1st time water cooling...possible disaster...wet motherboard

[Wrigleyvillain]

Snap Crackle Pop!

 

[trickson]

Snap Crackle Pop!

LOL . Not only will putting rice on it take longer than just a hair dryer but the rice will get stuck in spots you do not want it to and could cause more harm than good .

 

[PopcornMachine]

...The thing is the OP did the right thing . Testing for water leaks before powering up is safe . But I would have done the testing with out the MB in the case ( far less chance of leaking liquid getting onto the hardware . ) .

I should explain that I had been running for about week with the CPU and IOH blocks in place. So I was probably a little over confident, thinking I had that part down.

This test was with the GPU block in the loop. The 2nd smart thing I did was just testing that block and not involving my HD 6950. Would be even more upset, depressed, if my $300 graphics card had got wet.

Mostly just been letting it sit for a couple days now. Will look it over and do some more cleaning tonight. Maybe even give it a try if all is well.

 

[trickson]

I personally think you will be just fine . As long as you " fixed " the problem . 2 days is IMHO long enough for every thing to dry up . You should be just fine . Over cleaning and being all paranoid about a bit of water can cause you more problems . as long as you have cleaned up what you could , Used a hair dryer and let it sit for a day or 2 there is nothing left to do but hook it up and give it another shot .

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Make the popcorn!

 

[PopcornMachine]

Well, no popcorn. Nothing but the sound of silence.

Put the loop back together and did a leak test first, which went fine.

Then put a spare video card in, hard drive, etc. And nothing. The on-board power on light glows, but doesn't seem to work. Tried using the case power connected to the header, still nothing.

Guess my board is dead.

Now I don't know if CPU is dead either.

 

[MT Alex]

NOOOOoooo!
I'm holding out for an oversight when putting it back together. I had a 4870 that had to be plugged in just right or nothing would power on. I would be bummed if this thread ended this way.

 

[n-ster]

meh, I never liked that board, you got an excuse to upgrade now Considering you other components, you could just upgrade to SB, else just get a nice board like the X58A-UD3R, maybe some RAM with that?

 

[HUSKIE]

Make it sure all end loops are secured firmly/tightened otherwise might be a big problem with your system..

 

[Thrackan]

Well, no popcorn. Nothing but the sound of silence.

Put the loop back together and did a leak test first, which went fine.

Then put a spare video card in, hard drive, etc. And nothing. The on-board power on light glows, but doesn't seem to work. Tried using the case power connected to the header, still nothing.

Guess my board is dead.

Now I don't know if CPU is dead either.

Last 20 times I had a similar dead silence, I forgot the 4-pin power plug. Fingers crossed...

 

[20mmrain]

No such thing as non-conductive water. The blue Feser is fine, only the red seems to break down over time. If you have access to compressed air flush your board with alcohol and blow dry...do it all the time here when benching cascade/dice/LN2.

Shit I use Fesser Red right now does it really cause a problem over time?

 

[PopcornMachine]

Last 20 times I had a similar dead silence, I forgot the 4-pin power plug. Fingers crossed...

I have two 4-pins and they are in. I'm tired and it's late. Going to fiddle some more tomorrow, but it doesn't look good.

 

[de.das.dude]

make sure its COMPLETLY DRY..... but you should have had distiled water in it.... so by itself it should not be conductive.... there for likely nothing has happend to the board.



just get a paper towel or screen cleaning cloth and wipe down the motherboard.... grab a hairdryer on medium heat to remove the water... dont heat the motherboard too much.

actually. i tried a conductivity test on water. tap water (if it doesnt have a lot of iron content and is soft water) is very unconductive, specially we see that max voltages ina pc is 12v.

i added salt to the water and when the water was really salty(enough to make you barf with one drop) it starts to conduct.

if you want to be extra sure, just get some distilled water(ubleaded one) from a chemistry lab and wash it all again. let them all dry in the sun and youre good to go.

 

[Wile E]

No such thing as non-conductive water. The blue Feser is fine, only the red seems to break down over time. If you have access to compressed air flush your board with alcohol and blow dry...do it all the time here when benching cascade/dice/LN2.

