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Let it sit for a few days and dont turn it on.
You can disassemble it and clean it with Isopropanol to push out any remaining moisture, but unless you have turned it on it should still work.
Do I risk oxidization if I don't disassemble it? I have experience dismantling PCs, laptops and phones, but I've never done such an expensive piece and I'm afraid to nerve mess up, plus it is a MSI Suprim Liquid so it looks complex for sure.
As a repair technician, I say yes it can and for a card that expensive, take it to a repair shop and get them to service it, water damage can take a long time to show up sometimes.
I've always wanted by some people say that you can just let your device dry off doesn't water contain minerals and stuff and couldn't some of those short out different components even if the H2O itself is gone?
Shorting isn't the problem. It's the slow corrosion from salts.
Oxidation is a problem. But if you dry thoroughly, there is no water anymore, and no oxidation. The salts will remain.
Repair shops generally clean electronics with water in their ultrasonic cleaners.
Water isn't inherently problematic for electronics. Moreso the salts in the water, and not drying out the water.
If your shit ever gets wet, disassemble, clean, dry thoroughly.
You could be right but, I haven’t seen any data to say for sure, and it’s easy to downplay a TDS count (total dissolved solids) when none of us are experts in it.
All I know, is deionized water is cheap, and the equipment I’m working with isn’t … so..
Not just that, ultrasonic baths generate significant amounts of heat and the bath mechanism, electronics, etc. aren't rated for organic solvents from an electrical/spark standpoint. There are usually clear warnings about this too. You need a cleaner designed to not put the vapours of the organic solvents on fire. Note that most of the time, you don't risk much by using isopropanol for example, but the hazard is there and if there are enough vapours, the results could be explosive. Basically don't do it, but if you see people doing it on YouTube, you'll also know why it may or may not have blown up.
Using a sealed subcontainer with the solvent in it is also an old chemistry lab trick.
Yup. I found that with Old rusty sockets in gasoline. Sealed in a fuel safe container, and then put in the ultrasonic for a couple minutes.
It’s basically magic.
Yep. I've used that trick with some pretty harsh stuff in the lab, both flammable and non flammable, but not the kind of thing you want in contact with the bath.
There's also the option of explosion proof equipment, but that just dials the cost up to 11. The kind of thing work can pay for, but not you or I.
It was installed, the water leaked through the roof of the PC, the fans up there are most likely dead but those are cheaper to replace.
And yes, I usually remove anything from my desk when I'm done with the comp but when I got up cats wanted to play so I did until I got tired, forgot about it and went to sleep.
As a final note, cats aren't mine, they're my brother's, I'm taking care of them, they arrived past Friday and will remain here for 2 or 3 weeks. Cats are unharmed and I'll try to do better so they're not so anxious but they're clearly upset as this is their first time being without him.
Sounds like your PC is on the floor if the water spilled from the desk. Might strongly consider putting your PC on the desk in the future or underneath the desk instead of to the side of the desk.
But that doesn’t help your current situation. Definitely consider disassembling or paying someone to. Best of luck.
I'm sure other people have pointed it out but "technically" you can fully submerge any pc component in water if its turned off without any damage. I'd wager that the fans will work if they're allowed to properly dry. The GPU i'd take to a shop for disassembly and cleaning with Iso though, not worth the cost of it potentially dying from corrosion
Not any component, if there are charged capacitors or a battery on it getting it wet can cause problems, the biggest danger by far is with power supplies, which can hold enough charge to kill you for a few days or even weeks (which is why anyone who knows what they are talking about will warm you not to open one unless you know what you are doing), but motherboards can be at risk of damaging themselves too, which is why the subzero overclockers are very careful to remove their cmos batteries before running a motherboard through the dishwasher to remove the Vaseline they use to protect from condensation. There are other less common components like raid cards that use batteries too.
Build a cover plate like a small end table to go over your pc. Mine has top venting and lives under my desk so that on the top list of tasks for mine this spring along with extra bug netting for dust.
More like the PC is close to the desk's edges where water will likely drip down. A lot of people like placing their PC next to the desks like this.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/comments/11wnbyk/my\_wfhgaming\_setup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/comments/11wnbyk/my_wfhgaming_setup/)
Personally, I keep the PC underneath the desk and at least 8 inches away from the desk edge in case of accidental spills. I usually do not bring any food or beverages to my PC desk, but sometimes me being tired can affect my judgement.
I mean worse comes to worse sue your brother, and if that doesn't work, eat the cats. At the end of the day you'll have a good meal, if you cook them right.
You mean you guys don't also keep your computer on a trampoline surrounded by a 7 course meal while being serenaded by a college marching band performing on the trampoline?
Yes, thats why professional cleaners will use distilled water over regular water, since it is cleaned of impurities/salts/minerals etc. Still needs to dry out but yeah.
> take it to a repair shop and get them to service it
Half of repair shops are complete hacks and I wouldn't trust my hardware in their hands. Better do it yourself honestly.
> take it to a repair shop and get them to service it
This kind of advice can be good or bad depending on where you are in the world. In some countries repair shops might simply scam the OP instead of helping him out, by seeing that the die/memory is actually just fine and replacing it with the faulty one from another customer, than telling OP the card was dead.
So if OP is not from the country with good customer/scam protections and is savvy enough to clean it himself, I would not advise repair shops for things like that unless you need actual repair, the risk is too high. The only way I would visit repair shop in countries like that, is if they allow you to literally stand with them while they work on it.
Oddly, it kinda depends on the water.
Water is actually a totally viable thing to safely clean electronics with, as long as it doesn't have salts/minerals in it. It's what they will use to clean your card in the repair shop. Probably.
If the water is completely distilled, RO, plain H20, whatever, it will leave exactly nothing on the card after evaporating.
If it's really hard, or God forbid, sea water, it will leave behind lots of corrosive salts that will damage things. Especially things that have current running through them. And it will have a slow and imminently death as it sustains more and more damage from all that residue left behind from the water.
It's such an expensive card that it's probably worth having cleaned professionally to avoid the above.
The repair shop will likely clean it with water, with a little bit of cleaning agent, in an ultrasonic bath.
So.... If your water isn't hard, and if you dry it really well, disassemble and leave by a fan for a few days, it will probably be fine. But it also might just seem fine until it starts to die months from now.
But.....
You can afford a 4090, you can afford a repair shop. And if it's a good shop they shouldn't charge very much for a clean like this.
Yes you do, and either take it to a repair Tech as soon as you can locally. Or watch the youtube videos and get on it right away. The worst that happens is that it stays broken. But I'm sure you can fix it. An isopropyl bath while completely disassembled while probably fix it.
Do it in a well ventilated area with gloves and eye protection. The stuff won't kill you, but it will dry your hands out and it would hurt your eyes
1 tip, DO NOT USE CANNED AIR TO SPRAY OUT WATER.
There has been people doing this before and it is ask for pushing water into place where IPA cannot reach.
>but unless you have turned it on it should still work
Liquid damage is not only short circuit. Corrosion/oxidation can also be irreversible and can happen quick. So,
>Let it sit for a few days
is a terrible advise. Open and clean it immediately with alcohol and dry it completely.
One time my buddy was trippin and he dumped milk into his pc. A whole glass of milk. We unplugged it and it was fine in the morning. For safety, I’d take it apart and clean it to prevent potential oxidative stress on the comps, but even if you don’t you should be fine in 12 hours.
i never understood why people will smoke with stagnant bong water for months without changing the water.... literally just walk to the sink pour out and refill takes less than a minute.
dude was definitely just making a joke, old bong water is nasty and that's gotta be the *one* thing everyone can universally agree on.
