Dead 8800GT (flooded computer)

V

veldi

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
184
Yeah i did it. I've put my tea right next to the computer (CM690 case), directly opposite where i always put it. One false move and whole cup was inside the computer.
I kinda poured it into the case from the top. What actually saved me was the fans running on full, so i had a small fountain flooding my face too :D.

Why saved you might ask? Well, first thing was to rip out the power cable out and I did that in a second after the flood. With the corner of me eye I saw screen gone blank right after the flood. I thought, well it is normal since the water is in.

I carefully disassembled the comp as fast as possible checking for any water traces and to my surprise, only rightmost (sp?) of the mobo was wet. That includes memory slots, IDE and SATA connector, all the chips along the way too. From the bottom to the top.

What i did was to disassemble everything and use compressed air to blow the water out. It also dries the stuff up in seconds. I made sure everything is absolutely dry and proceeded to assemble the comp back again.

The comp went up, fans started, but lcd poster stays on CPU INIT. All the LED's that normally would just blink and and then turn off were lit up non stop. Blank display.

I began swapping different parts but i left what i feared the most as the last thing to check.

Gfx card :( Gainward 8800GT Golden sample that went 765Mhz core, 1115Mhz mems.

Swapped it out for my backup 7300LE and the system started like new. I ran all the tests and it seemed stable as before the flood. Just the damn card.

What boggles me is that there was absolutely not a drop of water on the card itself nor around it. What could possibly happen to it? How could I diagnose it?


Aight. That might've been too long eh. Waiting for responses guys =)
 
probably got wet inside the plastic that incases everything, fan, chip etc.
 
another thing to consider is since it was tea, mabey there is a residue left behind after it dries thats causing problems. I'd suggets opening the card up, grabbing a bottle of 99% iso and cleaning it.
 
To Stryker: Yeah, I will have a system in the following days thats 100% working and I'll be able to test there.

To Rydawg and Ragenrok: I'll do that. You mean isopropyl alcohol yes? Where could i get that? Is acetone ok too or will it dissolve some parts?

I thought, maybe because pcie slot got shorted, it might have sent higher voltages onto the card? Or just some current where it should not go.

On a side note, RMA'ing the thing would be unmoral eh :p It's still on warranty.
 
Well you could try the 8800 again after it has dried for several days. When I spilled tea over my wireless mouse it was dead for about two days, then it came back to life again.

I don't keep any expensive or sensitive components near my desk when I drink tea/coffee/coke. I've got a $10 keyboard and a $20 wireless mouse (same one) but I keep my synths, cellphone, computer case etc. far away to prevent accidents like that...

Maybe the water created a short-circuit which created a very high voltage over the PCI-E slot or the PCI-E power connector.. Other than that, I don't know. If you can't get it to work, you should definitely try to RMA it, especially if there's no tea on the actual card (even under the heatsink shroud etc...). It's up to them to find out what's wrong with the card and whether it was caused by the customer IMO :)
 
I am wondering if you could have bricked the card via shorting the motherboard. don't know. but as said above clean everything with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol, use the 90%) and then dry it out completely. This can be harder then you think. One sure way to do is to use anhydrous magnesium sulfate. Put it in the bottom of a plastic box and cover with a paper towel and lay your card on it. Should suck any moisture from it.

for myself I would use it as an excuse to upgrade :D
 
Ragenrok said:
another thing to consider is since it was tea, mabey there is a residue left behind after it dries thats causing problems. I'd suggets opening the card up, grabbing a bottle of 99% iso and cleaning it.
Click to expand...
That's what I'd try.










P.S. I'm a coffee drinker! :p
 
You need to do more than dry it, you need to get the tea, sugar, whatever residue out.

I'd agree with 100% isopropyl and/or 50:50 distilled water with as complete disassembly of everything as possible. In areas that you don't know received direct contact, you could use a high quality residue-free contact cleaner aerosol. A common rescue procedure is to instantly wash the device in distilled water, then 100% iso, then blow off, then bake or air dry in a warm convection oven for hours. The iso dissolves in the water and greatly enhances drying time and distilled water is an excellent solvent for anything water soluble (like tea, soda, etc...) but doesn't leave any residue itself.

This means removing the cmos battery too.

The downfall is mechnical devices like fans, or things like LCD displays which cannot take any liquid intrusion. Fans may have lubricant washed out etc... but it's still worth a shot.
 
Surly73 said:
You need to do more than dry it, you need to get the tea, sugar, whatever residue out.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with that. Don't just dry your MB / cards out after it has been exposed with anything that would leave a residue after drying.
 
take the motherboard and the graphix card and clean it with crc brake clean , then rinse it off with water, then let it dry for a couple of days
 
hstuehmeyer2000 said:
take the motherboard and the graphix card and clean it with crc brake clean , then rinse it off with water, then let it dry for a couple of days
Click to expand...

