Question Desktop forming condensation inside - Help

[rnc_]

Hi everyone

I live on a island so the climate is humid, and today when I was going to clean my desktop I noticed some kind of water on the I/O cover, on the back of the Gpu (backplate) and on top of the case (inside, was dry).



PC specs:

Asus Rog Strix B360-f gaming;

i5-8400;

Gigabyte 1660 super;

NZXT S340;

Intake fans: 2x Noctua NF-A14 140mm;

Output fans: 2x In Win Polaris 120mm.

I use the stock Intel cooler and have set up the case fans for a positive pressure, right now since the weather here is still warm during games the CPU gets around 70°C and the GPU around 75°C.

I've had this PC for a year and a half and I never had this problem before, to everyone who experienced this before or has any hints I would appreciate it.

Thanks.
PS: I was playing Forza Horizon 4 just today and the PC was working just fine

 

[Darkbreeze]

Get a de-humidifier would be the first thing to do. The second thing to do would be to maybe fill a fine mesh sack with rice and keep that on the bottom of the inside of the case, away from touching any components that might get warm. It might help, there are other types of desiccants that could be used as well to reduce humidity in the air inside the case but you'd have to search them out.

Keeping windows closed, running an AC unit which tends to take moisture out of the air, and running a de-humidifier of some kind would be your best bets probably.

Are you sure that there is no way that ACTUAL water was spilled anywhere near the unit? It would have to be SERIOUSLY humid for actual condensation to build up ON or IN the computer itself.

 

[rnc_]

Get a de-humidifier would be the first thing to do. The second thing to do would be to maybe fill a fine mesh sack with rice and keep that on the bottom of the inside of the case, away from touching any components that might get warm. It might help, there are other types of desiccants that could be used as well to reduce humidity in the air inside the case but you'd have to search them out.

Keeping windows closed, running an AC unit which tends to take moisture out of the air, and running a de-humidifier of some kind would be your best bets probably.

Are you sure that there is no way that ACTUAL water was spilled anywhere near the unit? It would have to be SERIOUSLY humid for actual condensation to build up ON or IN the computer itself.

Well no liquids were spilled near the my desktop, and I'm not 100% sure It was water, I ran my finger on the liquid and it didn't have any smell or color.
Here's a picture I took from the motherboard and GPU:

Here where I live the humidity levels can reach 99% on the worst days...

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm not clicking through the pop up on that link. Looks pretty sketchy to me and I get a very unusual security message when I visit that page. Please upload your image to Imgur or another image hosting site and embed your image here in this forum using the following guide that specifically outlines how to do so.

How To - How to post images on Tom's hardware

Posting images on any thread in our forum is a relatively easy process, although some people tend to have problems doing so. Please read the FULL tutorial, or else you likely will not have success linking to a hosted image and will end up simply posting a link to an image elsewhere rather than...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[rnc_]

I'm not clicking through the pop up on that link. Looks pretty sketchy to me and I get a very unusual security message when I visit that page. Please upload your image to Imgur or another image hosting site and embed your image here in this forum using the following guide that specifically outlines how to do so.

How To - How to post images on Tom's hardware

Posting images on any thread in our forum is a relatively easy process, although some people tend to have problems doing so. Please read the FULL tutorial, or else you likely will not have success linking to a hosted image and will end up simply posting a link to an image elsewhere rather than...

forums.tomshardware.com

It was a onedrive link I didn't think of any other sites, my bad.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, no worries. I just wasn't going to click into the pop up I saw when I visited it.

How about a few more pictures, preferably also showing the front and back of the graphics card, the whole motherboard, and any other places where you saw moisture.

Did it FEEL oily or sticky at all? Did it evaporate quickly-ish?

Have you seen any more of it since that occasion?

Any capacitors anywhere on the board or graphics card look like they could be bulging or leaking? That's pretty doubtful, given the amount of moisture I see there, but pictures are sometimes really misleading too.

 

[rnc_]

Yeah, no worries. I just wasn't going to click into the pop up I saw when I visited it.

How about a few more pictures, preferably also showing the front and back of the graphics card, the whole motherboard, and any other places where you saw moisture.

Did it FEEL oily or sticky at all? Did it evaporate quickly-ish?

Have you seen any more of it since that occasion?

Any capacitors anywhere on the board or graphics card look like they could be bulging or leaking? That's pretty doubtful, given the amount of moisture I see there, but pictures are sometimes really misleading too.

I've been running the case without the side panel and haven't noticed any drops forming, the liquid wasn't sticky at all but I guess It wasn't as liquid as water and did dry quickly. I can't take anymore pictures since the only area which the liquid appeared is the one on the picture, the rest of the motherboard and gpu are 100% dry, I think the culprit was the Intel OEM cooler, it started making some wierd fan noise the day I noticed all the liquid ( I thought it was my dying hard drive making even more noise), so I guess it could have been lubricant from the cooler fan

 

[Darkbreeze]

If the fan on the cooler was making noise, probably a very good idea to replace it. It won't get better that's for sure.

 

[rnc_]

If the fan on the cooler was making noise, probably a very good idea to replace it. It won't get better that's for sure.

Is there any chance that the liquid was just lubricant from the cooler fan?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, it is possible. That's why I asked if it was sticky at all, but it doesn't really HAVE to have been sticky. The bearings in a lot of fans use VERY lightweight oil, but I wouldn't think it would evaporate quickly on its own. Did you wipe the wet spots off or did they just "dry up" by themselves?

 

[rnc_]

Yes, it is possible. That's why I asked if it was sticky at all, but it doesn't really HAVE to have been sticky. The bearings in a lot of fans use VERY lightweight oil, but I wouldn't think it would evaporate quickly on its own. Did you wipe the wet spots off or did they just "dry up" by themselves?

Yeah I did wipe the drops on the I/O cover, the wet spots on the GPU backplate were basically dry, either way I've ordered a replacement cooler so I'm just waiting for it to arrive and I'll close the side panel to see if it happens again