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

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I recently installed a new XSPC Rasa 750 RS240 kit on my system. It was cooling the CPU and IOH for about a week, but the goal was to add the GPU into the loop.

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.

I've tried it the best I can. Going to check CPU, but think it's OK.

Questions are:

Do I need to do anything else?
Do I need to clean the board some how?
How long do I wait before trying the board again?
Where do I find someone to shoot me?

That is all. :mad::(
 
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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.
 
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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.

Thanks for the quick reply. Have been using paper towels. Was wondering about hair dryer. Will give it a try. Going to wait a day or so also.

Going to switch to distilled water. Any specific suggestion for that?

Thanks again.
 
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Water under the battery, and in the PCIE-16 slots. If this fesser stuff is good for anything, it's turning the towel blue so you can see where it is.

Just a spot of water on one notch of cpu socket.

Dabbing and blow drying. And going to let it sit for a day or more.
 

Krony

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As long as u get it totally dry u should be ok, let us know how it goes.
 

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Welcome to water cooling! ;)
 
D

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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.
 

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I've gotten mobos and video cards wet before. I use distilled and not any mixes so that it will evaporate and not leave shit behind as well.

I just put them in front of a fan for a couple days to dry out really well and they worked fine afterwards.
 
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Canned air can help get the little bits of water out from under the impossible to get to spots.
 
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Thanks all. Why didn't I think of an air can.

Well get back when I feel ready to try it out. :eek:
 
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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.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. :toast: To make it a little easier I have a very small spray bottle that I fill with the higheset % alcohol I can find and spray close at the affected area.
 
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Air shows it is still wet in places. Going use a hairdryer some more and maybe a fan.

This might take a while. :cry:
 
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Exactly what I was going to suggest. :toast: To make it a little easier I have a very small spray bottle that I fill with the higheset % alcohol I can find and spray close at the affected area.

I have been swabbing a bit with my rubbing alcohol, but not sure it it was the right thing.

You guys are saying to actually spray it on the board?

Well, guess it's worth a try. Have already seen signs of residue in some spots. :banghead:
 
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Yeah, just power it off when you do it. The alcohol helps displace the water and evaporates fairly quickly. If you think there was a chance any fluid got in the cpu socket pop it out and flush/dry it as well.
 
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Yeah, just power it off when you do it. The alcohol helps displace the water and evaporates fairly quickly. If you think there was a chance any fluid got in the cpu socket pop it out and flush/dry it as well.

The best thing I did was to not have to board powered when this happened. Only the cooling got power. Just leak testing, and boy did I find one.

Did take out the CPU and saw one drop on a notch. Nothing on the pins fortunately.

Will clean that part of cpu. Thanks.

Now going to get some distilled water and a small spray bottle.
 
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this is the shitty part about watercooling. at least no hardware (knock on wood) has died yet. i have lost tons to watercooling, via leaks bad waterblocks shitty hose/fittings. as long as you learn from it thats what matters. what did we learn this time?? Always double check your fittings for tightness and waterblock bolts as wel
 

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water-cooling is extremely dangerous, the only thing more dangerous than water-cooling is gtx590ing
 
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try using isopropyl 99%, 91% is fine too, but I personally don't trust any lower than that. that shit evaporates quickly. I once spilled like 100 ml on my CPU (not mobo...) all over the pins and stuff, just blew on it for 10 minutes and the CPU was OCed 2 mins after that :D Isopropyl is better than the dryer or any water of any sort because it evaporates VERY quickly at high concentrations, and it takes the residue out (and kills 99% of germs? :roll:)
 

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Oh, the joy of water :D

Just make sure to take your time, take it as easy as possible, and use all those drying tips here to your fullest advantage.
I left my board out to dry for 2 days after my first leak, which was enough :)
 

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water-cooling is extremely dangerous, the only thing more dangerous than water-cooling is gtx590ing

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 . ) .
 

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Yeah don't mean to give the uninitiated who may be reading this thread the impression that big accidents like this are particularly common but of course it can happen.
 

trickson

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Yeah don't mean to give the uninitiated who may be reading this thread the impression that big accidents like this are particularly common but of course it can happen.
LOL Yes I started a generic less than perfect guide to water cooling I hope that it helps people and encourages them as well . I just love water cooling it has been so fun !
 
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no one has recommended putting the board in a bow/boxl, and filling it with rice?:wtf:
 
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no one has recommended putting the board in a bow/boxl, and filling it with rice?:wtf:
rice would get stuck in some parts, and would give you rice crispies later on when you boot
 
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