Pure water is 100% non-conductive. It's contaminates that make it conductive. I've spilled distilled water on a running computer with no effect. I shut down and dried it anyway, but that's not the point. That being said, I was just lucky, as even dust on a board can make water conductive.

But the alcohol and air compressor trick works wonders. Hair dryer is also good in a pinch.

I disagree . The thing is the OP did the right thing . Testing for water leaks before powering up is safe . But I would have done the testing with out the MB in the case ( far less chance of leaking liquid getting onto the hardware . ) .

That's pointless. Just moving the loop can introduce new leaks. You test it the way it's going to be installed.

As far as the OP, getting water on non-running components should not have done any damage. When my 2900XT was brand new, my TEC setup had a meltdown, and sprayed water all over the interior of my computer. The TEC took out the CPU and mobo by melting it, but everything else was fine once I dried them out. I've had numerous leaks over the years, and drying always seems to work.

Link to the carnage: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38153

 

[trickson]

That's pointless. Just moving the loop can introduce new leaks.

No just moving the WB with hose clamps on the barb's / fittings will not cause new leaks , That is if they are secure and on right there is no way .
I have had my water cooling setup for years now and not ONCE have I had a leak any were . I do not know what it is with people and there water cooling setup's leaking . I have 2 rads connected with a res and a CPU WB . I have yet to see any leaks at any time .
It is so easy not to get any leaks when you take the time to do it right .

@OP
I am sorry to hear this about your system , I would think that if you had no power going to the MB or any other hardware at the time you had the leak that every thing would be just fine , I am at a loos as to what has happened . Tinker with it some more make sure every thing is correctly installed and if nothing then start to RMA things starting with the MB first . That is all I can think of .

 

[Thrackan]

No just moving the WB with hose clamps on the barb's / fittings will not cause new leaks , That is if they are secure and on right there is no way .
I have had my water cooling setup for years now and not ONCE have I had a leak any were . I do not know what it is with people and there water cooling setup's leaking . I have 2 rads connected with a res and a CPU WB . I have yet to see any leaks at any time .
It is so easy not to get any leaks when you take the time to do it right .

Can I touch you? You are awesome.

@OP
I am sorry to hear this about your system , I would think that if you had no power going to the MB or any other hardware at the time you had the leak that every thing would be just fine , I am at a loos as to what has happened . Tinker with it some more make sure every thing is correctly installed and if nothing then start to RMA things starting with the MB first . That is all I can think of .

Everything was out of the case and power only applied to the pump and fans for a leak test.

 

[trickson]

Can I touch you? You are awesome.

Yes You may

BTW NOT every thing was out of the case if this happened .

Everything was out of the case and power only applied to the pump and fans for a leak test.

Apparently I had not reconnected a hose to the IOH block tight enough. I turned it off immediately, but not quick enough to prevent blue fesser fluid (yes I know it's crap) running all over my board.

What happened is that you see the " Test " was conducted with every thing in the case , How ells do you get liquid all over the MB ? Osmosis ?
It is also possible that you had power going to the MB at the time ( I was not there so I assume this ) even the MB battery has power going to the MB . With this said , I stand behind what I say 100% . Always test your new water cooling unit out with EVERY THING OUT OF THE CASE ! In other words setup your water system DRY ( With every thing in the case first , Then before you go to test it , Take every thing out ! ) This could have been prevented IMHO .

 

[PopcornMachine]

Yes You may

BTW NOT every thing was out of the case if this happened .



What happened is that you see the " Test " was conducted with every thing in the case , How ells do you get liquid all over the MB ? Osmosis ?
It is also possible that you had power going to the MB at the time ( I was not there so I assume this ) even the MB battery has power going to the MB . With this said , I stand behind what I say 100% . Always test your new water cooling unit out with EVERY THING OUT OF THE CASE ! In other words setup your water system DRY ( With every thing in the case first , Then before you go to test it , Take every thing out ! ) This could have been prevented IMHO .

