Question I need help with a broken PC

[haych44]

About an hour ago I knocked a drink off of the side of my desk. The drink landed on top of my pc than fell to the ground. I got some water on the top of my pc next to one of the openings for cooling fans. Nothing happened to my PC at that point so I continued okaying gta like a dumbass. About 30 minutes after that my PC completely froze and a very loud buzzing sound started to play through my headphones. I couldnt make any key commands or move my mouse at all or power off my pc using the power button so I turned of the power supply. When I powered my PC back on, all of the components lights turned on and fans turned on but my keyboard mouse and monitor did not turn on. I have my PC unplugged and drying. I am wondering what most likely got damaged by the water and what I should do.

 

[AllanGH]

It's probably a straight shot down to the power supply and, if you have PSU oriented so that the fan is on top, then that's the first place I'd start looking.

 

[haych44]

It's probably a straight shot down to the power supply and, if you have PSU oriented so that the fan is on top, then that's the first place I'd start looking.

The opening on top of the case is a straight shot own to my GPU which has a coat of dust. The dust looks untouched which im guessing means no water reached it. Above my graphics card is my heat sink for my CPU cooler.

 

[haych44]

It's probably a straight shot down to the power supply and, if you have PSU oriented so that the fan is on top, then that's the first place I'd start looking.

Would it be a good idea to try starting my pc without my gpu?

 

[AllanGH]

OK...dumb moment for me.

Honestly, I'd tear it down and look for signs of water. Absent that, everything is just a guess.

 

[g-unit1111]

OK...dumb moment for me.

Honestly, I'd tear it down and look for signs of water. Absent that, everything is just a guess.

Yeah that's exactly what I would do in that situation. Tear everything down and then start looking for the source of the damage. And keep your PC off and unplugged until you do.

 

[haych44]

OK...dumb moment for me.

Honestly, I'd tear it down and look for signs of water. Absent that, everything is just a guess.

Ok thats what im doing but I am wondering if I should just leave my PC off for a day or two and then try powering it on. Or can I just remove the GPU and try powering it on now?

 

[haych44]

Yeah that's exactly what I would do in that situation. Tear everything down and then start looking for the source of the damage. And keep your PC off and unplugged until you do.

How can I identify THe source of the damage. I am not sure what the water reached but when I powered back on my PC after the crash All of the components LEDs turned on.

 

[g-unit1111]

How can I identify THe source of the damage. I am not sure what the water reached but when I powered back on my PC after the crash All of the components LEDs turned on.

That's a tricky one. The one thing I would definitely do at this point is turn it off completely and let everything dry. If it's just water, that's the one thing that you should do to prevent any further damage is to turn it off and let it dry.

If all of the LED lights turned on, it's possible that the PSU could have been affected but it's probably not the culprit. If your motherboard LED light turns on does it get a POST code?

 

[haych44]

That's a tricky one. The one thing I would definitely do at this point is turn it off completely and let everything dry. If it's just water, that's the one thing that you should do to prevent any further damage is to turn it off and let it dry.

If all of the LED lights turned on, it's possible that the PSU could have been affected but it's probably not the culprit. If your motherboard LED light turns on does it get a POST code?

When I turned on the PC after the issue I did not notice the motherboard light flashing at all but I wasnt actively looking for POST codes so I could have missed it. I think that most likely the water landed on the backplate of the gpu.

 

[AllanGH]

But...the dust was not disturbed, soooooo.....?

 

[haych44]

But...the dust was not disturbed, soooooo.....?

I noticed two spots after I took the card out where the dust looked abnormal which looked like they could be drops of water.

 

[AllanGH]

Yup....spread that sucker out on a table with a towel under it, and look everything over real well.

Do you have a small room heater, or fan?

 

[haych44]

Yeah, I have a fan. Should I just completely disassemble the pc and run the fan facing the components for a day or two?

 

[AllanGH]

Well....for "long enough" anyway, but inspecting everything is your primary objective.

Drying out and re-assembling may take care of the issue, but there are zero guarantees. Something may have nuked itself.

 

[haych44]

Yup....spread that sucker out on a table with a towel under it, and look everything over real well.

Do you have a small room heater, or fan?

If I know that the only thing the water could have reached is my gpu and possibly my heat sink, would it be smart to try to start my pc without my gpu installed?

 

[AllanGH]

Make no assumptions.....at this point, check everything.

 

[g-unit1111]

Make no assumptions.....at this point, check everything.

Yes, agreed!