[SOLVED] Spilled water into pc. Red cpu and dram light after taking apart and drying. Can't figure out what's damaged.

Dec 28, 2021
7
0
20
parts:

Asrock b550m pro4

Ryzen 5 3600 with stock cooler

team tforce 8gb 3200 x2

super flower leadex III gold 650w

I also have an additional evga 500w 80plus power supply

and gtx 1050 for testing. (i do not want to use the graphics card that was in it for troubleshooting).

Problem:

I spilled water from desk onto the top of my pc, which is on the floor, and the display went out immediately. All fans started running at 100% and I cut the power immediately. I flipped the pc upside down and brought it to a table to see where water landed. Most of the water landed on the floor thankfully and I only saw a few drops of water that landed on the graphics card, the top of the cpu cooler, and a drop on the bottom of the case. I was still afraid to turn it back on, so I took out the graphics and sprayed compressed air on it. I removed my cpu fan from the heatsink and didn't see any water. I removed the ram which had no water on it. I removed the powersupply which also had no water it was concealed by the bottom of the case. I rested the gpu on its side inside the case and pointed a fan at it for a day.

TLDR: barely any water landed in pc, yet it still lost display instantly and fans ramped up to 100%. just little drops on cpu cooler, graphics card. couldn't see water anywhere else. Took it apart and let it dry with a fan pointed at it for a day.

Troubleshooting I've tried:

· Took it apart and used motherboard box as a test bench using only the cpu with cooler, ram, and power supply. I got a red cpu and DRAM light and the fan just turns on.

· The previous day when unscrewing the heatsink the backplate fell off and I screwed it back on. When I was looking up stuff from the issue I saw that seating it incorrectly could short the motherboard and cause the CPU and DRAM light to turn on. I took off and put back on the backplate but the problem persisted.

· I used one of the both sticks of ram in each slot, no change.

· Removing cmos battery for a minute, no change.

· Using different powersupply, no change

· Using different power supply and plugging in graphics card (both working in another pc) gpu fan turns on along with cpu fan and no change.

· I cannot try the ram in the other pc because it does not support ddr4. I cannot try the processor because it is an intel board.

I don’t know where to continue from here. Even if I can’t fix something I just want to figure out what’s broken. If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Solution
parts:

Asrock b550m pro4

Ryzen 5 3600 with stock cooler

team tforce 8gb 3200 x2

super flower leadex III gold 650w

I also have an additional evga 500w 80plus power supply

and gtx 1050 for testing. (i do not want to use the graphics card that was in it for troubleshooting).

Problem:

I spilled water from desk onto the top of my pc, which is on the floor, and the display went out immediately. All fans started running at 100% and I cut the power immediately. I flipped the pc upside down and brought it to a table to see where water landed. Most of the water landed on the floor thankfully and I only saw a few drops of water that landed on the graphics card, the top of the cpu cooler, and a drop on the bottom of the...
parts:

Asrock b550m pro4

Ryzen 5 3600 with stock cooler

team tforce 8gb 3200 x2

super flower leadex III gold 650w

I also have an additional evga 500w 80plus power supply

and gtx 1050 for testing. (i do not want to use the graphics card that was in it for troubleshooting).

Problem:

I spilled water from desk onto the top of my pc, which is on the floor, and the display went out immediately. All fans started running at 100% and I cut the power immediately. I flipped the pc upside down and brought it to a table to see where water landed. Most of the water landed on the floor thankfully and I only saw a few drops of water that landed on the graphics card, the top of the cpu cooler, and a drop on the bottom of the case. I was still afraid to turn it back on, so I took out the graphics and sprayed compressed air on it. I removed my cpu fan from the heatsink and didn't see any water. I removed the ram which had no water on it. I removed the powersupply which also had no water it was concealed by the bottom of the case. I rested the gpu on its side inside the case and pointed a fan at it for a day.

TLDR: barely any water landed in pc, yet it still lost display instantly and fans ramped up to 100%. just little drops on cpu cooler, graphics card. couldn't see water anywhere else. Took it apart and let it dry with a fan pointed at it for a day.

Troubleshooting I've tried:

· Took it apart and used motherboard box as a test bench using only the cpu with cooler, ram, and power supply. I got a red cpu and DRAM light and the fan just turns on.

· The previous day when unscrewing the heatsink the backplate fell off and I screwed it back on. When I was looking up stuff from the issue I saw that seating it incorrectly could short the motherboard and cause the CPU and DRAM light to turn on. I took off and put back on the backplate but the problem persisted.

· I used one of the both sticks of ram in each slot, no change.

· Removing cmos battery for a minute, no change.

· Using different powersupply, no change

· Using different power supply and plugging in graphics card (both working in another pc) gpu fan turns on along with cpu fan and no change.

· I cannot try the ram in the other pc because it does not support ddr4. I cannot try the processor because it is an intel board.

I don’t know where to continue from here. Even if I can’t fix something I just want to figure out what’s broken. If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it.

Water could have shorted out VRM components so motherboard is bad...maybe even CPU. All you can do is swap parts.

How expensive is the system? Many times home owner's insurance covers water damage from spillage.
 
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Solution
Dec 28, 2021
7
0
20
Water could have shorted out VRM components so motherboard is bad...maybe even CPU. All you can do is swap parts.

How expensive is the system? Many times home owner's insurance covers water damage from spillage.
Thanks, I checked processor doesn’t seem like water damage. Called a local repair guy he says it’s definitely the motherboard. Just ordered a replacement and I’ll go from there.