Question Spilled water.. on my PC.. first time.

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simplyabbyig

Feb 6, 2019
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Yeah. I'm an idiot. I know. I was going to go downstairs from my room to help out my mom with moving a desk upstairs (because we were redoing my room) and I was playing on my computer on this tiny (nightstand?) and I didn't have room for my Club Soda (basically just carbonated water and it was in a can) so i left it on top of my PC (bad idea) and i was reaching for it to go downstairs with it and i knocked it over it seeped into my PC's internals from the top filter thing at the top of the case. My display shut off by itself immediately and I panicked. I unplugged the PC from the outlet in what I'd like to think was under a minute or two. I had tried desperately to open my PC (it was hard to find the thing to unscrew my PC's side with) and i blowdried it later and let it dry too. We found literally like no water inside (only a few drops, not on any parts tho) and though that doesn't mean anything, it seemed okay. I didn't turn it on since. I let it dry over an floor vent overnight (not directly on top, i needed heat in my room but it was on top before i went to sleep) and when I get back from school I plan to perhaps turn it on. Do you think it's damaged? What should I do? I really don't want my $2700 build to go to waste. I apologize in advance for my stupidity and lack of knowledge for computers and literally anything else, too. Help would be insanely appreciated. I've googled and searched for help but i'm confused by what i'm being told. When I arrive home from school it'd have been about 20 hours since it happened.
 
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Open the case and very carefully inspect every millimetre of the motherboard and other components inside. See if there is any black/scorch marks, or something like looks like corrosion on the inside. If you don't see anything suspicious, there really is no harm in turning it on (if you are sure it's been fully dried) and seeing what happens. Leave the case open and visually look for any smoke or burning smell. If you notice that, turn it off and send it off for repair. Make sure to also check the graphics card specifically as well.

If everything works as normal, that's great!
 
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oczdude8 said:
Open the case and very carefully inspect every millimetre of the motherboard and other components inside. See if there is any black/scorch marks, or something like looks like corrosion on the inside. If you don't see anything suspicious, there really is no harm in turning it on (if you are sure it's been fully dried) and seeing what happens. Leave the case open and visually look for any smoke or burning smell. If you notice that, turn it off and send it off for repair. Make sure to also check the graphics card specifically as well.

If everything works as normal, that's great!
Click to expand...
That's a much better answer than what Google really says. Thank you. I was thinking I should check for corrosion but I'd probably be too dumb to realize there's any. I'll try to. I'll make sure to leave the case open and where would I even send it to repair ( i don't think we have a computer shop. small shitty town in Canada but there is this guy called 'Larry the computer guy' who knows his stuff about PCs supposedly and another guy my mom knows. my dad knows about PCs too but i dont think he can help or even wants to so where would i send it to? its a custom build btw.) What would I check for the graphics card specifically?
 
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Take all the cards out and carefully examine the connectors on the MB.....look for wet dust! Take the opportunity to blow out the connectors and compare their appearance looking for one that looks different. If you find one take especial care cleaning and drying that connector.

Also examine the fingers connectors on the cards you take out. If all goes well, you will have the cleanest PC in town!

Larry
 
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Sorry for the spill on you custom build. Hopefully all will result in getting you unit up and running again. I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know you should take care of your data like against accidents like these.

The conventional wisdom by tech experts on backups is known as the 3-2-1 method. Basically you want:

3 copies of any data you don't want to lose.
2 different mediums it's stored on.
1 copy kept offsite, to prevent against disaster. Let's say a soda spills on your unit you want a copy somewhere else so you can retrieve it.
 
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simplyabbyig said:
That's a much better answer than what Google really says. Thank you. I was thinking I should check for corrosion but I'd probably be too dumb to realize there's any. I'll try to. I'll make sure to leave the case open and where would I even send it to repair ( i don't think we have a computer shop. small shitty town in Canada but there is this guy called 'Larry the computer guy' who knows his stuff about PCs supposedly and another guy my mom knows. my dad knows about PCs too but i dont think he can help or even wants to so where would i send it to? its a custom build btw.) What would I check for the graphics card specifically?
Click to expand...

