Question Cat peed on PC - PC dead

[Naujoks]

So my cat peed on my PC and killed it.
She used to like to sleep on it, presumably because she liked the warmth.
There are ventilation holes on top of the case. Through those the whole amount of pee dribbled on the motherboard and graphics card, while the PC was running.
Unfortunately, the PC was running for quite a while, before I realised what has happened.
I tried to clean the motherboard with IPA as good as I could. Once dry, I reconnected the board, but absolutely no signs of life.
The CPU should be ok, at least there was no pee on it. Of course it's possible that a short on the board killed it. Haven't been able to test the RAM, I'm hoping it too is ok.
The graphics card is most likely toast. I could hear the pee sizzling on it. That's an RTX 3090 Ti and 1000€ gone. I'm crying.
I didn't spot any busted components on the motherboard. Is it realistic to fix it? I imagine there will be one or several shorted components somewhere.
The board is an ASUS Z690 Prime.
How do you proceed from here?

 

[turtletarget111]

Unfortunately urine is very good at shorting out components, and believe it or not, can corrode metal if left unchecked. It's good that you got to cleaning at as soon as you saw the damage. You might not want to hear this, but you will likely have to dispose of the components that have any trace of urine on them. If even a few traces or circuits were damaged it could take some of your good hardware with it if you attempt to salvage it. Wipe everything down with 99% isopropyl alcohol, and remove as much urine as possible. Wait a week and carefully test each component. This sounds like a rough time for you, and I wish you the best of luck. Hope this helped, take care.

 

[computerpeasant]

Just read your post. I just posted for similar reasons and saw this post after. Only a couple of drops of dog piss hit my pcle slot on my $2400 laptop i just purchased. I am not sure how long the computer was running for because I did not find the damage until after Lenovo sent it back with a biohazard bag! My older acer laptop has been marked by him about 10 or so times... it is to the point where when i press a key it backfills with piss. That acer has not stopped working yet. Feel your pain PICS -imgur pics of my motherboard corrosion.
I tried going back in a week later and the green fuzzies where back.

 

[drea.drechsler]

... can corrode metal if left unchecked. ...

Man, is that ever true. It's full of salt and ammonia nitrates which makes it both conductive and very corrosive. It happened to me when my dog pee'd on my computer. Luckily it was only in the bottom of the case but even though I cleaned it well it's rusting there.

What makes it worse is if it was on a PWB it will seep under components, between them and the PWB, which makes it nearly impossible to clean out. I can agree that if it's not functional now it's unlikely ever to be in the future. I wouldn't bother with alcohol though as it doesn't do much for disolving dried urine. Instead use distilled water in a 10cc (or bigger) syringe to flush it out with pressure from underneath components in the "splash" areas. Obviously, dry thoroughly after.

I think many laptops are built with an expectation they will get at least some spillage. That helps, but don't assume they're made immune from it unless they're high-end ruggedized models.

 

[sonofjesse]

I'm sorry, good luck. You will need some new components for sure.

 

[computerpeasant]

I tried with Lenovo warranty but somebody really stuck there nose in there and they shipped it back in a big biohazard bag ha.

 

[YESSSWAITWHAT]

I tried with Lenovo warranty but somebody really stuck there nose in there and they shipped it back in a big biohazard bag ha.

It was worth a try, what did you end up doing with the parts? Do they now have a lot of corrosion on them?

 

[computerpeasant]

It was worth a try, what did you end up doing with the parts? Do they now have a lot of corrosion on them?

Im not sure what to do with them. Some of the 16gb ram sticks have corrosion as well. The A2000 gpu may be salvageable but im not sure if it would work in a different motherboard. Should i try to post it for sale and for how much? Cant imagine its worth much more than the case and display at this point.