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CPU got wet... now what?

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30K views 47 replies 35 participants last post by  Carlitos714  
#1 ·
Here I am, at dads factory, components in one hand, trigger to an industrial air compressor unit in the other. Cleaned my heatsink, PSU, graphics card and motherboard, all with no problem.
So I take the CPU out of the motherboard and notice there's some thermal grease stuck around the edges that I couldn't get off with a normal wipe. The jet is strong enough to push it off. So I'm there for a few minutes blasting away, having a merry old time, when all of a sudden, there's water in the air-line and the IHS of my precious Q9650 is covered in droplets of water.

I dried it with a tissue (the only thing I could find) and then blasted it with a dry air line for another few minutes.

What do I do now? Is it safe to use it, is it a write-off, or do I need to do something else (heat?) in order to make sure it's 100% dry?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Ouch man that's really unfortunate. If it were me I'd definitely let it sit for at least a day or so. You never know if there's water left. Hopefully a member with some more knowledge about the subject can tell you if you might need to use heat and how to go about doing it (hairdryer?)
 
#3 ·
It's fine, just make sure its completely dry before you put any electricity through it
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#4 ·
If it was only on the IHS and not the under-side (with the pin connection thingys) then it should be just fine.

Maybe let it dry for 24hrs just to be safe but I highly doubt you would have done any damage with a few dropplets of water on the IHS

So it should be fine
 
#6 ·
I would just leave it for a couple of hours to make sure it completely dry. And you can use a hair dryer - the CPU is obviously built to stand that heat.

I've spilled a lot of water on my motherboard and GPUs while assembling water-cooling, and they still work so I don't think your CPU is dead.

I wish I had access to a compressed though, my rig could do with a good blast.
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#8 ·
Believe it or not it's actually very rare that electronics are damaged by water when powered off.

I'd be willing to bet you could even submerge one of them under water for a few seconds and it might still work, so long as it was dried off pretty quickly.

Now introducing electronics to water while power is active is another thing...
 
#12 ·
Guys remember, water only kills electronics if current is going through it at the time. Otherwise you can get it as wet as you want and as long as its completely dry by the time current goes through it, it'll be fine.

I left a CPU outside in a lightning storm, tonnes and tonnes of rain, all night and I just put it in a bowl of rice and whacked that into the airing cupboard for 24 hours and gave it a 15 min blast with a hairdryer after and it still worked fine after.
 
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#16 ·
Water isn't so dangerous. Many years ago when I was a computer repair guy, one customer brought us a couple of computers that survived an office fire. We are talking deformed plastic cases and motherboards blacked from soot.
Insurance company wanted them cleaned to see if they still worked.
So I took of the motherboards and dismounted whatever I could and of to the bathroom.
After a heavy water cleaning, I used an air compressor to remove the water and let them for the day.
Next day after assembling they powered on with no problem.
 
#17 ·
Thanks everyone. I'll give it some heat now with a hair dryer and an electric heater and set up my loop for leak testing while the CPU sits in a bowl of rice. 24 hours of leak testing should be enough time for the rice to do its magic, but another round of heat should just to be on the safe side.
Sound good?
 
#18 ·
You shouldn't have to go through a bunch of stuff like that man, but better safe than sorry I guess. A friend spilled an entire beer down into my case when it was lying flat one night with the side case off. The computer was even turned on at the time. I let it sit, powered off of course, over night. Placed a fan over it for about 4 hours and fired it up, worked with no problems. Put the cpu in front of a fan or a very small heat source with a blower for a few hours to be sure and you should be fine.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by xHighAlert;13781919
Believe it or not it's actually very rare that electronics are damaged by water when powered off.

I'd be willing to bet you could even submerge one of them under water for a few seconds and it might still work, so long as it was dried off pretty quickly.

Now introducing electronics to water while power is active is another thing...
Indeed. While water and electronics are definitely not a good mix, assuming there was no current while it was wet, it is highly unlikely that a little moisture will ruin the part itself. Just make sure that it is fully dry before you try to get it running.
 
#24 ·
If you want to be sure, let it dry for however long you feel safe, but if it was just on the top of the IHS, it's fine.

As others have said, water doesn't do a thing to electronics, unless it's powered on at the time. There's videos on Youtube where people wash motherboards in sinks, and even whole PCs (sans hard drive and PSU) in dishwashers.

Of course, there's some arguable factors involved there as well, such as impurities and mineral deposits from normal water left behind, or oxidization if it's not dried quickly, but in general, it's not the end if water so much as touches it. With motherboards, you need to ensure the battery is removed as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahhSDEgkqQ8[/ame[/URL]]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkWePqTfD14[/ame[/URL]]

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1463

I think I even saw someone doing it to an X58 motherboard on Youtube, so it's not just older stuff it's done with. I think this stuff even gets a wash/bake to clean the soldering off when it's made.

I wouldn't recommend doing it for it's own sake, but water and electronics aren't a bad mix unless current is passing through it. I am researching more on this to perhaps clean an old motherboard and video card from a PC that's infested with a huge smoke smell and film. I've put my keyboard in the dishwasher (a cheap Microsoft one), and it worked fine. The key is making sure it's it dry, and that you take precautions.
 
#26 ·
What I see the biggest problem being, is the industrial air hose using an air gun/chuck, they are normally regulated to 90psi, but I know many shops that regulate there air pressure higher, 110 to 120psi.

These air lines are not filtered air, and are full of particles and impurities, oil being 1 of which.

Thats what I'd be more worried about.
But it's really all nil at this point, cause it's done!
As many others have said, just let it dry, for a day, then install it and see if it works. Thats all you can do, and hope for the best!

Next time use a Q-tip!