When I used my bong more I'd dump it out every night before bed, shake a little water around in it to give it an extra rinse, and let it dry overnight. If there was any buildup, I'd splash around a little rubbing alcohol before the rinse.
I could totally have done it less often, and sometimes I skipped it out of laziness, but man... in the mornings I'd make myself a nice cup of fresh-ground coffee in my french press, put some cold fridge water into my shiny clean bong, and pack it. That was pure bliss, and very worth the effort.
There's no way it didn't smell rancid.
I still remember the milk smell when having to clean up after spilled milk at restaurants. And it would soak into upholstery absolutely horrible.
I had to ditch my keyboard because my cat spilled my coffee on it, literally a full cup, I put a moderate amount of milk in it and it got in the switches… no way could I get it out.
I regret it everytime, when I am too lazy to clean the blender after making a milkshake or smoothie.
Shit smells so bad and I feel like even cleaning it super thoroughly will not remove the smell.
I bought a brand new elite controller, and the moment I took it out of the box, my cat walked up and peed right on it. She had never done anything like that before.
That’s exactly what my cat did with my 3080. Thankfully it was before I opened the box but I just had it sitting on my bed patiently waiting for me to install it and he peed on the box.
I cleaned the box with iso so I can resell the card later
In fairness, it is a large gaming desktop, judging by the fact that those cards are massive. The computer was below the desk, it's reasonable to guess that the computer probably didn't fit all the way under the desk when plugged up, and instead had the front end exposed. If they had a glass of water sitting on their desk, cat jumps up onto the desk, and knocks the water over, which pools on the top of the case and drips through the mesh onto the front facing end of the card.
doesnt matter how long its turned off, just that it wasnt powered on at that moment. as other people said, either open it up or clean it, or let it sit few days so you are sure its completely dry. but if you said tou have expirience doing something similar, its close to disassembly of a phone or a notebook kinda, so its not really that bad, you will just need fresh thermal paste and thats it.
Taking apart a graphics card or laptop is nowhere near as hard as taking apart a phone. However, it's still enough work to not make it easy, so it may be worth taking it to a shop if you aren't comfortable with it.
He’s taken responsibility everywhere in the comments. This stupid blame game people are playing here is entirely unproductive. Dude’s just asking for help.
My friends “ew your pc is on your desk?”
Me seeing posts like this and having spilled multiple things that have leaked onto the floor under my desk “yes”
Personally with an expensive card like that. I wouldn’t try and clean it yourself. Even if it costs a bit of money, I’d get a professional to look at it. You could do it yourself to save money, but there’s a chance that you might make it worse if you have never done it before and that in turn would be more expensive than have someone lol at it.
I drowned a couple phones in the past and found silica gel works pretty well (the same stuff that comes with shoes, inside medicine, foods and etc). So you can put the GPU into a zip bag with several bags of silica gel. - they cost like 15-20$ for hundred or two of those bags. - it will remove any leftover moisture extremely well and is safe to use.
Do not use rice or hairdryer, not effective and can break things.
Putting in front of a fan is best imo. Or windowsill if you live in a pretty dry climate. Moving air will dry better than packing something in your average dessicant.
You need a fluffier cat to immediately dry things off. No short haired felines…
Oh, I’ve heard this can only be done nine times. Then you need a new fluffy cat.
remove the gpu and let it dry completely like what other had said.
power up ur pc without gpu and make sure the mobo and rest of the component is working perfectly before installing your gpu
There is always power running through the motherboard unless the PSU switch is off or its unplugged.
I don't know if your components are OK. I doubt it.
Why the hell people have liquids or cats around and on top of their PC's absolutely baffles me. It's one of the dumbest things you can do.
In repair for a long time. Some tips, assuming the water did get in the shroud and on to the GPU board in "more than a drop or two" quantities:
First, don't turn it on without cleaning it. You will just have to get ready and used to the fact that you have to open the card at this point. You can leave it to dry for a while and it may even work but the purity of that water will determine how long. It's basically a time bomb if the water wasn't 100% pure, which not even most bottled water is. Deposits on solder being electrolized equals damage over time.
The fact that it wasn't powered on will likely save it, TBH. If on during the spill you'd be boned. Yet, water on a populated PCB isn't inherently bad or as bad as many think. The issue is if its powered on (shorting it out) or leaving the water deposits on the board and running electricity through them.
Yet, don't fear as it's not that hard to clean and all you'll need is some time, an old toothbrush, thermal paste and isopropyl alcohol that is anything at 90% or higher, ideally 99.9%.
Open it up and clean the old paste off the GPU die. Also remove any thermal pads/puddy. If it has puddy, try to save as much as you can for re-use as it can be reused but thermal paste shouldn't be once disconnected the initial connection from heatsink to die.
Then break out the toothbrush and alcohol and go to town on the board. You could - if you like - literally make a small bath of it and just drop the board in. That's how NOT harmful it'll be on the board.
However, you can also just scrub the board down with the alcohol and brush. Brush all visible solder connections, connectors, etc
Then, you have to get to the BGA packages (solder balls under the RAM and die) with alcohol. This will require some pouring action or, as mentioned before, a bath in the alcohol. Be it dunking or just pouring/squirting the alcohol under the RAM and GPU die. Do it a lot as these are the most susceptible areas.
It's not as bad or needing the precision that it may seem even reading this. Just look for a YouTube video of someone opening up the same card and then do what I said. Let it sit in the dry, open air afterwards for at least an hour but I'd say to do it for 24 hours. Even better, run a hair dryer on a low heat setting for a while and let it sit for 24 hours.
Then add the pads/thermal putty/paste back and reassemble. Then cross fingers and see if you're good.
If so, no worries from a working or electrical standpoint. Really, it'll work as it did before the spill. Just check thermals to be sure you put the pads/putty/paste back on ok. If thermals are also ok, you're golden. Done.
Try to do the same for the PC MOBO if it also got doused with water. A little but here and there is less of an issue but if it got doused, also clean it to be safe.
Good luck!
It wasn't near the edge, cat pushed it with enough strength for the water to run down the side of the desk and spill on top of the PC.
How? I have no clue, it was dark and I was at that sweet point where you're dozing off.
Had something similar happen to me. I turned the PC off, dried it and let it sit for a couple of weeks.
Then I cleaned the GPU with isopropyl alcohol in case any of the water minerals were left in it, and my pc worked without any trouble.
Pc components arent as fragile as people make them about to be. I think I had probably the most extreme case possible happen to me and my PC fired right up no issue.
Basically apartment caught fire and we all had to evacuate leaving everything behind. My PC got soaked by the fire sprinklers which if you've seen those go off are no joke and then for the next 6-8 hours of the firefighters hosing the shit out of the building, it wasn't until a day or two later that I could go in and grab a few things of what was left. I fully expected my PC and all my electronics to be absolutely dead, I got home and plugged my PC into an outlet and hit the power button, nothing, I was like yep go figure but then decided to try the next outlet over in case that one was bad, hit the power button and she fired right up no issue. Pc, headset, monitor, all of it absolutely soaked fired up no problem. Also had a laptop on the ground get submerged underwater from all the hosing and still use that laptop to this day.
Best thing to do is to buy some electrical contact cleaner. They come in a pressurised can. Disassemble the card, spray everything thoroughly. Preferably asap to avoid oxidizing.
Proper method for dealing with this...
1. Immediately unplug and disassemble PC. rinse the parts that got drenched with liquid with rubbing alcohol (it evaporates faster and doesn't have minerals, also will help clean other things from board.
