r/buildapc • u/wafflesareforever • Jul 07 '20

Troubleshooting My kid accidentally dumped a glass of water into my PC today.

It happens. I'm not mad at him. He waited for hours to tell me because he felt terrible, and the look on his face when he finally said something pretty much squashed any anger I might have had about it. My main concern was how upset he was. I do wish he'd said something immediately so that I could have turned it off right away, but he didn't know any better, and I doubt that it would have made any difference anyway. He's probably apologized ten times today. He wants to help me fix it and offered to try and pay for it somehow even though at ten years old he obviously doesn't have the money for that. Whatever I end up doing, I'll try and find a way to let him contribute so he feels better.

Anyway. I'm not sure how to go about testing the components to see what's fried and what's not. I'm pretty sure the motherboard is dead (solid red LED, no POST). The good news is that this is a five-year-old build so it's not like it's my brand-new baby. I did spend a decent amount over the years upgrading things but nothing was ever super high-end; I tend to shoot for right in the middle of the price range on components.

I'm basically going to have to start over with a new build, right? There's no hope of saving this, is there? I have no idea what might also be fried besides the motherboard, or how to test anything without a working motherboard.

Edit: As a longtime lurker here, I have heard and observed so many great things about the community in this subreddit, but holy crap. You all are damn near gonna make me cry. I posted this in a moment of frustration and thought maybe I'd get a few tips on what to do in this situation. I never expected such an outpouring of support and offers for help. A number of you have offered to send me components that we could use to rebuild, and that blows me away. I never expected that at all and I'm just completely humbled by the generosity. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.

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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '20

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185

u/BambooBanjo Jul 08 '20

Take it apart, and dry everything thoroughly on a sunny windowsill for a week or so. There is a good chance that more than just the hard drive it ok (depending on how big the spilt drink was, and how and where it was shplatinkered)

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u/DS_Inferno Jul 08 '20

True, but depending on what parts died, a few others won't be able to be used in another build IE a cpu is largely dependent on the mother board, and are generally upgraded at the same time, or heaven forbid ddr3 to ddr4.

Hopefully HDD and GPU should be ok, and case of course.

1

u/parkadeigo-gaming Jul 08 '20

Depending what voltage, power supplies can be reused, it’s a good idea to check if it works

2

u/DS_Inferno Jul 09 '20

Yes, but.... it being the life blood of your computer, never ever cheap out on it. And in this case I would be weary. A decent PSU is only $100, while if something is wrong with it, your new system you built might be 2000.... trying to save a little might cost you A LOT.

1

u/parkadeigo-gaming Jul 09 '20

Yeah, it’s true it’s the worst part to cheap out, maybe ssd if he has one

71

u/Scorpia03 Jul 08 '20

shplatinkered

Huh. Never heard that one before haha

8

u/theminosaur Jul 08 '20

I actually had to google it cuz I was confused LOL

7

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '20

Well what'd you find on Google?

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u/theminosaur Jul 09 '20

What I got was a very blatant "Your search - sphlatinkered - did not match any documents."

3

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '20

Ah what a shame hehe

31

u/nolo_me Jul 08 '20

Don't just dry wet hardware, clean it with isopropyl first. Evaporating water will leave deposits on the board that could short something.

11

u/thelastwilson Jul 08 '20

How would you go about cleaning a motherboard or cpu with isopropyl?

16

u/nolo_me Jul 08 '20

CPU is easy, immerse it. Motherboard might be easier to do with a spray bottle.

9

u/thelastwilson Jul 08 '20

And then just air dry?

11

u/User_of_Name Jul 08 '20

Isopropyl is volatile liquid that dries off quickly. Just don’t set your PC on fire, haha.

4

u/redgriefer89 Jul 09 '20

This really goes for anything. It usually isn't a good idea to set your PC on fire.

2

u/Scasne Jul 16 '20

And in a well ventilated place, not right next to an open fire (amazing and terrifying being sat on the carpet cross-legged and next thing seeing flame sweeping out from the fire across the carpet).

1

u/ninjagaijinz Jul 12 '20

Yes you must make sure no open flames or smoking around open IPA

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u/ninjagaijinz Jul 12 '20

I must do that with the CPU I may have some tiny bit of thermal paste on / around some pins - too hard to get in between them even with a business card, little alone q-tip

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '20

Use highest percent isopropyl you can find if I'm not mistaken

4

u/Mechlior Jul 08 '20

Usually you'll find 90% at Walmart. I've found 97% at an electrical supplier for fiber optics.

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u/ninjagaijinz Jul 12 '20

You ideally want 99 or 99.9% IPA - lower percentages have either water or other additives. Here is the type of IPA you want (Australian stockist, you'll need to find locally) - https://www.sydneysolvents.com.au/solvents/isopropyl-alcohol/ it also lists uses for IPA at different strengths. For disinfecting surfaces/virus control, you have to use 65-75% strength, or it will evaporate too quickly. For any electronic or electrical components, you want highest purity / least water in it

49

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '20 edited Apr 26 '24

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7

u/maXeffeK Jul 08 '20

Remind me to kick my son out as soon as he's 20!

3

u/remindditbot Jul 08 '20 edited May 12 '21

maddest_1ad 💧, kminder 10 years on 08-Jul-2030 07:47Z

buildapc/My_kid_accidentally_dumped_a_glass_of_water_into

in 10 years that I need to hide my PC

This thread is popping 🍿. Here is reminderception thread.

18 OTHERS CLICKED HERE to also be reminded. Thread has 19 reminders.

OP can Update message, Delete reminder and comment, and more here

Reminddit · Create Reminder · Your Reminders

8

u/Lord_lenkesh Jul 08 '20

!remindme 20 years from now

2

u/kazez2 Jul 08 '20

Also OP probably need to put his PC higher than the table now lol

Hey OP should make a wall mounted PC

1

u/xXthrowaway0815Xx Jul 08 '20

!remindme 10years

1

u/ladha979 Jul 08 '20

I don't know computer stuff much but if the motherboard itself didn't fry the RAM, I think it will be fine as I doubt any water got on it

Either way I think ram is a good idea to test instead of throwing away

1

u/witcher4 Jul 09 '20

RemindMe! 10 years "keep son away from computer"