spilt soda on gfx card

[jimmy518]

a very small drop of soda landed on the back of my gfx card. my card has a plate on the back but has holes in it and i think a little might have have gotten in im not sure though. my pc is working fine and i havnt noticed anything. but can that mean that theres no damage? or could there be small amount of damage that isnt noticable? and if there is is there any way to check

 

[icybow14]

How the hell do you get soda into your case, onto your graphics card....

 

[photonboy]

Since you have no obvious issues I'd say you are fine.

Any kind of a graphics card issues would show as a system crash or a visual artifact on the screen.

 

[Jay Lavistria]

I dont think soda is ALL that conductive, but I would suggest wiping the PCB clean with a dry tissue.

 

[photonboy]

I dont think soda is ALL that conductive, but I would suggest wiping the PCB clean with a dry tissue.

Reasonable advice, but given the very small amount of fluid I wouldn't bother. I've seen people do damage to their systems simply by messing with them (static, physical damage... ).

At worst we're talking an insignificant amount of sugar residue since the liquid would have evaporated.

 

[Kari]

At worst we're talking an insignificant amount of sugar residue since the liquid would have evaporated.

IF the soda has some salts in it the residue will aggravate corrosion on the solder joints, and depending on the local climate and humidity it could have an effect on the lifespan of the card (edit 60% RH will do it when not in use)... It can only take one failed joint to brick a card anyways.

I would personally clean it with IPA (rubbing alcohol), but then again I know how to handle circuit boards... :/

 

[smeezekitty]

The problem is soda is that it is corrosive. So even if you are not having problems now, a few months down the line
it may quit due to a trace or joint or chip leg corroding thorugh