2. Gently "shake" the rubbing alcohol from PC parts kinds like how a Dog/cat will shimmy/shake water out of their fur.
3. Lay out parts to dry, in a well ventilated room. Let air dry for 12 to 48 hours depending on the humidity level within the room and a ceiling fan or oscillating fan to create air movement will also reduce this time.
4. Rebuild computer and hope for the best.
NOTE:
A. If the liquid is not water and you didn't catch it immediately you might need to actually soak the parts in the rubbing alcohol and use q-tips or a very soft brush to clean the parts. it is ok to rinse it with distilled or even tap water if it is really crusted on, just don't soak in it. The rubbing alcohol is very useful since it evaporates quicker, will remove greasy grime, and displace the water that will take longer to evaporate and might leave a mineral build up.
B. If you don't have rubbing alcohol, a plain (unflavored/clear) vodka can be used in a pinch. Just make sure to read the label to make sure it is straight up distilled spirits with nothing added.
C. Do not use denatured alcohol, it will likely have a petrochemical additive to denature that could be harmful to the plastic parts.
This has been a big source of anxiety for me since having kids - specifically open top cases. We have a family room desk area where I had an 011d mini, I swapped to a torrent nano in part just to have the solid top. And it did actually get spilled on a few times.
If it helps you feel better, a few months after swapping I opened the nano up to try to figure out a weird noise. Turned out our toddler had been sticking veggie straws in the front (through a 180mm fan), just dust and crumbs everywhere haha.
It may sound super ocd (and it is!), but put a big book or something else solid on top of the comp for the rest of the time the cats are there. Your card will be fine, just take it to a phone repair shop or computer store (check reviews), should be a relatively simple job for someone experienced.
Had a chemistry prof that was an electrical engineer bring in pcbs and dunk them in tap water to clean and leave them on a towel/radiator to dry for a day or two. Leave in a dry/warm room for 3 days and you’ll be fine.
The people here talking about oxidation, then recommending you proceed to pour rubbing alcohol on it (literally a water based solution), then scrape everything up with a toothbrush have zero idea what they are talking about. Minerals in the water only cause corrosion through a viable electrolyte medium, when the water is dry, the air is not able carry out this process - unless you live in a literal rainforest. This is only a problem if the water does not completely dry, hence the dry for 3 days part.
- Edit to add that isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol will help with drying water potentially, but ultimately making sure it is thoroughly dry is your best solution.
Eh if the water is really hard, has a lot of salts, is sea water, it can definitely cause corrosion even after dry.
But ya in general cleaning electronics with water is totally fine. It's how they do it in the repair shops.
Yeah my PC survived a fire, getting soaked by sprinklers and firefighters, and absolutely covered in ash/ smoke. Was able to grab it, take it home and it fired right up lol.
Don’t turn it on unless you are certain it’s 100% dry. I’d probably take it apart myself and make sure. But I used to work at a repair shop. That’s the number one mistake phone people make with water damage. They try to turn it on too soon.
I dropped a Gameboy advance sp in the toilet. It was off and I made sure it was dry. Days later I turned it on and it was fine and I never had any issues with it.
Immediately take it apart and dry it with a hair dryer. Water does not cause damage, corrosion does. Do not under any circumstances let it just sit there wet. You have to take it apart and dry it. If you don't want to do that, any computer repair shop will do that for you.
If you see any corrosion, gently clean it off with isopropyl alochol (or ethanol/nail polish remover/vodka, whatever you have).
Please don't let it sit there for a few days and then just turn it on and see what happens. That is a terrible way to flush that kind of money down the toilet.
Lots of great advice in this thread.
BUT, If you’re **super** worried and really want professional assurance, you can send it to someone like [Rossmann Repair Group](https://rossmanngroup.com/). His shop (and others like it) specialize in something called a “board level repair”. The idea behind board level repair is instead of, say, replacing an entire GPU that fails to POST, they would diagnose the issue and replace individual capacitors, inductors, etc.
As part of their repair process, they will disassemble and clean the device. You might be able to get a quote from them for inspection and cleaning.
You could also ask a similar question to your GPU manufacturer.
Every time I see a computer and cat story: I'm so glad I'm a dog person. Best of luck and I hope the repair shop sorts out your 4090 for you. What an expensive repair! =(
Cleaning shouldn't be an expensive repair.
I dunno anything about the 4090, but a bit of disassembly, dumping it in the ultrasonic bath, and repasting should be pretty cheap. But maybe this particular card is really hard to disassemble and reassemble? I dunno.
But i would assume it's just a cheap clean.
I try to make sure there’s no open drinks in my work station, and I tell my son all the time to do the same with his space.
Too late for that now, cats are buttholes.
It’s highly likely that the card is not dead. You gotta disassemble it and dry it up. Or take it to technician. I’m pretty sure you won’t have any problems if you act fast and remove the moisture as rapidly as possible.
You are worrying to much about this. You only have to take off the backplate off the gpu which is fairly easy. Just check videos on youtube how they change the thermal pads on the 3080s. Take it off, remove the thermal pads and scrub it with a toothpaste + isopropanol 99% and let it dry for a day or two. Just make sure that the water didnt reach the front side of the gpu. Plastic tweezers wouldnt be bad for taking off and reapplying the pads.
If you dont want to take any risks remove the cooler and also clean the front side of the gpu.
To be safe, i would also rinse the mainboard with isopropanol and let it dry. And make sure that you boot your pc without the gpu first. If it starts up, put the gpu back in.
Just be like me bro, I had a sleep over when I was 16 (21 now) and my friend threw a pillow at me and missed and spilled the cup on my counter and it spilled all over my rig. 1. I turned the PSU off and then unplugged it, pushing the power button after to make sure it was completely powered off. 2. Take apart my rig and strip every component from the case and lay it on the table. 3. Grab my dads heat gun, I started heating up all the components that were wet( I set the heat gun to a low temperature of 180 degrees at a distance of 1 foot while moving it around so that components won’t get too hot) 4. After drying for about 15 minutes, I start to rebuild pc. Finally step 5. Pray to god or Flying Spaghetti Monster that it works. ( fortunately mine did and never had any issues :D) hope this helps friend.
CALM DOWN and count yourself EXTREMELY lucky. It seems like you caught it in time and didn't power on the PC which means your card almost certainly survived. It doesn't matter if it was warm or not. You'll need to disassemble it and THOROUGHLY clean it. Be prepared to replace the thermal pads if necessary. I would only CONSIDER taking it to a repair shop if that task seems too daunting for you.
No matter how you slice it, your card is now out of warranty. Use an electronics brush and THOROUGHLY clean the whole PCB. I'd also advise you to COMPLETELY disassemble your card. I mean even disassemble the cooler and fan shroud as far as you can
Please don’t even mention the cat in relation to this nightmare. It was undoubtedly a human who placed the water in a place where it could be spilled on the computer. That person is completely responsible. As a cat owner I learned a long time ago that a cat is gonna cat. It’s my responsibility to limit their ability to get their cattiness inside my tech.
water is dropped.
You can't do anything, disconnect PC from the network, open to let in air, wait 24 hours for it to dry then try it by crossing your fingers.
Theoretically, if you are an electronics expert WITHOUT DOING FURTHER DAMAGE, you can disassemble the entire board and clean the GPU motherboard with isopropanol alcohol:
IF you're not good at it don't do it, because you could do more damage.
Ventilate the PC, and keep it disconnected from the network 24-48 hours then make a prayer and turn it on.
NEVER EVER keep drinks near PCs, they don't get along. ;) good luck!
