Flood Damage

[D_R]

Hi,

in the region around my office we had a flood few days ago. Now I’m getting requests for data recovery. But I don’t know, what I will deal with. The HDD was swimming in dirty water for about 48h. I think, I had to ultrasonic the PCB, and clean the drive before I can test it. Or is it worth to open the drive and check if there is something inside?

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Hi,

in the region around my office we had a flood few days ago. Now I’m getting requests for data recovery. But I don’t know, what I will deal with. The HDD was swimming in dirty water for about 48h. I think, I had to ultrasonic the PCB, and clean the drive before I can test it. Or is it worth to open the drive and check if there is something inside?

Well,
Take a Drive Dip it in dirty water for 48 Hours ,If You Can Handle That Take Clients Orders Otherwise outsource it

[day1data]

Hi,

Your more than welcome to outsource them to us. We are in Augsburg, Bayern.
We have dealt with water damaged hard drives on many occasions.

First of all what kind of tools do you have, clean room etc?
What ever you do don't turn the drive on or the recovery will be over very quickly.

Regards,
Luke

[D_R]

Hi Luke,

currently I didn't accepted a single job, because I don't know what I'm dealing with. On the other hand, if others can do it, why not me? It's good to know, that you can also restore the drives, because if I get all of the jobs, I myself don't have the capacity to restore all drives in the time, the customers want their data back. So if I'm going to get the jobs, I'm going to outsource some to you.

But first of all, lets talk about the drives.
Well, I have a clean room and PC3k for SATA. At least one customer had SAS drives. I have no PC3k SAS. I currently have no Ramps for HSA or tools for spindle / motor exchange. In my lab, I have everything for electronics repair.

[day1data]

Ok Great.

First when you get the drives post photos of them open in the clean room. What are the models of the drives with water damage?

The only way for water to get into a drive is via the air breathing port. This is the first place i check on the inside of the drive for discoloration etc.
You would be surprised how long the air filter can hold water off for, we have tested it here in our lab and some drives can be under shallow water for 30-40 minutes and no water enters the drive.
The reason for this is that the drive also has to expel air for water to enter the drive. Drives with the air breathing port on the bottom of the drive last longer than those with the breathing port on top due to water pressure etc.

Basically it all depends how much water got into the drive and how long it was underwater.

[jermy]

we have tested it here in our lab and some drives can be under shallow water for 30-40 minutes and no water enters the drive.

The OP said:

The HDD was swimming in dirty water for about 48h.