Liquid Catastrophe

[marlindo]

Yesterday afternoon, I assaulted my tea cup (a moment of violent clumsiness), and it spilled across the table and onto the top of my computer tower where a small amount dripped in. Turned it off immediately, although nothing on screen seemed wrong atm.

I checked out the damage, concluded there wasn't anything significant, and turned the computer back on. Fans turned on, it didn't post, nothing on the monitor. Turned it off.

Fast forward to today. Turned it on, nothing, not even fans. I just tested my PSU with the paper clip trick, and my PSU apparently still works. Now my mobo, which is an Asus Maximus iii Gene matx board does not have onboard video. So I'm thinking it wouldn't post if the graphics card was fried. I inspected my card and noticed 2-3 drops of liquid residue in a crack where it just seems impossible. The angles... one in two hundred. (I may have underestimated the precise assassination skills of tea). So now im thinking, it must be either my mobo, or my graphics card, and I want to know how I can check before spending cash I don't have. Is there another reason my pc wouldn't even post?

All help appreciated.

 

[Outlander_04]

if you have a motherboard speaker try booting with no graphics card .

it should then give you a beep code to indicate there is no graphics card , and that would pretty much confirm where the problem is

 

[marlindo]

I tried this and no beep.

 

[farsuka]

Try the card in a friends computer, and try the motherboard with a friends GPU. If one works and the other doesn't, replace it. if neither work, replace both of them

 

[marlindo]

I suppose, I don't have any close friends with desktops.

...So there appears to be a drop next to the speaker hole of my mobospeaker. I may have overlooked the idea of it no longer working.

So I disconnected everything but the powersupply, mobo and heatsink+its fan. It didn't post(or the speaker is broken), but the fans ran and looked good, the mobo lights lit up indicating stuff not plugged in. I attached the vid card, then 4 sticks of ram, and still the fans are all running with the power button. All i have left is a sshd, a cd drive, and a monitor. If it all works when I finish reassembling it I'm going to be confused. It'll wait til tomorrow sadly, must sleep now. This looks promising right?

 

[jsc]

It still could be the PSU.

 

[jsc]

It still could be the PSU.

 

[flyordie]

It still could be the PSU.

Would it help if he would spray some electrical contact cleaner in the spot where he noticed the water drops?
Also , can u please aware me about this "18" i see at the end of each post in every thread?

Edit: 18 again , nooooonn

 

[Petrofsky]

Boy, is everybody going to hate this. Take the mobo out, strip it down, and wash it gently under warm water with a soft brush, like a 2" paintbrush. Immediately dry it the best you can with compressed air, and let it sit a day or two in a warm place.

You will never find all the tea by trying to, a fact you have already proved to yourself. There may still be some, and there may be residue from the tea that is conductive. It's kill or cure time.

About the "18"---it's a countdown.

 

[marlindo]

What does the paper clip test show, if the PSU could still be broken?


So I don't know if this will be a useful diagnostic detail or not. I had forgotten to plug the 2nd connection from the PSU to the mobo last night, the 8pin, cpu power connector. With just the 24 pin connection, case fans run, vid card fans run, psu runs. With BOTH connections, I get nothing. A short bump as the fans want to start but don't. Still no posting. Does this incriminate the cpu?

About to paint my motherboard...