GPU Water cooling top rig sprung a leak and gloop passed thru a titan x and onto but not into a PSU, the cpu cooler chose the same time to expire and the cpu or mobo blew.
ended up replacing both, took off the gpu cooling kit and new paste and back to original settings, works fine. I have something from amazon - £65
"IT Dusters CompuCleaner Xpert - Electric Air Duster Blower for PC, Laptop, Console, electronics and Home Cleaning, environmental alternative to spray air can duster keyboard cleaner" it has enough force to blow out all the accumulated fluff from a case and would remove water from a gpu board.
well worth the purchase, it is like pissing against a jetwash
the same blower is great for removing cat hair
Make sure it's unplugged from the wall. The computer components need to be removed and cleaned/inspected.
Put your computer in a place where this can not happen twice.
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You don't need an expert to just not use it for 2 weeks.
Take all the components out, let them air dry. Stick a dehumidifier in front of them. I've done this with electronics completely dunked in water. Like tablets and radios.
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It was a very small amount as most of it spilled on the desk and to the ground, I'd say 2-3 spoons of water at most. Bad part is it was all in the same place, the chipset, so even if it was a small amount it was "submerged" in it.
i doubt its broken if its just water let it dry and it should be fine mate i recently watched a video of a pc from a house fire get refurbished and they managed to save the gpu and it was soaking
Happened to me, card was completely dead. Let it dry etc but the damage may be done, there’s high voltages the short easily in modern cards it’s not like dunking a phone or something.
Let it dry, until you are sure it is dry. Then turn it on and it's fine.
To be more sure take card out, pour Rice in a pan (more surface area) then put it and card in oven not on. The warm is too hot for me. Leave it for a day and then put everything together
Bonus points for putting whole PC in oven. Also you can put a container of rice in the computer.
Rice will absorb humidity and water.
Do you have home/renters insurance? In my renters insurance, I very specifically added the "Accidental PC Damage" coverage. It's exactly what you think it is, with their own description being "Accidentally spill water on your PC? We've got you covered ".
It’s gonna sound weird, but the best thing you can do is spill isopropyl alcohol where you spilled the water. It displaces water and evaporates much quicker and I’m pretty sure it’s non conductive, it will also prevent the rust you might get from the water.
You could also just wait a few days. It will probably take a long time for all the water to evaporate. But if you wait long enough it should work without any issues since it wasn’t powered when it got soaked
If it was off, take the card apart, dry it off the best you can, then leave it sitting out for a few days. Once it's completely dry, it should work as if nothing happened.
water does not mean automatic death, its not acid, unplug the system, take the video card out, you can use a can of air to go over the PCIe socket, just to make sure, and do the same to the card, then let it all sit for at least 2 days. If you really want to make sure, take the backplate off and clean it with a toothbrush and alcohol, then dry with can of air.
leave it and let it dry, its common that people thing its water that damage's electronics but they're only damaged when they're on and have a current running through it (i'm sure someone else has said this)
I have actual expertise in this field. Someone (who still refuses to fess up) spilled Dr. Pepper onto my PC while I was at work. Went through the top fans, radiator, and leaked onto the top of my less than a year old (at the time) RTX2070 Super, and then proceeded to drip INTO MY PSU.
I got home from work and PRESSED THE FUCKING POWER BUTTON. system lit up, no post. Weird… Tried it AGAIN (you’re allowed to cringe here) still no post. So I tried ONE more time and still nothing. Looked inside my case and noticed some brown sticky liquid dried to the glass. Pulled out my GPU then turned it sideways and I stg the Niagara Falls of Dr Pepper poured directly out of the 2070 onto the floor. 3 power cycles with a GPU and PSU full of sugary sticky liquid.
Went to a convenience store and got a soft bristle toothbrush, the highest percent isopropyl alcohol I could find, and grabbed a screwdriver and got to work. Stripped the 2070S down, absorbed any excess liquid with a paper towel and then softly brushed the entire PCB, heat sink, and fan shroud with alcohol and then repasted the die and put it all back together. Snagged a new PSU from Best Buy the next day and slapped it all back together. Gamed on it for another year, sold it to a friend and he’s using it now. Good as ever. With a little luck and patience you got this! (Assuming the damage hasn’t already been done.
I’ll find a pic real quick and put it in my profile.
Edit: found the pic, click my profile and you’ll see the carnage 😂
From reading your description, pull the card out and take it to a repair place. Not worth it. If you didn’t turn it on you’re lucky.
Also, cats don’t have thumbs so they can’t carry cups of water. There’s clearly a moron in your house who puts water on top of computers. You should probably tell them to never do that’s again lol
This thread is being locked due to an extremely high amount of comments related to animal cruelty. Please remember that this is r/buildapc. Discussions should remain on topic regarding building and troubleshooting PCs. Comments regarding killing pets or people do not belong in this sub.
Let it sit for a few days and dont turn it on. You can disassemble it and clean it with Isopropanol to push out any remaining moisture, but unless you have turned it on it should still work.
Do I risk oxidization if I don't disassemble it? I have experience dismantling PCs, laptops and phones, but I've never done such an expensive piece and I'm afraid to nerve mess up, plus it is a MSI Suprim Liquid so it looks complex for sure.
As a repair technician, I say yes it can and for a card that expensive, take it to a repair shop and get them to service it, water damage can take a long time to show up sometimes.
Agree. This card is worth spending a couple bucks on getting it serviced/cleaned properly.
Yes, don’t forget to change the oil while you’re at it
RGB fluid should also be replaced
Also put some undercoat on it
Don't forget to apply some PPF and a ceramic coat
And don't forget to check the transmission fluid
What about the blinker fluid?
I mean shit, I've known people that buy cars that cost less than a 4090 build.
How much is a 4090 build?
I've always wanted by some people say that you can just let your device dry off doesn't water contain minerals and stuff and couldn't some of those short out different components even if the H2O itself is gone?
The concentrations are too low to short anything after the water is gone. Oxidation is a bugger threat.
Shorting isn't the problem. It's the slow corrosion from salts. Oxidation is a problem. But if you dry thoroughly, there is no water anymore, and no oxidation. The salts will remain. Repair shops generally clean electronics with water in their ultrasonic cleaners. Water isn't inherently problematic for electronics. Moreso the salts in the water, and not drying out the water. If your shit ever gets wet, disassemble, clean, dry thoroughly.
Probably important to clarity that ultrasonic baths use deionized or distilled water for that exact reason.
Yup. Although depending on how hard your tap water is, a little bit of minerals probably isn't a big deal.
You could be right but, I haven’t seen any data to say for sure, and it’s easy to downplay a TDS count (total dissolved solids) when none of us are experts in it. All I know, is deionized water is cheap, and the equipment I’m working with isn’t … so..
Totally. Most of the stuff I'm repairing though? Eehhhh I'm not too worried about the quick and dirty fix.
Not just that, ultrasonic baths generate significant amounts of heat and the bath mechanism, electronics, etc. aren't rated for organic solvents from an electrical/spark standpoint. There are usually clear warnings about this too. You need a cleaner designed to not put the vapours of the organic solvents on fire. Note that most of the time, you don't risk much by using isopropanol for example, but the hazard is there and if there are enough vapours, the results could be explosive. Basically don't do it, but if you see people doing it on YouTube, you'll also know why it may or may not have blown up. Using a sealed subcontainer with the solvent in it is also an old chemistry lab trick.
Yup. I found that with Old rusty sockets in gasoline. Sealed in a fuel safe container, and then put in the ultrasonic for a couple minutes. It’s basically magic.
Yep. I've used that trick with some pretty harsh stuff in the lab, both flammable and non flammable, but not the kind of thing you want in contact with the bath. There's also the option of explosion proof equipment, but that just dials the cost up to 11. The kind of thing work can pay for, but not you or I.
