[SOLVED] Shorted out my tower--what should I do next?

[heyscot1]

Hi folks!

I built my wife a gaming rig over Christmas and a few days ago, she accidentally spilled water on the tower case. A moment later, I was shocked to see what looked like fire flaring-up from the bottom of the case upwards. I immediately disconnected the power cord and made sure nothing caught fire. The sick smell of frying silicon rose in the air. Although I couldn't see the inside from where I was at, it VERY much looked like this was happening inside:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0skqQeawdw&fbclid=IwAR1IZdPQPQ8A-HoKeEIwjom9OxODWnRCr90egOrNvvQtREf2A1Vbf7x8nW0


My question is this: How do I begin my rebuild? My thinking was that no matter what, the motherboard is completely destroyed and that I need to buy a new one, but in a situation like this, wouldn't the power supply be fried, too? And wouldn't the CPU be fried? What's the most sensible way to rebuild? Do I begin by purchasing another motherboard and testing it with the current power supply, and then test each component to see what is destroyed and what is not, or will doing this fry the new motherboard, too?

Thanks guys! Her computer lasted all of three weeks. Thank goodness I couldn't get a GTX 3080.

Scot

 

[CountMike]

Hi folks!

I built my wife a gaming rig over Christmas and a few days ago, she accidentally spilled water on the tower case. A moment later, I was shocked to see what looked like fire flaring-up from the bottom of the case upwards. I immediately disconnected the power cord and made sure nothing caught fire. The sick smell of frying silicon rose in the air. Although I couldn't see the inside from where I was at, it VERY much looked like this was happening inside:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0skqQeawdw&fbclid=IwAR1IZdPQPQ8A-HoKeEIwjom9OxODWnRCr90egOrNvvQtREf2A1Vbf7x8nW0


My question is this: How do I begin my rebuild? My thinking was that no matter what, the motherboard is completely destroyed and that I need to buy a new one, but in a situation like this, wouldn't the power supply be fried, too? And wouldn't the CPU be fried? What's the most sensible way to rebuild? Do I begin by purchasing another motherboard and testing it with the current power supply, and then test each component to see what is destroyed and what is not, or will doing this fry the new motherboard, too?

Thanks guys! Her computer lasted all of three weeks. Thank goodness I couldn't get a GTX 3080.

Scot

If you have chance to buy parts one by one, I would start with MB and PSU, chances are that nothing else is burned. If CPU has built in IGPU even better, otherwise you may need a working GPU too.

 

[helpstar]

Which power supply was installed? brand and model

please list all other hardware components as well

 

[heyscot1]

Hey friends!

Of course! I used all of these parts except for the video card:

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/s4V323/excellent-intel-gamingstreaming-build

Power Supply: https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/6858943/EVGA-650-GQ-Power-Supply-120/

For the video card, I used a GTX 1050 instead of the $1000 GTX3070.

Thank you for your help, I'm really excited to start restoring Amy's rig!

Scot

 

[heyscot1]

I've ordered a new power supply and motherboard (if it ends up that I didn't need to order the power supply, I can always either return it or use it). . .any feedback about how to rebuild? I would like to test each part one-by-one but I want to be sure I'm following your advice about how to do it right. . . .

 

[heyscot1]

Forensics Report:

https://imgur.com/a/n1rxx6d

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/n1rxx6d

1. The graphics card was completely torched by the PCI-E connector, the copper connectors melted into the silicon.
2. The processor and PSU seem to have zero scorch marks. I don't understand how electronics work. Do I dare test them with a new motherboard?
3. You can see that flames licked and left carbon on the tip of the M.2 hard drive, but the carbon wiped away with a towel. I have not yet tested the hard drive.

How to proceed?

 

[Zerk2012]

I would say video card, motherboard is gone for sure.
Most of the water was probably just on the video card and caused all the damage.

For the power supply it's probably fine but not sure I would chance it.

Use less thermal paste.

Edit the rest of the parts should work as long as their no burnt looking connections.

 

[jay32267]

I'd say the GPU and MB are toast.

I think the M2 SSD has a decent chance of being good.

I think the CPU has a decent chance of being good....but use way less thermal paste next time.

The PSU...I'm on the verge of not trusting it....as I see one of the terminals looks like it might have seen a lot of current.

At the very least...I would independently test the PSU before I connected it to another MB....or I might just toss it.

....and I think there's a good chance the memory survived.

 

[heyscot1]

Thanks guys. I'm going to keep the PSU and buy a multimeter to test it. I've been meaning to buy a multimeter forever now and it's going to be really useful for a lot more than just this issue.

My name is Scot and I'm a heavy thermal paster.

 

[jay32267]

Thanks guys. I'm going to keep the PSU and buy a multimeter to test it. I've been meaning to buy a multimeter forever now and it's going to be really useful for a lot more than just this issue.

My name is Scot and I'm a heavy thermal paster.

lol....that you are