Check for the same signs of damage: burned components, corrosion, black marks etc. It also wouldn't hurt to do what Imacflier suggested above, if you feel comfortable doing that.
 
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Imacflier said:
Take all the cards out and carefully examine the connectors on the MB.....look for wet dust! Take the opportunity to blow out the connectors and compare their appearance looking for one that looks different. If you find one take especial care cleaning and drying that connector.

Also examine the fingers connectors on the cards you take out. If all goes well, you will have the cleanest PC in town!

Larry
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I know this is annoying and dumb but can you dumb it down a bit for me? I don't really understand.. sorry. I'm not good with computers at all.
 
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seagate_surfer said:
Sorry for the spill on you custom build. Hopefully all will result in getting you unit up and running again. I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know you should take care of your data like against accidents like these.

The conventional wisdom by tech experts on backups is known as the 3-2-1 method. Basically you want:

3 copies of any data you don't want to lose.
2 different mediums it's stored on.
1 copy kept offsite, to prevent against disaster. Let's say a soda spills on your unit you want a copy somewhere else so you can retrieve it.
Click to expand...
Yeah.. probably shouldve had another backup thing. I couldve done it on a usb but i hadnt updated what i had on it in like 3 months and unfortunately i took the files off my usb and put it on my desktop. I was doing a memtest and a bios update so i needed to reset the usb.. i hope my hard drive and ssd (and my entire pc) is okay...
 
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After using isopropyl and waiting a few hours bc i went out, i plugged it in and it was fine except mobo is def water damaged and gpu is being weird but i think its a mobo issue. Basically my gpu fan works only until lockscreen then stops. I tried my gpu with another pc and it was fine. Tried that other pc's gpu and it was fine with my mobo (fans spun). Yet when i put my gpu in without my wifi adapter that goes into a slot it works. When i put my wifi adapter in it stopped.
Probably just need to replace mobo? i didnt notice the water stains or corrosion on some areas before on my mobo so
 
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simplyabbyig said:
After using isopropyl and waiting a few hours bc i went out, i plugged it in and it was fine except mobo is def water damaged and gpu is being weird but i think its a mobo issue. Basically my gpu fan works only until lockscreen then stops. I tried my gpu with another pc and it was fine. Tried that other pc's gpu and it was fine with my mobo (fans spun). Yet when i put my gpu in without my wifi adapter that goes into a slot it works. When i put my wifi adapter in it stopped.
Probably just need to replace mobo? i didnt notice the water stains or corrosion on some areas before on my mobo so
Click to expand...

I didn't quite get what the outcome was. Did the system boot up? Did you enter windows? The fans on the GPU sometimes do not spin at low loads (would be helpful to know what ur gpu model is exactly).

Its unclear how you came to the conclusion that the mobo is damaged.
 
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oczdude8 said:
I didn't quite get what the outcome was. Did the system boot up? Did you enter windows? The fans on the GPU sometimes do not spin at low loads (would be helpful to know what ur gpu model is exactly).

Its unclear how you came to the conclusion that the mobo is damaged.
Click to expand...
RTX 2070 ULTRA EVGA I believe. The mobo has stains from the water and possible corrosion. I cleaned it without taking it fully out. Yeah the fans only turn on for my graphics card at boot until my lock screen, and ingames it seems to turn on (above 50 degrees celsius) which is odd because it used to always be on, and does the same with the other PC. This happened only as of when the spill happened. Also seems to have spun all the time when my wifi adapter isn't in so there is apparent damage but it shouldn't be too bad?
 
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That seems very normal for a gpu with a third part cooler. I believe my EVGA 1080 FTW also had fans that would only turn on once the gpu went over a certain temperature. Maybe you just never noticed it before?

To be honest, if your system is working, then dont worry about it.
 
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