# Fuck Fuck water



## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

Im so mad right now I can hardly breathe. I built a desktop PC about a month ago. I have it in my room next to my desk. My desk is next to the window. My window is always closed. I come home from class and my window is open. Currently we are under a servere thunderstorm warning and it's raining sheets outside. So I see my window open. It takes a moment then I see my PC with water all over the top of the case. My case has a grille on top for a fan. The PC is still on and nothing appears wrong.  I unplug it and open it up. Everything feels wet and some water has accumulated at the bottom. I dry everything out and put it on the floor open side down. Here I am. I have no fucking clue who opened my window. It was raining for all of 5 minutes, so it wasn't that wet. What the hell do I do? I don't know if it will still work. It was fine when I first found it. I had left it on from the morning so that means it had been on while it was raining. 

Fuckfuckfuck this is a new PC. I spent $500 on this. Help me.


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## Ikrit (Sep 18, 2012)

bake it at a low temperature


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## Ames (Sep 18, 2012)

>$500

Eh, won't be too much of a loss.

But seriously, make sure ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS 100% DRY INSIDE AND OUT BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO POWER IT ON AGAIN.
Ideally, leave the case open and let it air out for a few days.  Or you could sit there with a hairdryer for a couple hours if you're impatient and the weather's too humid.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

I took it apart and am now blow drying it. My power supply didn't get wet because it was under my GPU. What parts should I be worrying most about?

Also I do believe I mentioned that it was on at the time.


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## Ames (Sep 18, 2012)

What you should watch out most for are your video card(s).  They seem to be the most vulnerable to water damage, most likely due to their physical orientation.

My friend spilled a bottle of water over his PC, and his graphics card got permanently jacked up.  Random lines and dots appearing on the screen all the time.  Minor damage like that might not be noticeable at first, so pay close attention.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

JamesB said:


> What you should watch out most for are your video card(s).  They seem to be the most vulnerable to water damage, most likely due to their physical orientation.
> 
> My friend spilled a bottle of water over his PC, and his graphics card got permanently jacked up.  Random lines and dots appearing on the screen all the time.  Minor damage like that might not be noticeable at first, so pay close attention.


Thanks. Any other steps I should take?


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## AshleyAshes (Sep 18, 2012)

It should be fine so long as you dried it out.  It was powered on, wet, but still functional, cause you would have CERTIANLY known if something in it had shorted out.  You turned it off and unplugged it.  Without power going through it, the water is utterly harmless to the computer, because with no power, there's no electricity flowing through it to short between any two live parts by water.

So really, just dry it out and you should be almost certianly fine.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

AshleyAshes said:


> It should be fine so long as you dried it out.  It was powered on, wet, but still functional, cause you would have CERTIANLY known if something in it had shorted out.  You turned it off and unplugged it.  Without power going through it, the water is utterly harmless to the computer, because with no power, there's no electricity flowing through it to short between any two live parts by water.
> 
> So really, just dry it out and you should be almost certianly fine.



How would I have known? It didn't turn off or anything.


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## Ames (Sep 18, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> How would I have known? It didn't turn off or anything.



Heh, I'm pretty sure you would have known.

There would be smoke everywhere and horrific noises coming from your PC.  Trust me, I've seen it happen before.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

JamesB said:


> Heh, I'm pretty sure you would have known.
> 
> There would be smoke everywhere and horrific noises coming from your PC.  Trust me, I've seen it happen before.





Well that certainly didn't happen. So if I let it dry for a few days i should be fine? Also, In the situation a component isn't working, what are the chances I can get a return? I bought from microcenter in store.


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## Ames (Sep 18, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> Well that certainly didn't happen. So if I let it dry for a few days i should be fine? Also, In the situation a component isn't working, what are the chances I can get a return? I bought from microcenter in store.



Yeah, it should be fine if it's opened up or disassembled to dry for a few days.  If a part's still under warranty, I'm pretty sure you won't have a problem getting a replacement.


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## Ricky (Sep 18, 2012)

I thought this thread was about a type of lube :roll:


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

JamesB said:


> Yeah, it should be fine if it's opened up or disassembled to dry for a few days.  If a part's still under warranty, I'm pretty sure you won't have a problem getting a replacement.