The PSU and drive were in the case, but everything else was on the table, out of the case. As I said. If I had a leak, I'm not sure what difference it would make if it was in the case, out of the case, or whatever. The hose leaks, the board gets wet.

And there was no power going to the motherboard at the time.

I'm having a bad enough week without being called a liar on top of it.

 

[trickson]

The PSU and drive were in the case, but everything else was on the table, out of the case. As I said. If I had a leak, I'm not sure what difference it would make if it was in the case, out of the case, or whatever. The hose leaks, the board gets wet.

And there was no power going to the motherboard at the time.

I'm having a bad enough week without being called a liar on top of it.

I am NOT calling any one a LIAR ! I am just reading the way it is written . So just how did the liquid get on the MB ? Where did the liquid go on the MB ? And what have you done to test it out ?
Have you taken out the CPU and looked at the socket , CPU , and all the other components ?
Have you tried a bench test ? Every on the table and not in the case ? You may have a short ( Just maybe ) . You may have a bent CPU pin ( Just maybe ) . Have you looked at all the WB's in your loop making sure they are not touching any of the parts on the boards ? Video card , CPU .
If all this has been done and every thing checks out . I would do one last thing to make sure the MB is dry and free from all liquid . Take the battery and CPU out of the MB first then take a bottle of Alcohol and pour it all over the MB , soak it good ! Take out a hair dryer after you have dumped all the excess alcohol off and stood the MB on end , and on low dry it all every nook and cranny front and back ( Use caned air for all the hard spots as well making sure you have every bit of liquid out of every thing ) then re-test . This is all I can say . as there should not be any thing that has fried at all . I Just do not get it myself . I wish you luck I do feel bad for you and what you are going through trust me . I hate to see any thing like this happen to any one . I am only trying to help you the best way I know how .
I am sorry . And I DO hope you can get this all worked out .

 

[PopcornMachine]

I am NOT calling any one a LIAR ! I am just reading the way it is written . So just how did the liquid get on the MB ? Where did the liquid go on the MB ? And what have you done to test it out ?
Have you taken out the CPU and looked at the socket , CPU , and all the other components ?
Have you tried a bench test ? Every on the table and not in the case ? You may have a short ( Just maybe ) . You may have a bent CPU pin ( Just maybe ) . Have you looked at all the WB's in your loop making sure they are not touching any of the parts on the boards ? Video card , CPU .
If all this has been done and every thing checks out . I would do one last thing to make sure the MB is dry and free from all liquid . Take the battery and CPU out of the MB first then take a bottle of Alcohol and pour it all over the MB , soak it good ! Take out a hair dryer after you have dumped all the excess alcohol off and stood the MB on end , and on low dry it all every nook and cranny front and back ( Use caned air for all the hard spots as well making sure you have every bit of liquid out of every thing ) then re-test . This is all I can say . as there should not be any thing that has fried at all . I Just do not get it myself . I wish you luck I do feel bad for you and what you are going through trust me . I hate to see any thing like this happen to any one . I am only trying to help you the best way I know how .
I am sorry . And I DO hope you can get this all worked out .

I don't have to prove anything to you.

You certainly did call me a liar.

Thankfully this forum has an ignore option.

 

[trickson]

I don't have to prove anything to you.

You certainly did call me a liar.

Thankfully this forum has an ignore option.

Ok then I am done here . Good luck to you .

 

[PopcornMachine]

Ok then I am done here . Good luck to you .

who cares.

 

[trickson]

who cares.

With an attitude like this towards members here you will see little to no help .
I can see that you are angry and upset but I did not cause your problem I have however given you full support and help in return you are now giving me an attitude . Hence you will see no more help from me from here on out .

 

[Deleted member 74752]

Shit I use Fesser Red right now does it really cause a problem over time?

The red is the only one I have ever seen break down and leave sediments. All the others have been fine.

 

[20mmrain]

The red is the only one I have ever seen break down and leave sediments. All the others have been fine.

Thanks sorry didn't mean to highjack the thread just thought maybe it might be smart to switch then. thanks for the information bud.