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[Stephen Kirby]

Pure water isn't a problem for electronics.  We ran circuit boards though giant in line bottle washers for years before no-clean flux chemistry became usable.  It is a problem for switches and pots though.  And if you see calcium spots then it was hard or recycled water and everything would need disassembly and a good proper cleaning.  If the cone dry without warping, you're probably okay there, but keep a close watch for coil scrape.  Some reconers can wet and heat cones to rewarp them back to center but it's an art.

[Scott Holtzman]

1) Unless the paper trail had a signed agreement by the renter assuming full responsibility for any losses or damages, you have little recourse. Fortunately your gear was not stolen..
2) Don't forget, but do learn. Your gear should have been waterproofed before leaving it unattended, it could have been rained on while you were away.
Like Don Ernst, I always assume if there is a possibility of the gear getting wet, cover it. I've experienced several times when  sprinklers were not turned off when they should have been.
3) Contrary to Scott's opinion, I would not consider exposure to water "a total loss", nor would I assume it to be a big problem since you dried the gear out and it all works. If the gear becomes intermittent, yes, it will devalue resale.
4) Trying to pursue a reimbursement for another's mistake from your employer or his insurance company may not be worth the difficulties and ill will it will generate.

Art

My thought is that sprinkler water would be very high in mineral content.  The damage could take awhile to show.

We had an inadvertent fire sprinkler activation.  Even though equipment worked the insurance company replaced it all  and made sure the gear that came out was sent to be crushed (I have my doubts it was). 

This gear was in closed racks and did not get directly wet!

[Chris Hindle]

Kelvar cones is one thing. Paper cones ?
I don't think I could ever trust them.
You can do maintenance (washing) of the electronics, and they MAY be OK, but you will never be sure.
What got into the horns ?
Better pull the diaphragms, and clean out the gaps.
** With all the work involved to properly clean these things out, and I would replace the cones for sure, replacement is starting to look pretty economical......
Chris.

[kel mcguire]

I left out an important detail.

The company I work for, putting on the event, held the event at a local facility that has many events/races throughout the year. So, our people, upon my urging, asked that the sprinkler valves be turned off. According to our point person, they watched the valves being turned off. The landscape company for the venue we used is a partner in this mishap so we are working this out.

Thanks all for the perspective and ideas. A call to QSC will happen for their opinions.

[Debbie Dunkley]

I left out an important detail.

The company I work for, putting on the event, held the event at a local facility that has many events/races throughout the year. So, our people, upon my urging, asked that the sprinkler valves be turned off. According to our point person, they watched the valves being turned off. The landscape company for the venue we used is a partner in this mishap so we are working this out.

Thanks all for the perspective and ideas. A call to QSC will happen for their opinions.

That's even better news - the liability falls on the landscaping company....

[Stephen Kirby]

Sounds like the old someone didn't know why they'd been turned off and "fixed it" by turning them back on again.  Time for lockout/tagout.

[Brian Jojade]

Well, it's not up to you to establish blame.  Forget that your employer is involved.  EVERY event should be treated the same, no matter what.  That means a formal contract IN WRITING signed by the correct authorized people is required no matter what.  But it's too late to go back and change that. Use it as a lesson moving forward.

As far as potential damages, speakers themselves are pretty tough little devices.  Yes, water, and especially mineral deposits can damage speakers over time.  However, it's pretty hard to say how fast that might happen.

Eg, I have some JBL SRX712M speakers. About 10 years ago, during a storm one of them literally blew off of a speaker stand and fell into a river.  I dried it out and it worked just fine up until this year.  When I opened it to service it, there were obvious signs of corrosion that likely sped up its demise.  However, 10 years is a pretty long time for it to keep going. The water damage inside of that speaker looks only slightly worse than another speaker that failed on me at about the same time that wasn't in the water.

If your speakers only got wet on the exterior, they are probably going to be just fine, as long as you've made sure they were completely dry before using them.  If you got a direct jet of water into a cone or inside of the amp, there may be more damage, but in all reality, it's probably not that big of a deal.

Going forward, any time you are using gear outside, EXPECT that it may get wet.  Always have appropriate covers on gear and make sure that it's secured for unexpected high winds.  You never know when things may go awry!

[kel mcguire]

Well, it's not up to you to establish blame.  Forget that your employer is involved.  EVERY event should be treated the same, no matter what.  That means a formal contract IN WRITING signed by the correct authorized people is required no matter what.  But it's too late to go back and change that. Use it as a lesson moving forward.

As far as potential damages, speakers themselves are pretty tough little devices.  Yes, water, and especially mineral deposits can damage speakers over time.  However, it's pretty hard to say how fast that might happen.

Eg, I have some JBL SRX712M speakers. About 10 years ago, during a storm one of them literally blew off of a speaker stand and fell into a river.  I dried it out and it worked just fine up until this year.  When I opened it to service it, there were obvious signs of corrosion that likely sped up its demise.  However, 10 years is a pretty long time for it to keep going. The water damage inside of that speaker looks only slightly worse than another speaker that failed on me at about the same time that wasn't in the water.

If your speakers only got wet on the exterior, they are probably going to be just fine, as long as you've made sure they were completely dry before using them.  If you got a direct jet of water into a cone or inside of the amp, there may be more damage, but in all reality, it's probably not that big of a deal.

Going forward, any time you are using gear outside, EXPECT that it may get wet.  Always have appropriate covers on gear and make sure that it's secured for unexpected high winds.  You never know when things may go awry!

thanks Brian, all good advice.. and nearly all of it I've followed in years past. But, I let my guard down on this event. Typically I've trash-bagged speakers left set up. The boss here has been super cool; "whatever it takes to make it right." .

Four of the speakers were in monitor position and the control panel on the bottom tucked in a bit, but also sort of in the way from a side hit by a sprinkler. The K12 on stands, pretty far up high also got a frontal hit. Snake box was full of water. Heat then Caig cleaned it out. The two yamaha DXS12 subs were tucked under the stage and took frontal hits but the speaker in those is mounted in such a way that I believe it got missed. The back panel DSP was missed. The pole cups were both full of water however.

Like I mentioned, it was 95+ degrees out, dry and probably 110 on the asphalt where I dried them out for a couple hours. Then they sat in the sun until showtime evening.

I do have covers for everything, tucked under the stage, also got soaked 

QSC hasn't been responsive as of yet.

Another learning opportunity indeed.

[Terry Martin]

I dont have advice for you but hate that you’re in this predicament. 

The same thing happened to a band I was in about 25 years ago at a golf course.  Sprinklers fired up right behind me (drummer) during the first song of the night.  We were setup on the tennis courts - I heard the sprinkler heads turn on and thought, they won’t swing this way - why would they spray the tennis courts??   But they did - I stopped playing just in time to warn the musicians to jump off the stage.   (Our electrical prowess wasn’t so good back then, and it could have turned out real bad.  We lost just about everything and negotiated a fair deal / pro rate with golf course and promoter to acquire new equipment.   Was paid in cash before we left the property. 


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