I believe CRC makes a cleaner specifically for electronics...i wanna say its called Electramotive parts cleaner...not sure if thats correct though.
 
hstuehmeyer2000 said:
take the motherboard and the graphix card and clean it with crc brake clean , then rinse it off with water, then let it dry for a couple of days
Click to expand...

Non-chlorinated brake cleaner would probably dissolve half of the stuff on the motherboard. Chlorinated might be OK. I would not suggest automotive chemicals for electronics work because its easy to get the wrong thing.
 
SilverSliver said:
You teabagged your 8800 man.
Click to expand...

ROFLMAO!

Back on topic though, there are a million ways to toasty electronics, including a drop of ionized water(tea in this case) directly on the PCI-E case. If that was the problem, your hosed. I'd take the HSF off first. Then see if you can see any visable tea anywhere, if there is clean it off. Beyond that start looking for tell-tell "burnt" parts, maybe your lucky and it's just a surfance mount resistor that got toasted and you can replace it if your good with a soldiering iron. Not like you have anything to loose, the card is toast right now.
 
I would take Q-tips and do the entire card with rubbing alcohol. But, I would make sure to do the contacts at the bottom of the card as well. If another card works in that motherboard, then it means the PCI-E slot is likely still OK.
 
Q-Tips would leave cotton fibers snagged on the card.
I'd suggest Acid Brushes since its what they are designed for.
 
coolpurplefan said:
I would take Q-tips and do the entire card with rubbing alcohol. But, I would make sure to do the contacts at the bottom of the card as well. If another card works in that motherboard, then it means the PCI-E slot is likely still OK.
Click to expand...

No need for q-tips, this stuff isn't that delicate.

It's important to note that 100% iso may not be as effective as you think without a water component. Alcohol isn't a solvent for sugar, for example, which is one of the main worries when dealing with a beverage spill. If you use 100% iso there's nothing to dissolve and wash away sugars, which is precisely what you're trying to do. Alcohol doesn't have magic healing powers, you're trying to get the electronics CLEAN and DRY, that's all. Alcohol is a means to that end.

Some of the spray electronics cleaner/degreasers may work better than 100% iso.
 
I'd definitely go back and clean your motherboard off, as well. Water isn't what short your electronic out, it's everything in the water. Like everyone said iso alcohol and distilled water will do the trick.

You might use a very fine bristled tooth brush to lightly scrub the PCB with the water and alcohol.
 
You should have let it air dry after drying it for a good 24-48hrs. Maybe a week to be safe. Inspect for any leftovers to clean up.
 
send the card back under warranty. ati and nvidia are jamming everyone for all the $$$$ the market will bare. I would sleep fine sending it back.
 
Surly73 said:
Non-chlorinated brake cleaner would probably dissolve half of the stuff on the motherboard. Chlorinated might be OK. I would not suggest automotive chemicals for electronics work because its easy to get the wrong thing.
Click to expand...

I used this method to clean a gigabyte p35-ds3r and it worked just fine;). Also if you try this make sure you use CRC BRAKLEEN and not another brand.
 
hstuehmeyer2000 said:
I used this method to clean a gigabyte p35-ds3r and it worked just fine;). Also if you try this make sure you use CRC BRAKLEEN and not another brand.
Click to expand...

My point (again): I have CRC Brakleen in Chlorinated and non-Chlorinated right downstairs. Even if they follow your advice and grab the green can instead of the red they're in trouble. The non-chlorinated stuff will dissolve paint and plastic in a second. There's nothing special about the Brakleen product that inherently makes it safe for electronics over any other type.
 
Take a look at getting some electron cleaner. It is what I use for preventitive maintenence on my ship.
 
Thank you all for the solutions. I will apply it. And yeah i admit i was clumsy when it comes to my computer.

Easy come, easy go eh.

Teabag comment was great :p.

Clumsy as I were in regards to computer I also didn't clean the mobo and other parts cept the case. Just as I said, I blew air thru which is really appaling. I'm actually ashamed of myself now :(.

Though, lesson learned.


BravO))) said:
Take a look at getting some electron cleaner. It is what I use for preventitive maintenence on my ship.
Click to expand...

What that would be my friend ? The electron cleaner.
 
Kowan said:
My guess he's referring to Electrical Contact Cleaner.
Click to expand...

Bingo. That is another brand for it. That stuff also works great for audio connections. That stuff does to electronics like engine degreaser does for engines. And use an acid brush like what was suggested earlier. Make sure to take a close look for any signs of visible damage... like ic chips legs and etc... Be very carefull though, ic chips, processors, and transistors (depending on the doping) will fry with a high spike in voltage the wrong way. On average, your body produces over 50,000 volts of static discharge. That is way you should wear a grounding stap when working on that card.
 
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