No reason to cry over spilled liquid coolant?

T

TheMolecularMan

n00b
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Jul 8, 2008
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57
Long story short:

I'm a noob to watercooling. Installed new 790i/e8400, plus a single loop on the processor. I booted up the PC before adding liquid (with just the Dtek Fuzion v2 on) and it POSTed successfully.

Turned off the power, removed the power cable, etc. and then added some CoolerMaster Aquagate SC-1... but I left the Dtek barb a little loose! I'm the ****ing goose...

A healthy portion of liquid was spilled over my motherboard, graphics card, and probably the PSU and RAM.

I dried up the floor of the PC and the sides of it, but I don't want to remove the motherboard since everything's in place. STILL, this Aquategate SC-1 is anti-evaporative... so I'm afraid there will be liquid residue when I turn on the PC.

When the incident occured, I placed a large drop of the Aquagate SC-1 on an olllddd power supply, and there still remains a little dot that hasn't been evaporated. This occured 2 days ago.

How many days/weeks should I wait before I power on my PC? And do you think I should remove all the components and give them a towel dry? I'm not letting this thing fry so tell me what to do.
 
I'd suggest paper towel instead of a regular towel, but certainly get as much of the liquid off as possible. Ideally, liquid coolant should be non-conductive but I won't take that chance personally. Probably why I still use air cooling... heh.
 
It's a good reason to run the loop for 24 hours to check for leaks before actually turning on the system, but since it already happened, soak up as much water you can with some paper towel and let dry for at least 2-3 days.
 
Always leak test for 24 hours outside the case, with no power to anything but the pump, as flyz said.
 
I'd take the board out and rinse it with isopropyl alcohol...
Click to expand...
this is what I would do. dry up as much liquid as you can and then spray the board with some isopropyl alcohol, the higher percentage the better. Let this evaporate and perhaps do it again. Whatever you do, don't run any power to the parts until you are sue all traces of the coolant are gone.

I also wouldn't try to leave the hardware in the case. Take everything out and pull it all apart. Even if you can't see coolant it could have gotten into the various connectors and slots.

Whatever route you go, take your time and good luck.
 
edited by Moderator.


1. did you power on your pump with no water in it? GG thats very bad.
2. did you set up your loop outside of your PC and run a test loop with a separate PSU? for 24 hours
3. did you set up your entire PC with everything installed and still power on only your water lump (pump) with a separate PSU? for 24 hours
4. are you using clamps on all of your barb/tube connections?
 
edited by moderator

LOUISSSSS said:
1. did you power on your pump with no water in it? GG thats very bad.
2. did you set up your loop outside of your PC and run a test loop with a separate PSU? for 24 hours
3. did you set up your entire PC with everything installed and still power on only your water lump (pump) with a separate PSU? for 24 hours
4. are you using clamps on all of your barb/tube connections?
Click to expand...

The op said he was a noob to wc. Shit does happen and you learn from your mistakes.

negative input is not going to help him.
 
Also be VERY careful declaring coolants nonconductive. Even pure distilled water becomes conductive very, very quickly in the case of a leak. In the loop it may be nonconductive, but as soon as it's exposed to air, dusty computer equipment, etc. it will become conductive and short things out. Even the fancy expensive coolants (which are little more than distilled water and dye) are conductive. Check youtube for a test done by Petra from petrastechshop, he shows how quickly a system will short out if exposed to even nonconductive coolant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-yT7cvfo3o
 
I have had DI water on parts with no adverse effects, but I left them dry for a few days in front of a fan. I would use DI water over any of those other coolants. DI water will evaporate without leaving the residue.

And sometimes you get water on parts even if you aren't a noob and did leak test.
For example, I had a pump die on me when I was working a 12 hour shift. Instead of the computer turning off due to high temps like it was supposed to it locked up. The swiftech gpu block became so hot on my 7900GS that it melted the acetal cover and leaked water down onto the motherboard and soundcard below it.
I just dried them for a few days and they work fine to this day a couple years later. Also, the 7900GS still works even afer getting so hot and boiling the water in my loop!
 
Another reason why you should only run with distilled water and a couple drops of PT-nuke. Anyway, just be patient and wait.
 
prepare to rinse out all your wet parts, most coolants aren't completely neutral and can be conductive. rinse everything out with distilled water. scrub with toothbrush if necessary

don't spill coolant ;)
 
Throw the whole thing away and start over. no better than that just send me all that bad stuff and I'll throw them away!;):rolleyes:
 
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