Can my equipment be salvaged?
We are collecting information from equipment manufacturers right now. It appears that there are some types of equipment that may be able to be salvaged. The biggest areas of concern are: electrical components, gas safety valves, insulation (for both heated and cooled equipment), and of course areas in the equipment that are difficult to clean, sanitize and permanently deodorize. The challenge will be to quickly determine the cost effectiveness or rebuild vs. replacement for each individual piece of equipment.
Our immediate areas of concern when rebuilding equipment will be safety, functionality, and sanitary requirements. We know basically all electrical components will be to be replaced, including electronic circuit boards, fan motors, solenoids, switches, etc. We also know that on gas fired equipment the gas safety valves and pressure regulators will need to be replaced. Both refrigerated equipment and heating equipment will require inspection of the insulation. If the insulation is fiberglass batting, or if it is foamed-in-place open cell insulation, it will have absorbed flood water and cannot not be made sanitary again and would need to be replaced, if possible (not possible on most refrigerated equipment). Refrigeration door gaskets will be nearly impossible to thoroughly clean and will almost certainly be more cost effective to replace. Again, we will have to weigh the cost of the labor and parts to rebuild a piece of equipment against the cost to replace.
STAR will respond and assist in the most timely fashion possible. However, the best use (most cost effective use) of Service Technician time will be to adhere to the following guidelines: the equipment needs to be cleaned prior to being checked and serviced as required. Our service people will need to do this at your location when power and gas are available. We are stocking up on the most common items needing to be replaced. However, in many cases equipment and manufacturer specific components will need to be ordered. So please plan lead-times for equipment repairs well in advance of reopening. We will provide more information as soon as possible.