[SOLVED] Spilled soda on GPU, what to do?

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lonelywizard

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Feb 24, 2015
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Spilled some non sugary soda on GPU,saw that screen had some white fog while I was rushing to unplug the pc as fast as I can...

This is the state of my GPU right now. Is there any chance it can be saved and if so any advice on what I can do?
IMG_20210625_220140.jpg
 
Solution
SkyNetRising
lonelywizard said:
Is there any chance it can be saved and if so any advice on what I can do?
Click to expand...
Disassemble completely, remove cooler, remove i/o plate,
clean dust with a brush,
wash the board with isopropyl alcohol ( be careful, do not knock off any surface mounted component),
let it dry completely,
reassemble,
test, if it works.

Liquid spills void warranty. That seal on the screw doesn't matter anymore.
Perform cleaning as soon as possible. Sodas have acidic content. It may corrode components on pcb.
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That looks pretty FUBAR, especially with the screen effect you mentioned. You could try letting it dry 100% and giving it a go, but I'd say it's either dead, or now on it's way out.
 
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lonelywizard said:
Is there any chance it can be saved and if so any advice on what I can do?
Click to expand...
Disassemble completely, remove cooler, remove i/o plate,
clean dust with a brush,
wash the board with isopropyl alcohol ( be careful, do not knock off any surface mounted component),
let it dry completely,
reassemble,
test, if it works.

Liquid spills void warranty. That seal on the screw doesn't matter anymore.
Perform cleaning as soon as possible. Sodas have acidic content. It may corrode components on pcb.
 
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Solution
SkyNetRising said:
Disassemble completely, remove cooler, remove i/o plate,
clean dust with a brush,
wash the board with isopropyl alcohol ( be careful, do not knock off any surface mounted component),
let it dry completely,
reassemble,
test, if it works.

Liquid spills void warranty. That seal on the screw doesn't matter anymore.
Perform cleaning as soon as possible. Sodas have acidic content. It may corrode components on pcb.
Click to expand...
It's pretty late and I only have some covid disinfectant as alcohol... Would waiting till morning make the situation even worse
 
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Come on man why the heck is Soda and a GPU doing near each other. This is why they built cases put your box to the side. Maybe it was mother nature talking to you saying don't drink Soda it is not healthy and diet is not healthy either and if yours is regular that lots of sugar and can give diabetes in the future and what not. As for your GPU if you did not smell anything there is a chance it should be alive but needs complete drying. The the rice method. Put lots of rice in back and dump the card in it for like 2 days or so and then see if your system will power up. I hope this does it, I think there is a chance but does not help that the unit was on when this happened as water or liquid on a working computer device can sting. ✝🙏
 
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lonelywizard said:
Spilled some non sugary soda on GPU,saw that screen had some white fog while I was rushing to unplug the pc as fast as I can...

This is the state of my GPU right now. Is there any chance it can be saved and if so any advice on what I can do?
IMG_20210625_220140.jpg
Click to expand...
That GPU's definitely not gonna be 100% healthy again. Let it dry 100%, wash it using something that doesn't conduct electricity or something that evaporates. Chemicals such as Isopropyl Alcohol (I'm not a chemist, I don't know if I spelled that right but its the stuff in hand sanitizer) will work, as they evaporate away. Clean off any soda goo with it after it dried off, and it will evaporate on its own.

You want to be gentle with this, so I'd use something like a Q-tip or potentially a paper towel, as to not damage the traces.

After this, make sure all of the soda and the alcohol is dried off of the card. Make sure you have removed all of the potential goo from the card, then you can try to power it on.

Soda is also acidic, so before it dries up, clean it lightly with the alcohol ASAP to get rid of the soda.

EDIT: Looking at that picture again, I can say there's about a 30% chance that it will work again, especially if it's already started to fry itself (the white effect on the screen)

Best of luck to you though, I hope you fix your GPU.
 
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Fatalzo said:
That GPU's definitely not gonna be 100% healthy again. Let it dry 100%, wash it using something that doesn't conduct electricity or something that evaporates. Chemicals such as Isopropyl Alcohol (I'm not a chemist, I don't know if I spelled that right but its the stuff in hand sanitizer) will work, as they evaporate away. Clean off any soda goo with it after it dried off, and it will evaporate on its own.

You want to be gentle with this, so I'd use something like a Q-tip or potentially a paper towel, as to not damage the traces.

After this, make sure all of the soda and the alcohol is dried off of the card. Make sure you have removed all of the potential goo from the card, then you can try to power it on.

Soda is also acidic, so before it dries up, clean it lightly with the alcohol ASAP to get rid of the soda.

EDIT: Looking at that picture again, I can say there's about a 30% chance that it will work again, especially if it's already started to fry itself (the white effect on the screen)

Best of luck to you though, I hope you fix your GPU.
Click to expand...
IMG_20210626_164126.jpg

This is how it looks after cleaning...the stain at the right side is still there....I assume that's a very bad sign? F
 
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Get a can of CRC electrical contact cleaner and give the gpu a bath in it. You can get it at any car parts store. 91% or better isopropyl can be gotten at any drug store. Either way, give the pcb a good soaking in either, it's the only products that will not affect the board. Anything else is suspect, and that includes disinfectants or antiseptics etc.
 
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thepersonwithaface45 said:
"Perform cleaning as soon as possible. Sodas have acidic content. It may corrode components on pcb. "
Click to expand...

You might be okay is there is a layer of conformal coating over the components. Some companies do this.

Sodas are acidic mainly because of carbonation of the water. That goes away so does most of the acid.

Also warranty void stickers don't mean squat here in the usa. You have a right to crack them open and still get warranty service provided you didn't make things worse.

For God sake don't use hand sanitizers. They contain moisturizers!

Some water on many cotton swabs is the best bet. Don't use alcohol as it's a solvent itself. That's why you use it to clean off old paste!
 
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thepersonwithaface45 said:
"Perform cleaning as soon as possible. Sodas have acidic content. It may corrode components on pcb. "
Click to expand...
Unless it is a citrus-y cola, the main acid is carbonic very weak which is just a fraction (~0.1%) of dissolved CO2 hogging some hydrogen ions in water. Wipe it off so the leftovers can dry and the CO2 will buzz off.

Carbonic acid is pretty weak on its own. It does provide relatively good electrical conductivity though, which can quickly cause nasty electrolysis corrosion while power is on.

Bassman999 said:
91% ISO is your best bet IMO. Im not familiar with the denatured ethyl
Click to expand...
Sugar isn't particularly soluble in alcohol (0.4g/L), so 70-80% would be better for dissolving and rinsing off the sugar along with whatever else that alcohol may struggle to pick up on its own.
 
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digitalgriffin said:
It might be okay. Go over it again with a cotton swab with water. The good news is I don't see burn marks around backside components so you might be lucky.

Guess you don't have a volt meter handy to test for shorts?
Click to expand...
Wait how do I test that? Will I test with volt meter after I plug the GPU in or before? I can get my hands on a voltmeter but no idea how to use it
 
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lonelywizard said:
unknown.png


Reassembled it and tried...There are no visual problems so far but feel like temperature is a bit too much?
Click to expand...
Is the GPU at idle? I feel like it's not at idle because a CPU shouldn't get that hot, a CPU will usually top out at around 78C at 100% load, so either your computer has very poor ventilation or the GPU is under load, either way is fine for the GPU apart from the temperatures.

Anyway - It's been over 72 hours, and since you removed all of the soda goo no further damage will be caused by the soda. If this is idle temperatures though, I'd be more worried about the temperatures than the soda issue by now.
 
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