I've been working on PCs for a decade without any issues, but things turned dramatic recently. Last night, one of my father's friends accidentally spilled fruit juice all over my brother's PC. After that, it wouldn't power on and made a clicking noise from the old PSU. I swapped it out for a new power supply, but then I saw a small fireball from the back of the GPU! I quickly turned it off, and now I'm worried that the GPU (a Zotac GTX 1060 6GB) is toast, especially since one of the capacitors seems burned. The rest of the system appears to be functioning since it powers on without the GPU, and the data on the drives seems intact. My question is: how can I ensure the rest of the system is safe, and is there any way to test it to prevent future fires when I plug in another GPU? I checked visually, and the moisture seemed limited to the GPU and one SSD, and the PSU is new—what more can I do before replacing the GPU and hoping for the best?
4 Answers
This is a classic reason to avoid powering up a PC that’s had any liquid on it until you're 100% sure it’s clean and dry. It’s a hard lesson learned, but keep in mind that liquid can leave residues that can cause issues later. Make sure every component is thoroughly inspected and cleaned if needed. Ideally, just wait a few days with everything disassembled to let it dry out completely. And yes, if I were you, I’d be on the lookout for a new GPU just to be safe!
Yeah, I’d recommend disassembling everything and letting all the parts air out for a bit before trying to put it back together. A good few days to dry should suffice. By the way, do you have an integrated GPU in your system?
First off, make sure you're checking for any leftover moisture in your system. Start with the PCIe lanes and examine every connection you can find for signs of damage like burn marks or melting. If you have an older GPU lying around, test it before buying a new one. Power surges can be risky for your entire setup, so it might be a smart move to consider getting a new motherboard just to play it safe. But if everything else is working fine now, you might have dodged a bullet this time. Just keep an eye on the motherboard and PSU cables for any wear or damage before you test with another GPU.
Good luck! It seems like you're in a better spot than you thought. Just make sure to keep everything monitored when you test.
I checked with a flashlight, and thankfully, I didn’t see any moisture elsewhere. The only damage is to the GPU. If I can avoid buying a new motherboard, that’d be awesome—any tips on figuring out if it’s really necessary?
Nope! But a local IT shop is letting me test some other GPUs on it. Thankfully, I just found out it works! I just need to monitor it closely from now on.
Totally hear you, I learned the hard way too. Just make sure your next GPU is lightning-proof!