Water Damage!

satindemon4u · Aug 22, 2015

Hello all. While at a friends house tonight, his brother approached me with an issue. While he was out of the house it had rained. This rain, leaked into his window and on to the top of his tower. His tower has a top mounted fan and some of the rain water managed to get in there. He says the system was in sleep mode at the time. He said he took the fan out and removed all water and then placed a heater in front of the system to attempt to dry it out. Never tried to turn it on.

Some hours later, he plugged in the power cord and when doing so got a light shock in return. When trying to turn the computer on, nothing. The PSU is top mounted and got a little wet so my first assumption is that it may have been bad. I tried his brothers PSU and the green light on the motherboard was lit. I then tried the same test with his PSU and surprisingly got the same result, the green light on the mobo was lit.

So, it seems to me that the PSU is at least working enough to send power to the mobo and the mobo is at least working enough to get this power and illuminate the little green light. So, what else could it be? I realize that it could be a multitude of things but I am really trying to pinpoint the issue, if possible.

I don't really have exact hardware specs at this time. :/

Full tower case
550W PSU
Asus mobo
dedicated video card

HWTactics · Aug 22, 2015

Oh gawd... the PSU is connected to EVERYthing in the computer.

I really don't think this is possible to fix without a spare part for every piece of the PC to try swapping one at a time.

Water damage sucks.

ZenZimZaliben · Aug 22, 2015

HWTactics said:
Oh gawd... the PSU is connected to EVERYthing in the computer.

I really don't think this is possible to fix without a spare part for every piece of the PC to try swapping one at a time.

Water damage sucks.

Pretty much.

m&m's · Aug 22, 2015

satindemon4u · Aug 22, 2015

I kind of figured it may come down to testing everything individually, but was hoping not lol.

the54thvoid · Aug 22, 2015

I had a water disaster last year. Forgot to plug an outlet on a gfx card during a leak test. Put about 2-3mm depth of water on most of mobo.

Took the system apart (I use a test bench) placed naked mobo on radiator, took PSU cover off to air the internals and used a hair dryer to do as much as I could. Left it all drying like that for 4-5 hours. Reassembled after using tissue paper to test for moisture. All was well.
I don't think your friend let it dry for long enough.... Water in a system will hang around unless you get in at all the joins and crevices.

ShiBDiB · Aug 22, 2015

m&m's said:
View attachment 67473

that's... beautiful

NC37 · Aug 22, 2015

90% alcohol solution, submerge if possible if you can't wipe down the components with it. Resurrected a friend's MacBook Pro with this after an orderly spilled a pitcher of water on it in a rehab place. I cleaned off the visible corrosion with alcohol first. System booted but wasn't stable. It would maybe boot once then fail to boot for awhile. Disconnecting power and leaving it a bit + reconnecting would work but then it wouldn't boot again after that one time. So, got drastic, went out and bought a bottle of 90%. Dunked the board in 90% solution. Let it dry for awhile. Hooked it up, worked fine. No problems at all. Like a new machine. Saved her $700 that Apple wanted to charge to replace the board.

P4-630 · Aug 22, 2015

I have spilled a glass of lemonade on my netbook years ago, it was on at the time,
it went off and I placed it on a radiator for a day, the next day it was working again!
Unfortunately the keys stayed sticky underneath it, I tried to remove a key but I could not get it back on so I left it as it was.

Bill_Bright · Aug 22, 2015

Should have waited a couple days with a fan blowing on it, not hours before trying anything.

Sadly, unless unplugged or the master power switch on the back of the PSU (if it has one) the computer is in standby mode with +5V flowing through several circuits on the motherboard. If water got in there, the damage may have occurred when the first few drops got in.

Assuming the computer is thoroughly dry now, and you have tried two different power supplies, then I am afraid the motherboard is likely bad now too.

de.das.dude · Aug 23, 2015

I wouldnt have high hopes for this one. Specially since the thing was powered at the time.
Just using the heater from the front isnt really going to do anything to the water that has seeped under the SMD chips and there are thousands of those.

a better way is to dunk each item into a bucket of rice (or dehydrant like silica stuff) and put it in the sun for a few days and hope for the best.

satindemon4u · Aug 24, 2015

I will relay all of this info to him. Thanks guys! So, final verdict is more than likely the motherboard is shot? Is it a safe bet to say that the PSU is ok though?

de.das.dude · Aug 24, 2015

well the PSU's do come with some sort of short circuit protection depending on the model, but i really wouldnt have my hopes up.

Mussels · Aug 24, 2015

best bet is to totally disassemble the system out of the case, and try the very basics - mobo, CPU, one stick of RAM, PSU, onboard video if possible

its possible there is still moisture in there, and the taking the system apart will allow it to dry out faster.

satindemon4u · Aug 24, 2015

Looks like that's what I may be doing!

