Computer saturated with filthy water!

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cellardweller

cellardweller

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I've never posted here before now, because I don't record directly into my computer.

Has anyone ever resurrected a PC after having it thoroughly soaked with water/fluid?

I had a most unfortunate incident earlier, where an assload of water ran through the floorboard, and down onto my CPU and Monitor from a carpet shampooer knocked over upstairs.

I am almost crossposting this, but the other post is more in response and shock, so I apoligize, but please understand my predicament.

Anyone???
 
perhaps a disasemble and blow dryer might help. But your on the edge of being screwed.
 
Gee, thanx for the optimism

I was advised against the blowdryer method by a friend...

Dunno, but I hope you are wrong!!!

Please be wrong....
 
I've used a dryer on small circuit boards on appliances before. so as long as you dont get it scorching hot it will work. But the longer that moisture sits the bigger problem you got.
 
I THINK all it got was the front of the computer, the CD-R, USB ports and switch. The Motherboard did not appear to have anymoisture...
 
aaahhh....ok
Well you might be in good shape.
Those parts are replaceable at least.
 
I had a brand new zip drive get knocked into a pool last summer, and it was submerged almost 15 mins, after I let it dry, it worked fine.
 
Dismantle as far as you can. If there is some kind of detergent in it, I would even go as far as rinsing it in distilled water and then dry very well.

Biggest problem will be greased moving parts like in the cd. But then again, if it just got on the front, it might not have penetrated far.
 
Was the system on when the water got on it?

If so, then there may be some components that have moved on to a better place... :(

If not, then you should be all set. Quite frankly, you can wash electronics that are powered off (presuming they've been off long enough for the capacitors to discharge). If you have really hard water, then I'd advise against using tap water. Distilled water is the best, though unnecessary if your water is pretty good (or you have a filter you can get good water from).

And then, of course (do I really have to mention this? :P ), just make sure the components are really well dried off before you apply electrons.
 
It's been sitting upside down now since the downpour, with a little heater blowing about 4 feet away (it's not too hot).

My computer desk has a shelf just above where the CPU and monitor sit. The water came down onto this shelf, then trickled/ran down onto the CPU and monitor, so it mostly ran from the top, down inside the CD-R. Where it went from there is the source of my concern. I don't see any water spots on the motherboard, as I said. What are the chances of the cd-r surviving this? Don't suppose there is any safe way to apply small amounts of silicon lube to it?

Anybody ever bathed their monitor?


On the bright side, the water seems to have totally missed my Yorkvilles, Mackie, 4X12, Crate combo, Ampeg, three guitars, a violin, drum machine, mics and MR8.

But I hate being an optimist.
 
The grease on CD drives really only comes off under pressure. Don't ask me how I know this...

I have basically washed just about every component you can think of, and they have thus far all survived. Of course, these have been intentional washing while the equipment was deprived of electrons. I've also lost a little bit of hardware from accidental water/milk/coffee/pop type spillings (mostly older keyboards) while the computer was on.

BTW, I for some reason just noticed that the carpet cleaner was the source of the water. If it was soapy, then I highly recommend you actually dismantle your computer and give it a thorough bath with clean water. You never know what kind of electron-path-creating stuff might be there that, even when dry, could cause shorting.

Of course, you might be cleaning already-dead components. But I'd rather go through the effort to potentially save my gear than risk losing it when it might otherwise be good still.
 
I just found out that my wife was actually using a very small amount of ammonia in the water, no soap at all.

I should probably be more concerned then about the dirt and debris, wouldn't you think?
 
Yes, I would be concerned with that indeed.

You may want to give your system a thorough bath, then.
 
Sorry if I'm being redundant, but if there is no evidence of the motherboard being wet, do I still need to bathe usb's, CD-r, etc...?

Assuming I do, do I then just let them air-dry?
 
Anything that you're sure didn't get wet shouldn't need anything done to it. If you're not sure, it might still be a good idea.

It's all kind of hard to give you definite answers on, but use your best judgement. I would err on the side of caution just to make sure, but it's up to you.
 
Not a problem, and good luck. Let us know how things turn out (hopefully for the best!).
 
IT LIVES!!!!

Booted her up without the monitor at first by the advice of a friend, hooked up the monitor after 30 min. or so, and so far so good (monitor hooked up after hard shut down). No sparks, no smoke, no strange error messages. So far so good.

My keys are extremely sticky though, kept giving me a keyboard error when booting because my "." was sticking.

Many thanx to all who offered advice, etc.

Your words of assistance are very much appreciated.

CD
 
Great news, I'm glad to hear nothing appears to be terminally afflicted.

The keyboard is an especially easy thing to clean out if you want. I actually spilled pop in mine a couple of weeks ago and ended up having to wash it. Works fine now, though.
 
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