Thanks for the free broken stuff, lady.

March 9, 2011 6:57 PM

Is rain ruining the appliances I'm supposed to Freecycle?

We're redoing our kitchen and are replacing several appliances. They were removed during demo and have been outside since Monday. I listed them on Freecycle and have people scheduled to pick up over the next few days.

Today, I had to leave in a hurry and didn't think about the weather forecast. It started raining around noon and will probably rain through the night. The appliances (dishwasher, gas cooktop, electric oven and range hood) have been outside and exposed the whole time.

Are they ruined? I want to do the right thing by the folks who've asked for the appliances, so I will definitely let them know even if you all tell me they will be ok.

Is there anything I or they should do after the rain stops? (I feel bad, but not so bad that I'm going to deal with outside stuff in the pouring rain, so it will probably be tomorrow ... which probably sounds awful, but it has been a hell of a day.)

posted by Sweetie Darling to home & garden (4 answers total)

They should be fine once they are allowed to dry properly so as to evaporate any water that may have made it into any internal areas with electrical wiring. Try not to leave them sitting in a puddle.
posted by Behemoth at 7:16 PM on March 9, 2011

Water isn't really a problem per se, I've washed many an appliance with a power washer like you find at DIY car washes. Rust however could be a problem. Taking the effort to wipe down and dry the appliances would go a long way to minimizing it.
posted by Mitheral at 8:19 PM on March 9, 2011

Please let the people picking them up know they've been sitting in the rain. If you power on something electrical that is wet there are bad things that could happen. You need to disclose this to them.

Personally, I wouldn't take something electric/electronic that has been sitting in the rain.
posted by tomswift at 6:07 AM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wrote to both people and leveled with them - said I was not sure I was comfortable giving them the appliances and thought it might be better for me to have them hauled away. One person said thanks and passed; the other guy said he had experience with homebuilding and eletrical work and he was willing to see if they still work. Thanks so much for the input!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:11 PM on March 10, 2011