The equipment has been given to me for me to test and return. I really have no idea what i am supposed to do with it. Dry it out, yes i knew that right away. Hang the keyboard upside down, yes i knew that. I appreciate the answer about washing in distilled water, because i would never have thought to do that.

I was thinking there should be some device that you could use to check before sending full on power into the motherboard.

Let me ask you this?

The monitor was plugged in, but was in standby mode. If water pours into it, would this break the monitor? There has to be some elctricity going round that circuit right? See, if i plug it in and i get a big puff of blue smoke, then i did that. i would like to know if there is an electrical testing kit to test it before plugging it in. I have shaken all the water out, it has been stood in a warm dry room for the last 5 days. So it should be OK, but i don't want to be the one that busts it.

Do you know of any electrical testing equipment?