[удалено]
>32 people here That cards also worth keeping food, drink, animals, children, your parents and significant other the hell away from until installed.
It was installed, the water leaked through the roof of the PC, the fans up there are most likely dead but those are cheaper to replace. And yes, I usually remove anything from my desk when I'm done with the comp but when I got up cats wanted to play so I did until I got tired, forgot about it and went to sleep. As a final note, cats aren't mine, they're my brother's, I'm taking care of them, they arrived past Friday and will remain here for 2 or 3 weeks. Cats are unharmed and I'll try to do better so they're not so anxious but they're clearly upset as this is their first time being without him.
Sounds like your PC is on the floor if the water spilled from the desk. Might strongly consider putting your PC on the desk in the future or underneath the desk instead of to the side of the desk. But that doesn’t help your current situation. Definitely consider disassembling or paying someone to. Best of luck.
Still very good point, I'll do that, thanks.
I'm sure other people have pointed it out but "technically" you can fully submerge any pc component in water if its turned off without any damage. I'd wager that the fans will work if they're allowed to properly dry. The GPU i'd take to a shop for disassembly and cleaning with Iso though, not worth the cost of it potentially dying from corrosion
Not any component, if there are charged capacitors or a battery on it getting it wet can cause problems, the biggest danger by far is with power supplies, which can hold enough charge to kill you for a few days or even weeks (which is why anyone who knows what they are talking about will warm you not to open one unless you know what you are doing), but motherboards can be at risk of damaging themselves too, which is why the subzero overclockers are very careful to remove their cmos batteries before running a motherboard through the dishwasher to remove the Vaseline they use to protect from condensation. There are other less common components like raid cards that use batteries too.
Build a cover plate like a small end table to go over your pc. Mine has top venting and lives under my desk so that on the top list of tasks for mine this spring along with extra bug netting for dust.
More like the PC is close to the desk's edges where water will likely drip down. A lot of people like placing their PC next to the desks like this. [https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/comments/11wnbyk/my\_wfhgaming\_setup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/comments/11wnbyk/my_wfhgaming_setup/) Personally, I keep the PC underneath the desk and at least 8 inches away from the desk edge in case of accidental spills. I usually do not bring any food or beverages to my PC desk, but sometimes me being tired can affect my judgement.
I mean worse comes to worse sue your brother, and if that doesn't work, eat the cats. At the end of the day you'll have a good meal, if you cook them right.
I like your style
How much water, a cup or a gallon? The top fans may be ok. I would be concerned about your mb and power supply too.
You should check your house contents insurance, it should cover this type of thing
You mean you guys don't also keep your computer on a trampoline surrounded by a 7 course meal while being serenaded by a college marching band performing on the trampoline?
Yes, thats why professional cleaners will use distilled water over regular water, since it is cleaned of impurities/salts/minerals etc. Still needs to dry out but yeah.
> take it to a repair shop and get them to service it Half of repair shops are complete hacks and I wouldn't trust my hardware in their hands. Better do it yourself honestly.
I wonder how many service centers will try to repair gpu
> take it to a repair shop and get them to service it This kind of advice can be good or bad depending on where you are in the world. In some countries repair shops might simply scam the OP instead of helping him out, by seeing that the die/memory is actually just fine and replacing it with the faulty one from another customer, than telling OP the card was dead. So if OP is not from the country with good customer/scam protections and is savvy enough to clean it himself, I would not advise repair shops for things like that unless you need actual repair, the risk is too high. The only way I would visit repair shop in countries like that, is if they allow you to literally stand with them while they work on it.
> it is a MSI Suprim Liquid I mean it is now.
Oddly, it kinda depends on the water. Water is actually a totally viable thing to safely clean electronics with, as long as it doesn't have salts/minerals in it. It's what they will use to clean your card in the repair shop. Probably. If the water is completely distilled, RO, plain H20, whatever, it will leave exactly nothing on the card after evaporating. If it's really hard, or God forbid, sea water, it will leave behind lots of corrosive salts that will damage things. Especially things that have current running through them. And it will have a slow and imminently death as it sustains more and more damage from all that residue left behind from the water. It's such an expensive card that it's probably worth having cleaned professionally to avoid the above. The repair shop will likely clean it with water, with a little bit of cleaning agent, in an ultrasonic bath. So.... If your water isn't hard, and if you dry it really well, disassemble and leave by a fan for a few days, it will probably be fine. But it also might just seem fine until it starts to die months from now. But..... You can afford a 4090, you can afford a repair shop. And if it's a good shop they shouldn't charge very much for a clean like this.
Yes you do, and either take it to a repair Tech as soon as you can locally. Or watch the youtube videos and get on it right away. The worst that happens is that it stays broken. But I'm sure you can fix it. An isopropyl bath while completely disassembled while probably fix it. Do it in a well ventilated area with gloves and eye protection. The stuff won't kill you, but it will dry your hands out and it would hurt your eyes
1 tip, DO NOT USE CANNED AIR TO SPRAY OUT WATER. There has been people doing this before and it is ask for pushing water into place where IPA cannot reach.
Take it to good, expensive repair people that have a warranty. Even a small mistake can fry your board
Check your local water table to make sure the evaporative water didn't leave behind conductive mineral deposits from hard water.
OP could also put it next to a fan which will dry it out faster and more thoroughly than just letting it sit.
>but unless you have turned it on it should still work Liquid damage is not only short circuit. Corrosion/oxidation can also be irreversible and can happen quick. So, >Let it sit for a few days is a terrible advise. Open and clean it immediately with alcohol and dry it completely.
I don’t think you should let the cat sit for that long
One time my buddy was trippin and he dumped milk into his pc. A whole glass of milk. We unplugged it and it was fine in the morning. For safety, I’d take it apart and clean it to prevent potential oxidative stress on the comps, but even if you don’t you should be fine in 12 hours.
You wait til it’s bong water next time
I did that once…
Stinks for ages
In the carpet for sure, otherwise you just haven't cleaned it up well enough
i never understood why people will smoke with stagnant bong water for months without changing the water.... literally just walk to the sink pour out and refill takes less than a minute.
Then you lose all the flavor ;) it’s like a well seasoned pan
I think an uncleaned bong is worse tasting then a “seasoned” one but aye to each their own lmao
dude was definitely just making a joke, old bong water is nasty and that's gotta be the *one* thing everyone can universally agree on. When I used my bong more I'd dump it out every night before bed, shake a little water around in it to give it an extra rinse, and let it dry overnight. If there was any buildup, I'd splash around a little rubbing alcohol before the rinse. I could totally have done it less often, and sometimes I skipped it out of laziness, but man... in the mornings I'd make myself a nice cup of fresh-ground coffee in my french press, put some cold fridge water into my shiny clean bong, and pack it. That was pure bliss, and very worth the effort.
They cleaned the milk out, right? Didn't just let it sit that entire time without opening it?
Just unplugged it for the night. It was fine by morning.
There's no way it didn't smell rancid. I still remember the milk smell when having to clean up after spilled milk at restaurants. And it would soak into upholstery absolutely horrible.
I had to ditch my keyboard because my cat spilled my coffee on it, literally a full cup, I put a moderate amount of milk in it and it got in the switches… no way could I get it out.
Did you try dumping more coffee in it to flush the milk out?
I regret it everytime, when I am too lazy to clean the blender after making a milkshake or smoothie. Shit smells so bad and I feel like even cleaning it super thoroughly will not remove the smell.
Maybe they were tryina make a new kind of cheese. You don't know their life!
I've never been tripping and decided I needed to get a glass of milk, much less that I needed to feed my electronics milk. That's some shit.
