Accidently Spilled Water in Case

[alanwest09872]

Well I took the computer apart to clean all my fans and my radiator. While doing this I accidently spilt some liquid cooling water into the computer.

I didnt have any power going to the system. Which I know is a positive. But what are the chances I may have damaged the video card or motherboard.

It wasnt alot of water and most of it ended up on my video card.


What are my chances that I didnt damage anything to badly?

 

[aigomorla]

if it wasn't on?

like 0% - 5% you damaged something.

First thing to do is:

1. DONT FREAK OUT...
2. Relax and take a break... even I sometimes leak due to something being faulty, and it is fixable as long as you dont freak out.

The best thing to do is make sure you clean and thoroughly dry all the places you spilled water on.

Leave the card out in the sun for like a couple of hours so it can bake in the sun and dry off any moisture.
Do not use a hair dryer or a heat gun... as that generates static and can kill your card.

The only way u can fry something is if there is moisture making contact with two points and then becoming conductive.

This is why i always tell people when taking anything appart, always put a layer of kitchen paper towels on things like your gpu.

 

[alanwest09872]

Ok I broke Rule #1 I freaked out but am starting to calm down.

I read about the hairdryer thing but didnt do it. Luckalie

I cant place anything out in the sun. I live south of buffalo and we have lots and lots of snow. So what are my other options? What else can I do to make sure I suffer the lease amount of damage.

FYI. I have the ASUS Formula Vii with the ARMOR on it. So only a few drops around the cpu actually hit the motherboard. Everything else was completely dry. The video card took the brunt of the water.

So what are my other options besides setting it out in the sun.


Thanks a ton for the quick response.


EDIT. Would you recommened some kind of electrical board cleaner?

 

[aigomorla]

Put a Fan over it.

And let the fan blow over it, so you get evaporation...

if you have a house fan... have it blow inside your case with the side panel off on high.
Goto starbucks, and grab a coffee while it drys out.
Or watch a movie.

Come back and inspect everywhere u leaked with toliet paper.
Roll it into a sharp tooth pick type object and shove it inside the nook and cranny spots to verify it didnt pick up any moisture..

Since toliet paper is a excellent wetness detector, you will know if its completely dry.


If it makes u feel better, i had a radiator tubing fall out completely due to using a monster pump... Iwaki RD-35.. and literally spray about 1/4 gallon of water onto EVERYTHING.

I came out with no damage because i was patient, and dried everything out thoroughly.
:X


Were you using a premix or straight distilled?
If you were using a premix... you may need to clean the PCB with like 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.
You dont need a board cleaner... Iso works well.

 

[alanwest09872]

I used distilled water with Hydrx by swiftech.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2104/ex-liq-02/Swiftech_Green_UV_Reactive_HydrX_Coolant.html#blank

Mind you I emptied the liquid into a water bottle then poured it back into the liquid cooling system.

I didnt relize till after I refilled the system but there is a resdue inside the tubes.

 

[aigomorla]

yeah that additive makes it into a almost like premix depending on how much hydrx you used.

So i would recommend using ISO and cleaning the green spots you most likely leaked on.

You can use Qtips to spot clean, if your not able to get your finger inside.

 

[alanwest09872]

is iso the 90% rubbing alchol mix that you were talking about before?

 

[aigomorla]

is iso the 90% rubbing alchol mix that you were talking about before?

yup... it will take out the green dye spots which hydrx will deposit.
And since its fast drying, it will not harm anything.

make sure it says 91%.... as the 70% wont completely dry in room temp... and 50% is just worthless for our application.

 

[alanwest09872]

Ya I got a bottle of that. I have gone through all the parts and I don't see any green dye anywhere. So I think I got it all.


This is what I get for quiting smoking lol. I quit 10 days ago so I figured I would clean my whole computer. This succckksss

Edit: Thanks again for all your help. It really is much appreicated.

 

[aigomorla]

then all you need to do is the tissue check which i mentioned in the above post...

make sure u got every last moisture possible, and then boot it back up.
You should be fine.

And dont worry, everyone freaks out the first time.
LOL... but freaking out and doing things while in panic is the best way to mess up.

Keeping a cool head and being through is always the best solution.

Anyhow keep me updated when you fire the pc on again live...
Im fairly certain you will not have fried anything.

When i spilled 1/4 gallon of coolant on my PC.. i had to leave my PC outside in the sun with a 20inch box fan for half a day. lol...
That was not fun at all...

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Yeah you'll be fine, especially since the machine was off, just be patient and let it fully dry, don't get anxious and try to start it early.

I had a leak one parallel GPU bridge, killed a video card as the machine was ON gaming at the time.

I've had other small leaks while the machine is off (assembly spillage), and never had anything die. Not that I recommend having a laissez faire attitude about spilling on your computer, but as long as it is off, you have really good odds of it surviving.

 

[alanwest09872]

Thanks everyone for your help. Know I just play the waiting game....... omg waiting is killing me lol

 

[KaRLiToS]

I say less than 2% of damaging something. Probably 0%.
I have dropped some water numerous time in my rig, the best tip is to let it dry.

Anyway, when you need to fill the loop, you don't run power into your components. What I do during the bleeding time is power my fan controller and my pumps only and make some good ventillation inside the case. Usually when I do this, I put a droplet of water in my case on a flat surface, and when that droplet is dry, then the system has good chance to be completely dry. I usually leave the droplet on a GPU backplate or top of PSU, or even on bottom of the case.

I often dropped some water and sometime inside the CPU socket. Never damaged anything.

 

[alanwest09872]

Well I am 100 percent functional again lol Thanks all. everything works great again.