I accidentally spilled some water on my PC because my girlfriend knocked over a glass on my desk. While most of it landed on the couch, a few drops got into the PC through the vent holes. At the time, the PC was in sleep mode and it seemed to turn off by itself after a little while. When I got home, I tried to turn it back on without realizing that was risky. I found some water in the RAM slots and a bit of minor water damage on the GPU. I'm currently drying everything out and I'm planning to reassemble it after a few days. I'm worried though—did trying to power it on worsen the damage? Should I have unplugged it immediately? And does the fact that it shut down mean it might already be short-circuited?
5 Answers
Man, not unplugging it and turning it on were definitely the two worst things you could have done. The risk of corrosion increases when power is running through wet circuits. You might need to replace multiple parts. Fingers crossed that you can salvage it!
It sounds like there was probably more than just a few drops if water made it into the ports. You might want to inspect those areas more closely before trying to power it on again. Pictures would help too to see any potential damage.
I found damage on the GPU itself, but not much in the ports. I'll try to get better lighting for a thorough check.
Honestly, it might be a lost cause, but it’s good you didn’t panic right away. Be prepared for the worst, but also hope that it might still work. From what you described, the motherboard might be the main casualty here. Fingers crossed!
It really depends on how fast you acted. I had a similar incident where I spilled tea into my PC and it shut down on its own. I disassembled it quickly, cleaned and dried everything, and it worked fine after that. Sometimes luck plays a big role here!
It's generally a bad idea to power on electronics that have been exposed to water. Since your PC turned itself off, it's likely something went wrong, especially with the RAM and GPU. It's good that you're letting it dry. When you reassemble, just be ready to potentially replace parts in this order: motherboard, RAM, then GPU. Good luck!
I don't have much money, so I'll have to take it to a shop if it doesn’t work. Wish me luck!
Yeah, water can create shorts when it connects circuits. Not a great situation.