Coffee on Motherboard!

[thomasj]

Yeah, I know it sound crazy, but I managed to spill coffee on my motherboard! With sugar even, so now it got a very sticky surface.

Fortunately it was not turned on while doing it

Does anybody have any advice what I can do about it?

I have been thinking about just cleaning it under water and drying it for a long time, will that be ok?

 

[Prong]

I would advise you to NOT submerse the board in water or any other liquid. If it's that bad, I would use a *damp*--NOT soaking wet-- rag or sponge and gently try to remove the coffee. With that complete, I'd let it sit a good 12-24 hours to make sure it is completely dry, and then fire it up and see what happens.

 

[thomasj]

Thank you, the problem is that this is sticking inside the dimm/pci/agp sockets as well I fear!

 

[CaptnKirk]

Only way to clean this, and there is risk, is to use Isopropyl Alcohol around 70%. There IS water in the alcohol,
but it will absorb the sugar and other materials, and bond with the properties of the isopropyl so it can be taken away.
Don't soak it - use foam tip swabs if you can find them, or take your time with cotton swabs.

 

[Regalk]

Why in gods name people have to drink coffee when messing with their mobos is beyond me - my beer can is always well away from my work area since I am paranoia about these things. LoL

 

[poMONKey]

I spilled beer onto my motherboard, sound card, and network card (my case was open to allow a small floor fan to blow air inside... my office is in the attic and it was summer... I was playing wolfenstein online, I got all excited about something and smacked my beer down on the desk, from there it poured into the case). I wiped it out, while ON (people yelling at me for ammo ingame), with my sons dry pajama pants. The sound card finally died like 10 days later but everything else is fine. *whew*

I keep my beer on the otherside of the desk now!

 

[JustStarting]

electrical contact cleaner is made just for this reason- cleaning sensitive components. get it at your local auto or electrical store.

 

[Wind]

Originally posted by: pomonkey
I spilled beer onto my motherboard, sound card, and network card (my case was open to allow a small floor fan to blow air inside... my office is in the attic and it was summer... I was playing wolfenstein online, I got all excited about something and smacked my beer down on the desk, from there it poured into the case). I wiped it out, while ON (people yelling at me for ammo ingame), with my sons dry pajama pants. The sound card finally died like 10 days later but everything else is fine. *whew*

I keep my beer on the otherside of the desk now!

One LUCKY guy.

 

[NoVo]

You could always try the wash machine -- on low spin cycle. J/K Good luck cleaning it up.

 

[BobTheWizard]

Originally posted by: pomonkey
I spilled beer onto my motherboard, sound card, and network card (my case was open to allow a small floor fan to blow air inside... my office is in the attic and it was summer... I was playing wolfenstein online, I got all excited about something and smacked my beer down on the desk, from there it poured into the case). I wiped it out, while ON (people yelling at me for ammo ingame), with my sons dry pajama pants. The sound card finally died like 10 days later but everything else is fine. *whew* I keep my beer on the otherside of the desk now!

spilled beer!!... That's a <U>big</U> party foul!!!

 

[mrman3k]

There is a high probability of the parts not working again, but you never know. Make sure to clean it good with some rubbing alcohol.

 

[bsr]

Dont worry,,, I done went through 5 keyboards in 2 years due to spills..... your not the only one that dont know how to drink. LOL

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Originally posted by: bsr
Dont worry,,, I done went through 5 keyboards in 2 years due to spills..... your not the only one that dont know how to drink. LOL

He knows how to drink....
he's probably trying to do a new overclocking method -> pump cafein to the motherboard to super charge it...LOL

Seriously, yes you can wash your motherboard with water, but it is a very tedious task and not recommended by many.
In our lab, we always use organic flux to solder a lot of components to a PCB (including experimental mbs) then wash it with hot running water to remove the organic flux (organic flux causes shorts and leakage but the fumes are safer than commonly used rosin core solder leads). We then blow it with a high pressure air (using air gun) to pump out all the excess water in between tight places. Finally we use the hot air gun to thoroughly dry it but making sure we don't melt the plastic components.

In some cases, we WILL NEED to remove the clock batteries and discharge your capacitors before we start the washing process.

Now are you willing to take these steps.

 

[THUGSROOK]

would this happen to be your system?

 

[mxocr]

put it in the dish washer on low easier settings ,then set it outside to air dry.

 

[Wind]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
would this happen to be your system?

Thugsrook...very cool...very cool indeed.

:Q

 

[sbw]

shouldn't this topic be in a watercooling section?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
would this happen to be your system?

Sweet!

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
would this happen to be your system?

Sweet!

I think I saw that pic on VH a while ago... very nifty idea.. give that dude props!!

 

[bwanaaa]

Reminds me of when I spilled a can of coke onto my pronto. The display disappearred (you'd expect that from a touch sensitive display) I rinsed the thing with a gallon of distilled water and left it in a warm oven overnight. It continues to work well with great visibility.

 

[dannybin1742]

i second the isopropyl alcohol (go for the 99%), or use 99% ethanol which can be used as a solvent, and drying agent