So would two days suffice? I have both panels off with the mobo facing downwards. I took out the DVD burner the GPU the ram and the wireless card. Anything else I should remove?


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 18, 2012)

You can try putting important components in a bag with rice.  The rice will absorb any moisture left.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

Like the GPU? Wouldn't the rice get stuck In the nooks and crannys?


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 18, 2012)

Just be careful for that same reason.  I've done it with electronics before, works pretty well.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 18, 2012)

I'm honestly not sure if anything is even wet anymore. Nothing was dripping, more like droplets all over the place.  I'm really not so sure about the rice thing because my GPU has a fan and plastic front part where a lot of rice could get stuck.


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## Batty Krueger (Sep 18, 2012)

I hear ya. Be sure to wait awhile so you can be certain it's completely dry.


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## AshleyAshes (Sep 18, 2012)

Don't worry about the desicate, it's not like you need it to 0% humidity kinda dry.  What you DON'T want is water droplets lieing between different electrical pathways and shorting them out.

I once took a PC monitor that had been on the curb and in a downpour for hours, left it on the counter for 3 days to dry and it was fine.  Just let it air dry, or use a blow dryer into the little tight areas and hidden corners.  30mins with the blow dryer alone should leave it perfectly fine.  Frankly, considdering that it didn't short out when it WAS powered on, water probably didn't get anywhere IMPORTANT anyway.


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## I Am That Is (Sep 19, 2012)

Well I asked on tomshardware and got the same basic response. Here is the thread if anyone is interested:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/320645-30-rained#t2138940

Anyway I will wait until tomorrow to boot it just out of sheer paranoia. At least it want in the rain for an hour or something crazy like that.


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## toastedtruth (Sep 23, 2012)

Electronic water damage. What to do: 
1. Dismantle and remove every component whilst maintaining a static-free environment. 
2. Get a desk lamp. Preferably one that lets off enough heat (40w?), and shine it on the components. Also see if you have more than one for drying each component. 
3. Allow time for components to dry. About 2-3 hours I'd say. Maybe longer if you feel it needs time. 
4. Make sure the PCs environment (tower) is dry and static-free before fitting back into the case. 

* Do not use a towel, cloth or any other fabric. You'd murder the poor thing, that is if it isn't already dead. 
* Try not to use a hair dryer. If you must, have it on its lower heat and speed settings. 
* You can cause the MBO to warp if you're not careful. 
* Rice does crap all. 

Often this advise works for mobile phones too. Pretty much any electronic device can try to be saved using this method. It might not be as bad as I seem to make it. 
Good luck


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## thoron (Sep 24, 2012)

I know this question isn't going to help at all, but I'm quite curious as to who opened the window like that and then leave it open when there's a servere thunderstorm warning?


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## Zenia (Sep 24, 2012)

Every time I see this topic, I read it as: "fuck fuck" water

... and I think to myself, that is some kinky water.


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## zachhart12 (Sep 24, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> Well I asked on tomshardware and got the same basic response. Here is the thread if anyone is interested:
> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/320645-30-rained#t2138940
> 
> Anyway I will wait until tomorrow to boot it just out of sheer paranoia. At least it want in the rain for an hour or something crazy like that.



so..........is it OK or not?


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## I Am That Is (Oct 2, 2012)

Sorry for not responding. It is indeed ok, although I'm not sure but one of the ports in the back might have been damaged. It's the one for the keyboard. I can't tell if its the keyboard that's broken or the port. Either way I have an apple keyboard I prefer infinitely over the PC one I was just using, and it uses USB so it's fine. Thanks for your help guys!


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## zachhart12 (Oct 2, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> Sorry for not responding. It is indeed ok, although I'm not sure but one of the ports in the back might have been damaged. It's the one for the keyboard. I can't tell if its the keyboard that's broken or the port. Either way I have an apple keyboard I prefer infinitely over the PC one I was just using, and it uses USB so it's fine. Thanks for your help guys!



Ah ok.  ^^


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