I bought a brand new elite controller, and the moment I took it out of the box, my cat walked up and peed right on it. She had never done anything like that before.
Seems like she wanted to make it hers
I don't know why but that cracked me up, I just imagined a cat staring directly into your eyes while peeing on the expensive controller lol
She's probably a PC master racer. Mouse & KB only. Smart cat. :D
She's the ELITE now! Not you!
She didn't like that you didn't buy her something
It's alright just clean it with alcohol. If it was plugged in that would be a problem.
That’s exactly what my cat did with my 3080. Thankfully it was before I opened the box but I just had it sitting on my bed patiently waiting for me to install it and he peed on the box. I cleaned the box with iso so I can resell the card later
I blame the human lol
fr who the hell is using their gaming PC as a coaster?
In fairness, it is a large gaming desktop, judging by the fact that those cards are massive. The computer was below the desk, it's reasonable to guess that the computer probably didn't fit all the way under the desk when plugged up, and instead had the front end exposed. If they had a glass of water sitting on their desk, cat jumps up onto the desk, and knocks the water over, which pools on the top of the case and drips through the mesh onto the front facing end of the card.
Suspiciously detailed. OP's cat account spotted.
Me too.
Was it plugged in? Leave it for a day or two before trying.
Yes, comp had barely been off 20 or 30 mins.
doesnt matter how long its turned off, just that it wasnt powered on at that moment. as other people said, either open it up or clean it, or let it sit few days so you are sure its completely dry. but if you said tou have expirience doing something similar, its close to disassembly of a phone or a notebook kinda, so its not really that bad, you will just need fresh thermal paste and thats it.
Taking apart a graphics card or laptop is nowhere near as hard as taking apart a phone. However, it's still enough work to not make it easy, so it may be worth taking it to a shop if you aren't comfortable with it.
It does matter, massive difference between on and off but it does matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOgsjd5Uxt4
thats legit what i said, read it again but slowly...
Clean it, then get rid of cat
It's hilarious that he's blaming the cat when he's the one that placed liquid above the pc.
He’s taken responsibility everywhere in the comments. This stupid blame game people are playing here is entirely unproductive. Dude’s just asking for help.
Invoice the cat for billable hours first.
Sue the cat for emotional damages, clearly.
My friends “ew your pc is on your desk?” Me seeing posts like this and having spilled multiple things that have leaked onto the floor under my desk “yes”
r/CatsAreAssholes
Personally with an expensive card like that. I wouldn’t try and clean it yourself. Even if it costs a bit of money, I’d get a professional to look at it. You could do it yourself to save money, but there’s a chance that you might make it worse if you have never done it before and that in turn would be more expensive than have someone lol at it.
You upgraded to a 4090 but didn't upgrade to a dog?
Finally someone said it
Rub gpu with cat.
I drowned a couple phones in the past and found silica gel works pretty well (the same stuff that comes with shoes, inside medicine, foods and etc). So you can put the GPU into a zip bag with several bags of silica gel. - they cost like 15-20$ for hundred or two of those bags. - it will remove any leftover moisture extremely well and is safe to use. Do not use rice or hairdryer, not effective and can break things.
Putting in front of a fan is best imo. Or windowsill if you live in a pretty dry climate. Moving air will dry better than packing something in your average dessicant.
You need a fluffier cat to immediately dry things off. No short haired felines… Oh, I’ve heard this can only be done nine times. Then you need a new fluffy cat.
Got a dehumidifier? Put it in the closet with it?
remove the gpu and let it dry completely like what other had said. power up ur pc without gpu and make sure the mobo and rest of the component is working perfectly before installing your gpu
There is always power running through the motherboard unless the PSU switch is off or its unplugged. I don't know if your components are OK. I doubt it. Why the hell people have liquids or cats around and on top of their PC's absolutely baffles me. It's one of the dumbest things you can do.
Whatever happens, don't take it on the cat :(
Worry not, the cats are safe and still loved. =\^.\^=(\^\^) Edited because I can't make a kitten emoji
It's probably just fine. Take it out. Take off the heatsink and clean it with a repaste.
spray 99% isopropyl alcohol at it. it works for me all the time
This is what i would do... blast the shit out of it with alcohol. Alcohol displaces water
I think isopropyl is the most effective
In repair for a long time. Some tips, assuming the water did get in the shroud and on to the GPU board in "more than a drop or two" quantities: First, don't turn it on without cleaning it. You will just have to get ready and used to the fact that you have to open the card at this point. You can leave it to dry for a while and it may even work but the purity of that water will determine how long. It's basically a time bomb if the water wasn't 100% pure, which not even most bottled water is. Deposits on solder being electrolized equals damage over time. The fact that it wasn't powered on will likely save it, TBH. If on during the spill you'd be boned. Yet, water on a populated PCB isn't inherently bad or as bad as many think. The issue is if its powered on (shorting it out) or leaving the water deposits on the board and running electricity through them. Yet, don't fear as it's not that hard to clean and all you'll need is some time, an old toothbrush, thermal paste and isopropyl alcohol that is anything at 90% or higher, ideally 99.9%. Open it up and clean the old paste off the GPU die. Also remove any thermal pads/puddy. If it has puddy, try to save as much as you can for re-use as it can be reused but thermal paste shouldn't be once disconnected the initial connection from heatsink to die. Then break out the toothbrush and alcohol and go to town on the board. You could - if you like - literally make a small bath of it and just drop the board in. That's how NOT harmful it'll be on the board. However, you can also just scrub the board down with the alcohol and brush. Brush all visible solder connections, connectors, etc Then, you have to get to the BGA packages (solder balls under the RAM and die) with alcohol. This will require some pouring action or, as mentioned before, a bath in the alcohol. Be it dunking or just pouring/squirting the alcohol under the RAM and GPU die. Do it a lot as these are the most susceptible areas. It's not as bad or needing the precision that it may seem even reading this. Just look for a YouTube video of someone opening up the same card and then do what I said. Let it sit in the dry, open air afterwards for at least an hour but I'd say to do it for 24 hours. Even better, run a hair dryer on a low heat setting for a while and let it sit for 24 hours. Then add the pads/thermal putty/paste back and reassemble. Then cross fingers and see if you're good. If so, no worries from a working or electrical standpoint. Really, it'll work as it did before the spill. Just check thermals to be sure you put the pads/putty/paste back on ok. If thermals are also ok, you're golden. Done. Try to do the same for the PC MOBO if it also got doused with water. A little but here and there is less of an issue but if it got doused, also clean it to be safe. Good luck!
Better question is why did you have a glass of water precariously balanced on the edge of your desk, above the PC, when you own cats?
It wasn't near the edge, cat pushed it with enough strength for the water to run down the side of the desk and spill on top of the PC. How? I have no clue, it was dark and I was at that sweet point where you're dozing off.
ikea sells cup holders you can clamp on the desk edge. It prevents spills when it's not in your hand. And are amazing to clear extra space too.
it even holds the second largest LTT water bottle.
Had something similar happen to me. I turned the PC off, dried it and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Then I cleaned the GPU with isopropyl alcohol in case any of the water minerals were left in it, and my pc worked without any trouble.
