Advice on a dr pepper spill through top fan

K

Kelv

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
385
I'm in college and I found out today that very recently my computer experienced something unpleasant. It's a computer I expected to last at least one more year but you can see the specs in my sig. I won't be back at my home for another week but I'm wondering what I can do.

My thoughts were: rinse everything with water/ or at least everything hit by the soda, and let it dry for a while. From the call I received, I'm assuming that they tried at least once or several times to turn the computer back on.

Anyways share your thoughts please.
 
Take the entire system apart, clean everything w/ rubbing alchohol, and let dry for a few days. Look for any damage on the board or PSU. Boot up and hope it doesn't burn.

If they tried to power it on, it is a good chance a part is fried.
 
Man, sorry to hear about that. Assuming nothing fried. I would use distilled water if I had to use water at all to clean up syrup residue. I'd also go pick up some contact cleaner and try to use as little liquids as possible to clean things up. In any case you will probably just end up wasting your time. Sorry.
 
get some CRC electronics parts cleaner (auto parts store, or wal-mart, target, etc), and spray everything generously (in the garage or outside). Stuff dries up pretty quick, and is good for cleaning up gunk.
 
I like the alcohol suggestion and contact cleaner, but basically whatever you use, you've got the right thinking, LET IT DRY (even with alcohol), and that means like DAYS, not minutes, PCB is VERY pourous as far as materials go, so it will take moisture some time to get out of it

I like alcohol for the following reasons:
A) it dries faster
B) it kills bacteria -> soda has A LOT of sugar in it, PCB is pourous, a computer is warm and dark, what living organism likes wark, dark, moist, sugar rich places?
C) its somewhat more abrasive than water -> soda has A LOT of sugar in it, and will dry and leave a syrup when the water evaporates -> you'll use less alcohol to wipe everything off (which relates to "it dries faster" because theres less of it to evaporate)

however, if "they" tried to turn the thing on right after the spill and it refused, something very likely shorted/burned and you've got toasted hardware on your hands (and yes, I would scream too), look for burns on the boards, blown diodes/caps/resistors/whatever else, stuff that looks like its been on fire, etc (you likely can't just "sniff check" it, because it'll probably just smell like soda)

I'm doubting all of your hardware is dust, I'd probably look at components that either would get directly poured on (the top graphics card, for example), or stuff that handles power distribution (the motherboard, for example), check the PSU out as well (guessing its bottom mounted, if you're lucky, its just got a mess on its case, and nothing inside)
 
EDIT: Nevermind... read it too quickly.
 
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Yah man. I would be pissed if someone used my pc and end up damaging it. They gotta pay for it or compensate you somehow.
 
enginurd said:
... tried to turn the computer back on?!?!? And this person is in college?!?!? Heh, whoever spilled the soda and whoever was bright enough to try and power the system back on should pay for your new system or replacement parts.
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I read it as the OP is away at college and someone at his house did this and then turned it on. Perhaps it is the other way around but I don't see how the poster would be away from school now and then returning to school for the holidays.
 
SlowCobra said:
I read it as the OP is away at college and someone at his house did this and then turned it on. Perhaps it is the other way around but I don't see how the poster would be away from school now and then returning to school for the holidays.
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Ahh... my bad, lol. Read it too quickly.
 
I would have whoever spilled the soda buy me a new PC..... fair is fair! :)
 
Standpoint said:
Take the entire system apart, clean everything w/ rubbing alchohol, and let dry for a few days. Look for any damage on the board or PSU. Boot up and hope it doesn't burn.

If they tried to power it on, it is a good chance a part is fried.
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This. When will people learn to keep food and drink away from electronics? lol
 
Kangg said:
This. When will people learn to keep food and drink away from electronics? lol
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eh, learning how to not spill/make a mess with food/drink is something I had down by age 5, and I feel bad that its apparently a skill to be able to have a beverage at your computer and not destroy valuable electronics by pouring your refreshment into your computer
 
I'm home now. The computer is definitely dry, I haven't tried to clean the soda yet, I really have no clue where the computer was impacted. I'm gonna have to ask more questions about how much, the only indication I heard was that there was a tiny amount on the top video card. I can see some of it dried at the bottom of the case.

I tried testing it. Can it damage the computer once it dried? Anyways the results were interesting so I may have been an idiot to test but here they are.

Computer turns on, I get a message from the motherboard telling me it is recommending that I use a system that worked most recently, then I get to the operating system which recommends me to do launch startup repair rather than start windows normally , which then loads some files and gives me a blue screen which indicates that the bios is not acpi compliant. It reccomends I change the bios.

I don't have much control because the keyboard doesn't work in any usb port. I seem to think that the motherboard is not functioning, the video cards may be fine.

What do you guys recommend?
 
obobski said:
eh, learning how to not spill/make a mess with food/drink is something I had down by age 5, and I feel bad that its apparently a skill to be able to have a beverage at your computer and not destroy valuable electronics by pouring your refreshment into your computer
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I often eat and drink at my computer, it's how I enjoy a meal to the fullest, I can eat, drink and while doing that I can read the sports or the news, it's a way to keep my mind busy while I savor what I'm eating.

I can't think of any better way to enjoy a meal, even sitting and eating while watching a movie or TV show isn't as satisfying, not even football games, lol.
 
I may have to start a new thread but please look at my post right above ^^. I have new updates. Please respond and not focus on trying to point fingers or talk about eating habits.
 
I thought it was mentioned earlier, but clean all the parts with isopropyl alcohol and let them dry. You can use a toothbrush if the residue is too sticky, but be gentle. Try flashing the BIOS to the latest version from the website. If that doesn't work, RMA the mobo, if possible.
 
Thoroughly inspect everything inside the case. Take everything out and look it over. Check the dvd drives, HDD's, video card, PSU, everything. After cleaning everything make sure to clear the CMOS prior to attempting to boot it. Actually pop the battery out and see if there is any pop residue in there as well.
 
SlowCobra said:
Thoroughly inspect everything inside the case. Take everything out and look it over. Check the dvd drives, HDD's, video card, PSU, everything. After cleaning everything make sure to clear the CMOS prior to attempting to boot it. Actually pop the battery out and see if there is any pop residue in there as well.
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and when he/we say check the drives, in the case of opticals, that means check inside too, pull heatsinks off, check under, etc

get all CSI on it
 
I did a cleaning, I bathed all the parts in a mix of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol. The problem didn't fix but it definitely seems perfectly clean now. I didn't damage it any further at least. I'm certain its the motherboard, I am under warranty (gigabyte has a 3 year luckily) it says they don't cover any issues caused by oxidation. What are my chances of being successful with an RMA? I should probably play dumb and say it just started after about a year and a half of owning it.
 
Gigabyte is pretty easy to deal with - a buddy just sent a MoBo back and it was pretty smooth.

As far as asking for advice on how to defraud them....please don't.....:cool:
 
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