Shorted my entire PC. How to safely test the rest?

[TwistedAegis]

Quick background - did one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my entire life and set a wineglass on the PC side of my desk, the opposite side I always do so. And of course, the one time I actually spill it, it goes straight into the exhaust fan of my PSU (sure feel pretty smart about that vertically aligned Silverstone Raven now...)

So, the PC immediately shorted out. I tried to dry it out as long as possible with fans on it for days, opened up the case and saw no fluid anywhere else. A snap and a puff of smoke and it was dead for sure. With some life changes I didn't touch it for a while. Just last night I pulled out an old PSU and hooked up only the motherboard. That PSU as well instantly fried with a snap and burnt electronics.

I'm pretty sure everything is dead except for maybe some HDDs. And I'd rather not destroy new hardware testing the old. But is there any way to test it safely (and cheaply) otherwise? Specifically, the 16GB of RAM and two 6970s I have in there?

Meanwhile PeptoBismol for myself, ugh. No flogging please, I'm already doing so more than enough myself for destroying the rig in my sig below, the most expensive I've ever built.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Wait let me get this straight.

You spilled wine into the case/PSU. It shorted out. You let it "dry" and then tried to start it again without DOING ANYTHING AT ALL? That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

The chances that your GPUs and RAM are fried are slim. You most likely just killed the motherboard and PSU.

FYI: Just because liquid isn't present on the components after spilling something such as wine is no indication that what's left can't carry a current and short something out.

 

[TwistedAegis]

There was absolutely nothing on the components; it only went into the PSU. I didn't feel qualified to open up the PSU itself.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Yet you still thought it would be safe to reuse the PSU? Wow. Just wow.

What happened is you probably sent 12v through one of the 5v or 3.3v lines. Maybe even 5v into a 3.3v line.

Do you see any burn marks on the motherboard near where the power connects? Check the front and back of the motherboard.

 

[teh_chem]

The best way to test your components is get a second motherboard (which works and is compatible with your components) and verify that they work. You won't damage a new mobo by testing suspect dead components. But for sure do not even want to try using a compromised PSU or motherboard if you want to test the rest of your components.