Last night, I accidentally spilled a whole can of Coke Zero on my PC, which ran all over the insides. I managed to shut it down and unplug it in time to prevent a disaster. After that, I took the PC apart and mopped up what I could with lint-free wipes and isopropyl alcohol where possible. All the components have been drying overnight.
I've done some research, and I've seen suggestions for giving the parts a distilled water bath followed by another isopropyl bath. Is it too late for that? Most of my components are old, so I'm not too worried about them, but my GPU is new and expensive, and I'm really anxious about that. I noticed some drops between the fins of the GPU cooling, and I'm unsure if any liquid got inside it.
What should I do next? Can I test the GPU in another PC? Should I proceed with bathing the components?
5 Answers
Water won’t harm the hardware as long as it’s completely dry before you power it back on. If you can find a repair shop, they can deep clean your machine for you. If not, just make sure to use rubbing alcohol to clean everywhere and let everything dry thoroughly before reconnecting the power.
Just so you know, if the PSU is compromised, it can take out the whole system. Make sure to clean thoroughly, especially if you think any liquid got inside it. You can even consider using distilled water to help remove any sticky residue, but take care to ensure everything dries before you power it back up.
I spilled a can of V8 on my Xbox once and it survived just fine! You might get lucky too. If you can, try testing your GPU on another computer to see if it works. That way, if it doesn't, you won't risk damaging your own setup with other possibly affected components.
Just be careful when testing it! Don’t power anything on until you’re sure it’s completely dry.
I’ve picked up wet parts from e-waste collections that worked fine after drying. Just remember: don’t power anything up while it’s wet! If the Coke got inside the GPU, I'd recommend a full disassembly for a proper clean-up. You might not need to worry as much about the heatsink, but other components should be checked for residue.
First, grab some rubbing alcohol; it's a great solvent and helps with electronic cleanup. Just wipe down any sticky areas – especially where soda has pooled. It dries fast and is non-conductive, but be gentle and don’t soak the components!
Also, don’t forget to remove the CMOS battery before any clean-up! You want to avoid any power source while you work on it.