System Name	Desktop
Processor	Intel Core i5 6600k
Motherboard	Asus Z170-E
Cooling	Cooler Master 212 Evo
Memory	16 GB Ballistix DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1060
Storage	120GB OCZ Vector SSD & 1TB Western Digital Black
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	N/A
Power Supply	630w Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-630SS
Mouse	Logitech G402
Keyboard	Rosewill Mechanical
Software	Windows 10

System Name	$580 Ebay Deal Abomination
Processor	Intel Xeon W3680 (3.33GHz 6-core)
Motherboard	HP Z400
Cooling	92mm exhaust, 92mm intake
Memory	12GB ECC DDR3 (triple channel)
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 760
Storage	2x Crucial M500 240GB (RAID 0)
Display(s)	BenQ XL2720Z
Case	HP Z400
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply	HP Z400 (475W)
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder
Keyboard	Logitech Illuminated

System Name	TheReactor / HTPC
Processor	AMD 7800x3d 5050Mhz / Intel 10700kf (5.1ghz All Core)
Motherboard	ASrock x670e Taichi / ROG Strix z490-e gaming
Cooling	HeatKiller VI CPU/GPU Block -2xBlackIce GTX 360 Radiators - Swiftech MCP655 Pump
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz DDR5 / 32GB G.Skill 3400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	Nvidia 3090ti / Nvidia 2080ti
Storage	Crucial T700 2TB Gen 5 / Samsung Evo 2Tb
Display(s)	Acer Predator xb271hu - 2560x1440 @144hz
Case	Corsiar 550
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Antec Quattro 1000W
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair Gaming k70
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard	ASUS TUF GAMING X570-PLUS
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
Memory	2x8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4-3200MHz CL16 1.35V
Video Card(s)	MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming X 8G
Storage	Crucial MX100 512GB + Samsung 870 EVO 2TB
Display(s)	MSI Optix MAG24C
Power Supply	Seasonic FOCUS GX-550
Mouse	Razer Viper Ultimate
Keyboard	Corsair K60

System Name	Desktop
Processor	Intel Core i5 6600k
Motherboard	Asus Z170-E
Cooling	Cooler Master 212 Evo
Memory	16 GB Ballistix DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1060
Storage	120GB OCZ Vector SSD & 1TB Western Digital Black
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	N/A
Power Supply	630w Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-630SS
Mouse	Logitech G402
Keyboard	Rosewill Mechanical
Software	Windows 10

Water Damage!

satindemon4u

HWTactics

ZenZimZaliben

m&m's

satindemon4u

the54thvoid

Intoxicated Moderator

ShiBDiB

NC37

P4-630

Bill_Bright

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

satindemon4u

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

satindemon4u

Processor	Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG Mortar B650 (wifi)
Cooling	be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
Memory	32GB Kingston Fury
Video Card(s)	Gainward RTX4070ti
Storage	Seagate FireCuda 530 M.2 1TB / Samsumg 960 Pro M.2 512Gb
Display(s)	LG 32" 165Hz 1440p GSYNC
Case	Asus Prime AP201
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure POwer M12 850w Gold (ATX3.0)
Software	W10

System Name	[Daily Driver]
Processor	[Ryzen 7 5800X3D]
Motherboard	[Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS]
Cooling	[be quiet! Dark Rock Slim]
Memory	[64GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (16GBx4)]
Video Card(s)	[PNY RTX 3070Ti XLR8]
Storage	[1TB SN850 NVMe, 4TB 990 Pro NVMe, 2TB 870 EVO SSD, 2TB SA510 SSD]
Display(s)	[2x 27" HP X27q at 1440p]
Case	[Fractal Meshify-C]
Audio Device(s)	[Steelseries Arctis Pro]
Power Supply	[CORSAIR RMx 1000]
Mouse	[Logitech G Pro Wireless]
Keyboard	[Logitech G512 Carbon (GX-Brown)]
Software	[Windows 11 64-Bit]

System Name	Lailalo
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s)	LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply	XPG 1000W
Mouse	G602
Keyboard	G510s
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home

System Name	AlderLake / Laptop
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz / Intel i3 7100U
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master / HP 83A3 (U3E1)
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans / Fan
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MHz CL36 / 8GB DDR4 HyperX CL13
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio / Intel HD620
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2 / Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p / 14" 1080p IPS Glossy
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window / HP Pavilion
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W / Powerbrick
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless / Logitech M330 wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless / HP backlit
Software	Windows 11 / Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

System Name	Brightworks Systems BWS-6 E-IV
Processor	Intel Core i5-6600 @ 3.9GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 Rev 1.0
Cooling	Quality case, 2 x Fractal Design 140mm fans, stock CPU HSF
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	EVGA GEForce GTX 1050Ti 4Gb GDDR5
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung S24E650BW LED x 2
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 550W G2 Gold
Mouse	Logitech M190
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Comfort 5050
Software	W10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.