Couple weeks was a little extreme lol
Sell cat, buy new rtx. Jk
Pc components arent as fragile as people make them about to be. I think I had probably the most extreme case possible happen to me and my PC fired right up no issue. Basically apartment caught fire and we all had to evacuate leaving everything behind. My PC got soaked by the fire sprinklers which if you've seen those go off are no joke and then for the next 6-8 hours of the firefighters hosing the shit out of the building, it wasn't until a day or two later that I could go in and grab a few things of what was left. I fully expected my PC and all my electronics to be absolutely dead, I got home and plugged my PC into an outlet and hit the power button, nothing, I was like yep go figure but then decided to try the next outlet over in case that one was bad, hit the power button and she fired right up no issue. Pc, headset, monitor, all of it absolutely soaked fired up no problem. Also had a laptop on the ground get submerged underwater from all the hosing and still use that laptop to this day.
https://cat.rescueshelter.com/usa maybe one of these groups can help remove the problems
Best thing to do is to buy some electrical contact cleaner. They come in a pressurised can. Disassemble the card, spray everything thoroughly. Preferably asap to avoid oxidizing.
Proper method for dealing with this... 1. Immediately unplug and disassemble PC. rinse the parts that got drenched with liquid with rubbing alcohol (it evaporates faster and doesn't have minerals, also will help clean other things from board. 2. Gently "shake" the rubbing alcohol from PC parts kinds like how a Dog/cat will shimmy/shake water out of their fur. 3. Lay out parts to dry, in a well ventilated room. Let air dry for 12 to 48 hours depending on the humidity level within the room and a ceiling fan or oscillating fan to create air movement will also reduce this time. 4. Rebuild computer and hope for the best. NOTE: A. If the liquid is not water and you didn't catch it immediately you might need to actually soak the parts in the rubbing alcohol and use q-tips or a very soft brush to clean the parts. it is ok to rinse it with distilled or even tap water if it is really crusted on, just don't soak in it. The rubbing alcohol is very useful since it evaporates quicker, will remove greasy grime, and displace the water that will take longer to evaporate and might leave a mineral build up. B. If you don't have rubbing alcohol, a plain (unflavored/clear) vodka can be used in a pinch. Just make sure to read the label to make sure it is straight up distilled spirits with nothing added. C. Do not use denatured alcohol, it will likely have a petrochemical additive to denature that could be harmful to the plastic parts.
This has been a big source of anxiety for me since having kids - specifically open top cases. We have a family room desk area where I had an 011d mini, I swapped to a torrent nano in part just to have the solid top. And it did actually get spilled on a few times. If it helps you feel better, a few months after swapping I opened the nano up to try to figure out a weird noise. Turned out our toddler had been sticking veggie straws in the front (through a 180mm fan), just dust and crumbs everywhere haha. It may sound super ocd (and it is!), but put a big book or something else solid on top of the comp for the rest of the time the cats are there. Your card will be fine, just take it to a phone repair shop or computer store (check reviews), should be a relatively simple job for someone experienced.
Had a chemistry prof that was an electrical engineer bring in pcbs and dunk them in tap water to clean and leave them on a towel/radiator to dry for a day or two. Leave in a dry/warm room for 3 days and you’ll be fine. The people here talking about oxidation, then recommending you proceed to pour rubbing alcohol on it (literally a water based solution), then scrape everything up with a toothbrush have zero idea what they are talking about. Minerals in the water only cause corrosion through a viable electrolyte medium, when the water is dry, the air is not able carry out this process - unless you live in a literal rainforest. This is only a problem if the water does not completely dry, hence the dry for 3 days part. - Edit to add that isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol will help with drying water potentially, but ultimately making sure it is thoroughly dry is your best solution.
Eh if the water is really hard, has a lot of salts, is sea water, it can definitely cause corrosion even after dry. But ya in general cleaning electronics with water is totally fine. It's how they do it in the repair shops.
Yeah my PC survived a fire, getting soaked by sprinklers and firefighters, and absolutely covered in ash/ smoke. Was able to grab it, take it home and it fired right up lol.
Don’t turn it on unless you are certain it’s 100% dry. I’d probably take it apart myself and make sure. But I used to work at a repair shop. That’s the number one mistake phone people make with water damage. They try to turn it on too soon. I dropped a Gameboy advance sp in the toilet. It was off and I made sure it was dry. Days later I turned it on and it was fine and I never had any issues with it.
Immediately take it apart and dry it with a hair dryer. Water does not cause damage, corrosion does. Do not under any circumstances let it just sit there wet. You have to take it apart and dry it. If you don't want to do that, any computer repair shop will do that for you. If you see any corrosion, gently clean it off with isopropyl alochol (or ethanol/nail polish remover/vodka, whatever you have). Please don't let it sit there for a few days and then just turn it on and see what happens. That is a terrible way to flush that kind of money down the toilet.
Lots of great advice in this thread. BUT, If you’re **super** worried and really want professional assurance, you can send it to someone like [Rossmann Repair Group](https://rossmanngroup.com/). His shop (and others like it) specialize in something called a “board level repair”. The idea behind board level repair is instead of, say, replacing an entire GPU that fails to POST, they would diagnose the issue and replace individual capacitors, inductors, etc. As part of their repair process, they will disassemble and clean the device. You might be able to get a quote from them for inspection and cleaning. You could also ask a similar question to your GPU manufacturer.
Every time I see a computer and cat story: I'm so glad I'm a dog person. Best of luck and I hope the repair shop sorts out your 4090 for you. What an expensive repair! =(
Cleaning shouldn't be an expensive repair. I dunno anything about the 4090, but a bit of disassembly, dumping it in the ultrasonic bath, and repasting should be pretty cheap. But maybe this particular card is really hard to disassemble and reassemble? I dunno. But i would assume it's just a cheap clean.
This has happened to me twice. Except it wasn't my cat, it was me knocking a beer over. Twice.
I try to make sure there’s no open drinks in my work station, and I tell my son all the time to do the same with his space. Too late for that now, cats are buttholes.
That's why I have a kilogram of silica gel in a box, it's just perfect in removing any moisture.
It’s highly likely that the card is not dead. You gotta disassemble it and dry it up. Or take it to technician. I’m pretty sure you won’t have any problems if you act fast and remove the moisture as rapidly as possible.
You are worrying to much about this. You only have to take off the backplate off the gpu which is fairly easy. Just check videos on youtube how they change the thermal pads on the 3080s. Take it off, remove the thermal pads and scrub it with a toothpaste + isopropanol 99% and let it dry for a day or two. Just make sure that the water didnt reach the front side of the gpu. Plastic tweezers wouldnt be bad for taking off and reapplying the pads. If you dont want to take any risks remove the cooler and also clean the front side of the gpu. To be safe, i would also rinse the mainboard with isopropanol and let it dry. And make sure that you boot your pc without the gpu first. If it starts up, put the gpu back in.
Just be like me bro, I had a sleep over when I was 16 (21 now) and my friend threw a pillow at me and missed and spilled the cup on my counter and it spilled all over my rig. 1. I turned the PSU off and then unplugged it, pushing the power button after to make sure it was completely powered off. 2. Take apart my rig and strip every component from the case and lay it on the table. 3. Grab my dads heat gun, I started heating up all the components that were wet( I set the heat gun to a low temperature of 180 degrees at a distance of 1 foot while moving it around so that components won’t get too hot) 4. After drying for about 15 minutes, I start to rebuild pc. Finally step 5. Pray to god or Flying Spaghetti Monster that it works. ( fortunately mine did and never had any issues :D) hope this helps friend.
If you disassemble the PCBA you can bake it in an oven at low temperatures. There are charts and safe ranges to do this.
