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General Discussion Several years ago, we had a veterinary hospital become flooded. They had recently purchased an Innovet and we were "sweet talked" into trying to salvage it. The following is my story. I was able to salvage a veterinary x-ray that was immersed in several feet of water. I probably spent 6 to 8 hours actually working, but donated considerable travel time and reduced our regular hourly rate, since this was pretty much a charity deal anyway. In light of hurricane Katrina, I am offering some comments on how I was able to resurrect an x-ray where the doctor did not have flood insurance and there "was nothing to lose" by trying to salvage the old x-ray. We call this the "Lazerus X-ray". The x-ray was a Summit Innovet; however, I would also use the same procedure on a Universal, Transworld or Bennett. Tools needed: General x-ray installation tools, plus WD-40, Tri Flow, some cans of compressed air (office depot), a small vacuum cleaner with brush, paper towels, rags, 409 cleaner, Windex, and patience. You should also have some HT cable silicon lubricant on hand (we sell it). After the water disappeared and the build dried out, I performed the following. I disconnected the x-ray from the power at the wall breaker. (Hopefully any owner evacuating a building tripped all of the wall breakers, but you never know). As a young electrical engineer working with electronics, I learned that washing old Printed Circuit boards in a dishwasher is an excellent way to clean them. Since I did not have access to a dishwasher, I used a spray bottle of clean water, Q tips, a tooth brush and plenty of dry rags and paper towels. I removed every wire from every terminal strip and cleaned the connector and screw and reassembled. All relays can generally be replaced or disassembled and cleaned. I had to do the later since I did not have relays wtih me. They must be dry and clean to have any hope of functioning. The canned air works well for ensuring relays are dry. Generally the insulated wires were OK. The HT Transformer while under water did not suffer contamination. The vent screw had not actually been removed but was loosened. I cannot remember whether the water actually covered the HT transformer, but it is a good idea to open the fill hole and inspect the condition of the oil. If it looks OK it probably is OK. Pull the HT terminals on the cables, clean with paper towels and air, then relube with silicon or transformer oil. I replaced the footswitch with a new one. If the collimator was under water, it too will need attention, or replacing. Collimators are relatively inexpensive and it may be easier to replace than to bother cleaning, but you can worry about if after you get the x-ray working. Most dealers have some old duocon 1 collimators around (we do, and they are pretty cheap.) Pat attention to the KVP tap switches and MA deck switches. Again, cleaning may be sufficient, or the Ohnmite TAP switches may need replacing. They are only $100 to $150 each, so not a big deal in the total cost picture. Now the fun part, after I spent the day cleaning the x-ray as best I could, before energizing, I put a cage dryer on low heat and let it blow warm air into the autotransformer all night. The next morning, I turned on the machine to allow current to flow through the autotransformer and parts of the circuit. Nothing tripped so I went to breakfast. After an hour, I hit prep and the anode spun. I verified filaments on large and small focus. I set up 50 KV and made an exposure at 1/120 sec. At the start, I had a couple of mis fires, but then it seem to be OK. I slowly brought up time, ma and KV until I reached 100 KV. At that point I chickened out and advised the doctor to not use the machine over 100 KVP since it was working fine up to there and why press your luck. This incident happened around 7 years ago, and the x-ray is still working. Feel free to email me with comments regarding the above or for specific problems. I am glad to help if I can, Rduncan@Leswilkins.com
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Last Updated 05/23/08 Copyright 1999 |