One of the worst outcomes has happened: Unforecast rain :/

[pipnina]

So I went to bed at about 3am last night, and woke up to my dad coming into my room at about 11am saying it was raining.

The telescope, laptop, etc were all dripping wet. I've taken everything besides my mount indoors, and the mount back into the shed. I've tried drying everything off as best I can but I don't want to risk testing it yet and give it more time to dry out, as I don't want to risk it being OK but getting damaged by power-on and shorting.

I could have sworn the forecast last night said rain wouldn't start until some time in the mid afternoon, and with less than 40% probability. I suppose it served me right for not wanting to go back outside and spend 20 more minutes in -2 weather when I just wanted to go to sleep.

Been saying for ages that I should buy a weather cover, should have done it I guess 😕

[Mandy D]

Dry it in a warm environment, about 40 deg C, for a few days. Airing cupboard, above a radiator, etc. If you feel competent, strip it and dry parts separately. I obtained an A0 plotter that had been stored outside without cover for six months, stripped it and dried everything in my domestic oven on the lowest setting for a few hours, put it back together and it ran perfectly. I've had it for 20 years. Whatever you do, don't run it until you are certain it is 100% dried out. Water will not harm it when it is not running.

[carastro]

Oh dear.  Hope it all survives, as you say make sure it is bone dry before testing.  I have a friend who’s obsy roof got blown off and everything was soaked.  He left everything for a good 3 days before testing out and all survived. 
 

Carole

[tomato]

As previously advised don’t be too hasty powering it back up, too much drying time is better than not enough. I once put a pre touch screen Sony mobile phone through the washing machine, the display was a mess afterwards, but I dismantled it as far as I could, put it in the airing cupboard for a week and it was fine after that, even the display cleared up.

[Mandy D]

I should probably have said to take the battery out for safety before heating, but common sense should dictate that anyway!

Edited December 10, 2022 by Mandy D

[RobertI]

That’s grim. Hope it all dries out ok for you. 

[Xsubmariner]

I hope you are fortunate and can recover all the equipment. You can buy a small cupboard dehumidifier for £25-30, or get pack dehumidifier. Place it in a warm small space (airing cupboard is ideal) with your kit and it will greatly assist in drying out the space along with your kit. 

Now to go find a suitable cover.

[DaveS]

We had torrential rain and high winds a while back and had neglected to tie down the cover over my rig. It got blown off and everything underneath was drenched, so had to go out just in my dressing gown to bring it in. Eventually got everything dried out though it took a while to remove all the water from the heat sink of the camera. I found putting it in the oven on "defrost" worked as it had warm (Not hot) air blown over it. A hairdryer on low also helped with drying off the mount.

It all worked after drying out.

[Prador]

A well tested method to recover flood damaged motors is to thoroughly rinse in some demineralised water first then in the oven for a few hours on the lowest (plate warming etc) setting. That's for simple 3-phase motors though. The demin water helps to remove natural minerals in rain water that might accumulate once it has evaporated.

[Neil H]

Hi I was told once to dry out a phone to put in a air tight bag with a bowl of rice then put some were warm the rice will draw in the moisture may be worth a try 

[carastro]

I use either the airing cupboard or a dehumidifier to dry things out.  I have a dehumidifier in the obsy, but if it rained with an open dome that would get wet too.  

Carole 

[carastro]

Sorry seem to have double posted. 

Carole 

Edited December 11, 2022 by carastro

[whipdry]

Had a similar experience, my observatory was open with everything up & running when a heavy rain arrived earlier than expected, found towels, a bucket, kitchen roll, hair dryer, dew heaters, dehumidifier are your friends... nearly forgot the assistant of an astute person, they tell you it's raining!!! 

 

Peter

[carastro]

I must admit, I keep a watchful eye on Rain alarm app, and Sat24, I rarely have the confidence to grab some shut eye while I am imaging. 

Only once did I nearly get caught out and that was at Kelling this September.  There was a window of 1 1/2 hours during the whole week I was there, and decided to grab what I could.  Was watching the passing clouds as I was sitting at the rig, and on this occasion was not the Rain app.  Saw there were no breaks in the clouds that had arrived and had just started to shut down when the heavens opened up with me sitting there.  Managed to cover everything up pretty sharpish.  

My friend sharing the caravan heard the rain on the roof and came tearing out - no coat on - trying to decide what to cover up first, his rig or the laptop.

Carole  

[Prador]

2 hours ago, Neil H said:

Hi I was told once to dry out a phone to put in a air tight bag with a bowl of rice then put some were warm the rice will draw in the moisture may be worth a try 

I wouldn't go with rice. The airborne dust and starch could make matters worse. Desiccant is a much better option and reasonably cheap to buy a bunch of bags. They can also be reactivated in a microwave.

[pipnina]

34 minutes ago, Prador said:

I wouldn't go with rice. The airborne dust and starch could make matters worse. Desiccant is a much better option and reasonably cheap to buy a bunch of bags. They can also be reactivated in a microwave.

My dad has a few bags of that stuff for the car. Seems to work ok but sadly I don't have an airing cupboard or similar to put things, and the house tends to be rather damp as previous owners made very dodgy building choices. My room is a garage for example, and the back room is a patio that they put two extra walls and a ceiling on top of... Not exactly "to code".

I'm going my best to dry everything out at the moment. Telescope itself seems fine, no sign of water between the triplet lenses and it all looks very clean.

Just a matter of if the ZWO EAF+EFW + 120MM mini, and the laptop and camera are ok... Fingers crossed...

Thanks to those who recommended removing the laptop battery, thankfully it was easy on mine (only 2 screws and it pops out by hand). And the laptop is now sat half open near a radiator for its second night.

 

[pipnina]

I tested most of the kit last night:

So far everything is still working. Pleasantly surprised! Laptop, cam, Guide cam, Filter wheel, focuser etc all seem to be working.

Only haven't tested the mount yet, as it is in the shed. Hopefully when I run some power down there that turns up all clear as well.

Feeling somewhat relieved.