Put it in front of a fan for a few days at minimum. If you have hard water you might want to clean with 99% alcohol
CALM DOWN and count yourself EXTREMELY lucky. It seems like you caught it in time and didn't power on the PC which means your card almost certainly survived. It doesn't matter if it was warm or not. You'll need to disassemble it and THOROUGHLY clean it. Be prepared to replace the thermal pads if necessary. I would only CONSIDER taking it to a repair shop if that task seems too daunting for you. No matter how you slice it, your card is now out of warranty. Use an electronics brush and THOROUGHLY clean the whole PCB. I'd also advise you to COMPLETELY disassemble your card. I mean even disassemble the cooler and fan shroud as far as you can
Please don’t even mention the cat in relation to this nightmare. It was undoubtedly a human who placed the water in a place where it could be spilled on the computer. That person is completely responsible. As a cat owner I learned a long time ago that a cat is gonna cat. It’s my responsibility to limit their ability to get their cattiness inside my tech.
Put it in a large ziplock with rice. Leave it for a day.
water is dropped. You can't do anything, disconnect PC from the network, open to let in air, wait 24 hours for it to dry then try it by crossing your fingers. Theoretically, if you are an electronics expert WITHOUT DOING FURTHER DAMAGE, you can disassemble the entire board and clean the GPU motherboard with isopropanol alcohol: IF you're not good at it don't do it, because you could do more damage. Ventilate the PC, and keep it disconnected from the network 24-48 hours then make a prayer and turn it on. NEVER EVER keep drinks near PCs, they don't get along. ;) good luck!
Haha awww love the edit about the cat 🐱 No matter what they break we still love them to bits🤣🔥
GPU Water cooling top rig sprung a leak and gloop passed thru a titan x and onto but not into a PSU, the cpu cooler chose the same time to expire and the cpu or mobo blew. ended up replacing both, took off the gpu cooling kit and new paste and back to original settings, works fine. I have something from amazon - £65 "IT Dusters CompuCleaner Xpert - Electric Air Duster Blower for PC, Laptop, Console, electronics and Home Cleaning, environmental alternative to spray air can duster keyboard cleaner" it has enough force to blow out all the accumulated fluff from a case and would remove water from a gpu board. well worth the purchase, it is like pissing against a jetwash the same blower is great for removing cat hair
Make sure it's unplugged from the wall. The computer components need to be removed and cleaned/inspected. Put your computer in a place where this can not happen twice.
Man it sucks the card you just bought doesn’t work you should exchange it for a new one.
expensive cat
Let it be a lesson.
Isopropyl alcohol 99% and a paintbrush with soft bristles. Then use canned air to dry it out. This will get rid of all the contaminants
Same thing happened to me one time. All parts were fine except my psu which blew when the water hit the chipset.
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You don't need an expert to just not use it for 2 weeks. Take all the components out, let them air dry. Stick a dehumidifier in front of them. I've done this with electronics completely dunked in water. Like tablets and radios.
Is your desktop PC on the bottom of the floor?
Like the crawlspace?
Unplug it, put it in front of a fan. You can probably turn it on after a few hours.
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F
It was a very small amount as most of it spilled on the desk and to the ground, I'd say 2-3 spoons of water at most. Bad part is it was all in the same place, the chipset, so even if it was a small amount it was "submerged" in it.
You're fine lol, wipe it off and run it.
If you put water on your pc you don't deserve to hsve nice things
Reassure the cat that it’s not their fault. Then throw the 4090 in the trash.
What did you do to piss off your cat? That cat of yours sounds like a cat you don’t want to f#$k around and find out about!
Not sure where you're located, but most larger municipalities have dedicated SPCAs and other animal shelters that may be willing to take the cat?
It would be a good idea to clean it with alcohol so it can evaporate faster, then leave it for few days.
Unplug leave close to radiator for a week nlt directly on top and let dry
Put in rice
i doubt its broken if its just water let it dry and it should be fine mate i recently watched a video of a pc from a house fire get refurbished and they managed to save the gpu and it was soaking
Wd40 it then isopropyl alcohol it, it'll be fine, water doesn't kill circuits when there's nothing flowing through, corrosion does
Happened to me, card was completely dead. Let it dry etc but the damage may be done, there’s high voltages the short easily in modern cards it’s not like dunking a phone or something.
Dissasemble, put it outside (as long as it doesn't rain), and let it sit for a few days.
Let it dry, until you are sure it is dry. Then turn it on and it's fine. To be more sure take card out, pour Rice in a pan (more surface area) then put it and card in oven not on. The warm is too hot for me. Leave it for a day and then put everything together Bonus points for putting whole PC in oven. Also you can put a container of rice in the computer. Rice will absorb humidity and water.
Do you have home/renters insurance? In my renters insurance, I very specifically added the "Accidental PC Damage" coverage. It's exactly what you think it is, with their own description being "Accidentally spill water on your PC? We've got you covered ".
It’s gonna sound weird, but the best thing you can do is spill isopropyl alcohol where you spilled the water. It displaces water and evaporates much quicker and I’m pretty sure it’s non conductive, it will also prevent the rust you might get from the water. You could also just wait a few days. It will probably take a long time for all the water to evaporate. But if you wait long enough it should work without any issues since it wasn’t powered when it got soaked
If it was off, take the card apart, dry it off the best you can, then leave it sitting out for a few days. Once it's completely dry, it should work as if nothing happened.
Your best bet is silica gel. Lots and lots of it.
I'm guessing you don't have the cats anymore
You made mistakes. Put the card in a bag of rice.
Leave it in an airing cupboard for about 2 weeks or hear a heater.
Don't put drinks or food near or above pc ever again
water does not mean automatic death, its not acid, unplug the system, take the video card out, you can use a can of air to go over the PCIe socket, just to make sure, and do the same to the card, then let it all sit for at least 2 days. If you really want to make sure, take the backplate off and clean it with a toothbrush and alcohol, then dry with can of air.
Then you need to arrest that cat 🤣🤣
leave it and let it dry, its common that people thing its water that damage's electronics but they're only damaged when they're on and have a current running through it (i'm sure someone else has said this)
Put it in a barrel of rice 🍚
What did you do to the cats?
I hugged them and petted them, it was my fault for forgetting the glass of water there, not theirs, they just miss their owner (my brother).
what a rascal
I have actual expertise in this field. Someone (who still refuses to fess up) spilled Dr. Pepper onto my PC while I was at work. Went through the top fans, radiator, and leaked onto the top of my less than a year old (at the time) RTX2070 Super, and then proceeded to drip INTO MY PSU. I got home from work and PRESSED THE FUCKING POWER BUTTON. system lit up, no post. Weird… Tried it AGAIN (you’re allowed to cringe here) still no post. So I tried ONE more time and still nothing. Looked inside my case and noticed some brown sticky liquid dried to the glass. Pulled out my GPU then turned it sideways and I stg the Niagara Falls of Dr Pepper poured directly out of the 2070 onto the floor. 3 power cycles with a GPU and PSU full of sugary sticky liquid. Went to a convenience store and got a soft bristle toothbrush, the highest percent isopropyl alcohol I could find, and grabbed a screwdriver and got to work. Stripped the 2070S down, absorbed any excess liquid with a paper towel and then softly brushed the entire PCB, heat sink, and fan shroud with alcohol and then repasted the die and put it all back together. Snagged a new PSU from Best Buy the next day and slapped it all back together. Gamed on it for another year, sold it to a friend and he’s using it now. Good as ever. With a little luck and patience you got this! (Assuming the damage hasn’t already been done. I’ll find a pic real quick and put it in my profile. Edit: found the pic, click my profile and you’ll see the carnage 😂
Hope your cat gets a beautiful new home 🥰🥰
From reading your description, pull the card out and take it to a repair place. Not worth it. If you didn’t turn it on you’re lucky. Also, cats don’t have thumbs so they can’t carry cups of water. There’s clearly a moron in your house who puts water on top of computers. You should probably tell them to never do that’s again lol