Fire and smoke damage

If you have insurance, I'd suggest you seek replacement.

I'd be on the phone with insurance to have it all replaced. Sorry for your misfortune and hope it all comes together for you. Reminds me I have to call my insurance to make sure my gear is covered

@smaarch1 good idea, I will do the same.

OP. Sorry for the misfortune.  Hopefully you and your family are ok.
we can love our possessions but they are replaceable 

Man, superficial water damage is relatively easy to deal with. Electronic cleaners and a toothbrush, or similar. That is important to do quickly with ARC gear in large part because they avoided solder masks for the longest time. That means the PCB traces themselves would be exposed to corroding elements.

Then there’s internal controls and switches, and transformers, which are not hermetically sealed, which is most of them. 

It’s not unsalvageable, but this is a long road ahead. Assuming you can clean and dry them to get them working again, the long term effects of corrosion are really going to challenge keeping them going. 

"...I have to call my insurance to make sure my gear is covered..."

Generally electronic gear is only covered for about $1500 max. At least that is what my policies say. 

Homeowner's insurance claims nowdays require hiring badass lawyer, because all claims get denied whether you have or don't have particular coverages. Insurance companies assume that you broke-ass and wouldn't be able to hire an attorney and get away without paying split penny on all of your losses.
Cleaning expensive audiogear from all that dust and ash will be extremely tedious where you need to go for every cubic mm with brush on every spot or your PCB or chassis. Might be easier to claim loss. The larger your loss is the more it will make sense to hire attorney.
If your loss let's say is lower than attorney fees, then there's nothing you'll be able to do on your own but taking that loss.

czarivey

Homeowner’s insurance claims nowdays require hiring badass lawyer, because all claims get denied whether you have or don’t have particular coverages.

That’s simply false.

Indeed, were it true, you’d have a helluva case in "good faith" states, such as where I live. Denying all claims would be obvious bad faith and easy to prove - you’d be awarded treble damages and attorney’s fees.

The "secret" to collecting on an insurance claim is to document, document, document. Everything. That has to start before the loss is even incurred.

You also must have a replacement value rider in your policy. Years ago I was broken into and I was able to prove what each component cost me and how much it would cost to replace them now. I didn't get full value, however it was over 90%. Since high-end audio is not really covered in a basic policy, you have to get the rider and it will cost a bit more. Also keep copies of receipts and a list of all your gear and what you paid for it somewhere off site or in the cloud so you have that info in a disaster.

to get awarded with attorney's fees, those fees must be reasonable for judge. if they're larger than claim itself, you might only get part or nothing at all.
new normal isn't normal-normal as prior

Hi Mark:

Here's a blob of info regarding what you are dealing with (smoke damage).

https://hickersonbrothers.com/smoke-damage-electronics/

DeKay

PS:

If your insurance carrier does not come through you might try this (see link) on the circuits boards et cetera if you want to attempt a DIY cleaning of your favorite gear.

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Electrosolve-Residue-Electronics/dp/B005DNR0N4/ref=asc_df_B005DN...

I have been using it for maybe 15 years without a problem (even on plastic parts).

Before my favorite was Kontak cleaner, but other than the expense the fumes from it triggered headaches (it smelled like naptha and/or dry cleaning fluid).

The MG stuff cleaned just as well (and it's from Canada:-).

Anyway, hope you and yours are doing OK in dealing with the loss of your home, also assume that you are fairly local to me (WHD) from some of your previous comments here about Brooks B.

DeKay

Hey guys thanks for the info. Waiting to hear back from insurance company. Gear is really not water damaged but heavy smoke damage. The room the gear was in did not suffer any fire damage at all just heavy black smoke and what little water come in the room was from the ceiling above. Right now gear is at a neighbors house, looks pretty good but you can see the smoke on the gear.

mktracy
 Gear is really not water damaged but heavy smoke damage.

If you end up with it yourself, cheapest way get a good 1" brush and spay and brush everything a couple of times with WD-40, even the boards and trcks top and bottom, then blow it all out with compressed air and leave it for a couple of days.

Cheers George

I would not use WD-40 on a bet...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3521361

I don't even use it on my tools.

Let the gear dry out and then use the non-caustic Electrosolve that I linked...

DeKay

WD-40 is fine for this soot removal, used it many times in blown up amps that have smoked up, and it eventually dries out completely.
Should never be used as a lubricant, as it only lubes while it is wet.

WD-40 leaves a caustic (IMO) residue and requires a follow up cleaning with other often caustic cleaners.

It's basic function is to rid moisture from the applied surface which can be easily duplicated by open air (airing) without all the chemicals/crap.

Just smelling WD-40 has always made me feel odd/ill and this goes back to my childhood (I'm 66 years old).

What I suggested (following proper open air drying) is a considerably less toxic remedy, plus the MG product is "fairly" safe for plastic and circuit boards as I've not experienced a problem with such in the past 15, or so, years.

It's claim is that it leaves zero residue, but due to me being a slightly OCD Capricorn I have repeated the cleaning a few times when using the MG Electrosolve product.

Not a fan of WD-40 George, and I suggested an inexpensive/better (IMO) alternative for these type of applications.

DeKay

As I said mktracy I’ve used it many times on many repairs never had a so called "caustic problem" with it.

https://www.wd40.com/products/contact-cleaner/

Cheers George

@dekay and @georgehifi...Thank you both for the info. I contacted ARC is morning and they recommended either LP1 or Deoxit to clean all boards and tube sockets. Gear has been sitting out on there edge for 2 weeks now so I guess its time to try cleaning the gear