Cr@ppy HDMI Question

[Midwesthonky]

Yeah, I know this could go in another forum but hear this out before passing judgement.

So I get a text from my brother last night while I was hanging around a bonfire at a Halloween party. He had gone downstairs to his finished basement to grab a can of soda for a personal cocktail mixer. He noticed it smelled like someone took a nasty dump and didn't flush. Then in his socks, he noticed the carpet was all squishy. To cut the long story short, the intake to his septic tank was plugged with Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper. So all the toilet flushing, dish washing, etc had all come up through the drains in his finished basement. Carpet is ripped out, drywall cut, baseboards ripped out, etc.

Now on to the actual questions. He had his house wired up for AV with speaker wires pre-run, etc. The speaker wires had the excess coiled up and were caked in brown sludge. It's not mud. So just labeled what he could and started cutting. The coils were tossed. Faster than trying to clean each one as it was the central hub area and they were 4 wire with the hollow center...no getting that clean.

Now, he also had the house wired with HDMI cables. Multiple HDMI cables were laying there that were unused and had the terminated ends soaking in the fecal sludge. So on to the question:

What are the odds the fecal sludge soaked HDMI cable ends are any good? Or just better to have insurance replace them as part of the claim?

P.S. - I've already hit him with as many bad jokes as I could think up. "guess you are not a browns fan... What's our #2 priority for clean up?"

 

[lovinthehd]

Hey, if it works it works and if it doesn't stink....

 

[TheWarrior]

Sterilization is your number one priority!

Covering up even 'dry' sewage is going to mold and fester underneath any new flooring. Ammonia is going to be your least expensive cleaning agent for this....

If you're already filing an insurance claim, then go ahead and get all new cables. HDMI is so fussy to begin with, just replace it and get the latest spec 2.0a.

 

[killdozzer]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. My pressure cooker blew so it was Venison on my walls and STILL I thought I'm gonna off myself while scraping shallots of my ceiling, but this... I really feel for you.

I wouldn't think twice about changing cables.

 

[j_garcia]

I'd have them replace it all, brand new runs (*no pun intended). I've had the septic fail before due to roots too, yeah, not too pleasant.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Thanks for the input. I like the idea of replacing the HDMI cables so you have the latest standard. They may work, they may not but do you really want to try to clean them? And if they don't work, have you pushed some "crap" into your AV equipment? Not worth it in my opinion. So thanks for bringing that up.

I passed along your advice to my brother. Our first instinct was to gear up and start ripping out carpet. He makes good money and figured to file it with insurance so he called a local restoration company. They ran over on Sunday and cut out the carpet, drywall, baseboard, etc. Saved me from having to help!

All because someone in the house used a lot of toilet paper and it packed up against the backflow baffle in the septic tank. All the TP piled up there until it plugged the intake pipe. Easy fix, but a mess to clean up inside. I figured they would find a kids toy jammed in a pipe somewhere.

 

[killdozzer]

All because someone in the house used a lot of toilet paper and it packed up against the backflow baffle in the septic tank. All the TP piled up there until it plugged the intake pipe. Easy fix, but a mess to clean up inside. I figured they would find a kids toy jammed in a pipe somewhere.

Wet wipes are a disaster.

 

[TheWarrior]

Thanks for the input. I like the idea of replacing the HDMI cables so you have the latest standard. They may work, they may not but do you really want to try to clean them? And if they don't work, have you pushed some "crap" into your AV equipment? Not worth it in my opinion. So thanks for bringing that up.

I passed along your advice to my brother. Our first instinct was to gear up and start ripping out carpet. He makes good money and figured to file it with insurance so he called a local restoration company. They ran over on Sunday and cut out the carpet, drywall, baseboard, etc. Saved me from having to help!

All because someone in the house used a lot of toilet paper and it packed up against the backflow baffle in the septic tank. All the TP piled up there until it plugged the intake pipe. Easy fix, but a mess to clean up inside. I figured they would find a kids toy jammed in a pipe somewhere.

Regardless of plumbing, I think a lot of these problems would vanish if a plunger is kept next to the toilet. Who wants to go ask for one, when you can just keep flushing, hoping it'll solve itself?

As the room itself makes a significant contribution to sound reproduction, I'd also suggest having your brother evaluate the arrangement/room as this would be the time to make any changes he might have already been thinking of, as well as material changes, wiring, whatever.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Don't cheap out under these circumstances, replace with new everything that is covered with this sewage.

 

[Swerd]

Tell your brother we're sorry to read about his basement. OK, we were also entertained… and relieved it wasn't our basement.

When everything is cleaned up and restored, he might want to consider new audio products from… … wait for it … … Schiit Audio.

Yes, the name is pronounced exactly as you think . That way he can really ask his friends to come down to the basement and check out his new Schiit .

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for the input. I like the idea of replacing the HDMI cables so you have the latest standard. They may work, they may not but do you really want to try to clean them? And if they don't work, have you pushed some "crap" into your AV equipment? Not worth it in my opinion. So thanks for bringing that up.

I passed along your advice to my brother. Our first instinct was to gear up and start ripping out carpet. He makes good money and figured to file it with insurance so he called a local restoration company. They ran over on Sunday and cut out the carpet, drywall, baseboard, etc. Saved me from having to help!

All because someone in the house used a lot of toilet paper and it packed up against the backflow baffle in the septic tank. All the TP piled up there until it plugged the intake pipe. Easy fix, but a mess to clean up inside. I figured they would find a kids toy jammed in a pipe somewhere.

I hope they took a lot of photos- the insurance company will want them.

If it hasn't been done, install some kind of conduit for the HDMI feeds- I have absolutely zero doubt they'll need to be replaced in the future, even if the room is sterile, in a vacuum and unused for eternity. If the original cables were stapled/mounted to the framing, it's likely they wouldn't operate to original spec, anyway- this is a good time to add Category cable, too- the next thing on the horizon for standard HDMI distribution is HDMI over IP with a transmit box on one end and a receive box at the other.

 

[highfigh]

I guess comments about the Brown Sound would be inappropriate, eh?

 

[TheWarrior]

I guess comments about the Brown Sound would be inappropriate, eh?

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny has it's own unique THX opening sequence that would fit well....

 

[Mitchibo]

Too easy. Moving on.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny has it's own unique THX opening sequence that would fit well....

Great movie(ok maybe not but I love it). I love watching Dave Grohl as the devil. That whole sequence makes me about pi$$ myself every time.

 

[killdozzer]

Tell your brother we're sorry to read about his basement. OK, we were also entertained… and relieved it wasn't our basement.

When everything is cleaned up and restored, he might want to consider new audio products from… … wait for it … … Schiit Audio.

Yes, the name is pronounced exactly as you think . That way he can really ask his friends to come down to the basement and check out his new Schiit .

Badda-boom... Tshhhhhh...