Question Is there a spray to protect pc components from humidity?

DustyDanglerX

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Hi guys so I just moved to Puerto Rico and the humidity here is insane. 6 months after arriving I noticed that my gpu cooler fins started getting water staining. The rear io displayport housing started to rust a bit. So i got a few drops of wd-40 on the io plate and it got them right off. I removed the heatsink from the gpu and drenched it on wd-40 for about 5 mins scrubbed it and then used a hair drier to dry and burn off the excess oil and reasembled. Havent had an issue as of yet. However some of the capacitors on my older gpus are starting to rust. and I cant spray wd-40 directly on a gpu since it will short it. I looked up CRC 2-26 which says its a lubricant "safe" for electronics and CRC 3-36 which says its petroleum based so its not safe for plastics. Can this be strayed on pc parts? Or is it just another fancy name for WD-40? Thanks in advance.
 

Eximo

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CRC 2-26 Hmm, when it says "improves electrical properties" I am thinking they are talking about improved conductivity. The type of stuff you spray into automotive connections to prevent corrosion.

CRC 3-36 has a pretty low flash point, it might evaporate quite quickly under normal computer temperatures.

Conformal coating is the true answer, but you really can't spray that all over your computer components. It is designed for weather proofing circuit boards, but not really all the interconnects and user serviceable parts.

Get yourself a dehumidifier and point the output in the general direction of your computer.
 

kanewolf

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Hi guys so I just moved to Puerto Rico and the humidity here is insane. 6 months after arriving I noticed that my gpu cooler fins started getting water staining. The rear io displayport housing started to rust a bit. So i got a few drops of wd-40 on the io plate and it got them right off. I removed the heatsink from the gpu and drenched it on wd-40 for about 5 mins scrubbed it and then used a hair drier to dry and burn off the excess oil and reasembled. Havent had an issue as of yet. However some of the capacitors on my older gpus are starting to rust. and I cant spray wd-40 directly on a gpu since it will short it. I looked up CRC 2-26 which says its a lubricant "safe" for electronics and CRC 3-36 which says its petroleum based so its not safe for plastics. Can this be strayed on pc parts? Or is it just another fancy name for WD-40? Thanks in advance.
Probably need a dehumidifier in that room.
 
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letmepicyou

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That might improve something, but rust on rear I/O ports won't change. That is an issue that requires entire, room changes, like a dehumidifier.
Rust on the rear IO ports might indicate something more than just high humidity.
The causes for this could be myriad and difficult to pin down.
There could be environmental toxins causing corrosion, even.
 

letmepicyou

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I'm pretty sure Puerto Rico is near the ocean. Probably salt water air.
It could very well be. Odd, though, that we aren't inundated with similar claims from millions of other coastal inhabitants.
I would do an air quality test just as a "better safe than sorry". Make sure there aren't any CFC's or something coming out of the walls or some factory nearby spewing out noxious who knows what.
Not saying that it's NOT the salt in the air, it could very well be. When it comes to air quality though I tend to err on the side of caution. Speaking as a guy that literally runs, let's see, 5 air cleaners I think??? Maybe 6...
 

Eximo

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I've seen a lot of rusty computers. Not usually a problem until the computer reaches an age where it needs replacement anyway.

Whole house dehumidifier's and/or central AC aren't too uncommon on US coasts.

The only time all those expensive gold plated HDMI connectors are worth it.
 

DustyDanglerX

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A dehumidifier is a no go since the heat output on the room will increase drastically , and in the summer room temperature while gaming reaches 38.2c. Putting a dehumidifier in that room will boil me alive. For now Wd-40 is what ill be using to keep coating the rear io plate , radiator , motherboard heatsinks and case. As for the rust Its definitely the salt water since most of my neighbours spend around 50k redoing their roofs and pipes every 3-5 years.
 

DustyDanglerX

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Got possitive pressure in a O11 Dynamic with Lian li Al120 fans 6 intakes 3 bottom , 3 side and 3 exhaust at the top rad. Temps are super fine its just the water staining that starts to build up around every 3 months or so without coating the rads or metal parts in wd-40. With a coat of Wd-40 i get it in around 10 months to a year which im ok with. The caps in the motherboard and smaller circuits which is what im worried about since I cant coat those. I have a thermaltake P3 that i changed to a O11 Dynamic thinking that would help keep the humidity out and even though the p3 is open air i got less water staining and rust on that case. So humidity is probably getting trapped in the case. For reference this is an old tower cooler I had laying around It literally looks like hard water stains. I can scrub those out and coat it with wd-40 and its fine for almost a year. Im asking all of this because gigabyte and msi are starting so deny rma's beause of rust in heatsinks . They classify it under improper user care.
 
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d0x360

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I would look into buying the powered dehumidifier rods that go inside gun safes and cases. They work really well but if you want something cheap that works amazingly well then buy a bag of 500 gram silica gel (hard beads) packs on Amazon.

Not only do they suck up moisture from air like crazy but they can be used many times by putting them in the microwave or oven to dry them back out once they are "full".

The better ones changed color when it's time to cook them but even the generic super cheap ones work great in any enclosed space.

We get tons of humidity in summer and even though I run the AC constantly so it's not humid I actually put one 2 in my PC. One hidden at the top and one hidden at the bottom by the PSU.

If you don't mind them being visible then put them near intake fans.
 

letmepicyou

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I suppose you could spray down the boards and whatnot with silicone spray...to my knowledge, silicone spray is non-conductive. And it's a dry coating which is hydrophobic. That's why they spray tents with it.
For connectors, I suggest you get yourself a tube of dielectric grease. The grease that comes with spark plug wire kits is actually a dielectric grease. But you're better off buying it by a 4 or 6 oz tube or something. It's a non-conductive grease that you can put right on the connectors and it won't short out, nor dry out, and it repels water. You could literally put it on every connector you have, from your SATA connectors to your PCI express card fingers to your monitor cable.