Water spilled in PC - your thoughts?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave C.
  • Start date Start date
Sjouke Burry said:
The computer is almost certainly toasted because it was plugged
in early, water, dirt and electricity eat traces from the boards
and cause shorts between traces by electrolysis .
Click to expand...

What a load of S*** advice: mineral spirits, methanol, hair dryers, wait
two weeks, take apart components.

It's just clean water that spilled. The OP did right: unplug, open it
up, let it dry overnight or a day or two. It runs, so leave it plugged
in and running now. That will dry out any possible water left.
 
the machine survived the ordeal and is running perfectly.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. Now you know that your basic clean tap water won't do
much damage when dealt with quickly. Sure, the A+ guy should not have
turned it back on so quickly...but no harm, no foul.
Wow, I know I dodged a bullet.
Click to expand...

The bullet you dodged was the boatload of frankly shitty advice you got
here. Thank your god you didn't follow most of it.
 
Kyle said:
I'm sorry but water damages completely and irreparably any kind of
electronic device.
Click to expand...

Utter nonsense.
Even if you are able to start the PC after drying etc etc, sooner or
later you'll see crashes or other effects of water on the long term.
Click to expand...

She'll see crashes because she's running Windows, not because of tap
water.
 
The bullet you dodged was the boatload of frankly shitty advice you got
here. Thank your god you didn't follow most of it.
Click to expand...

Hee hee I always learn so much whenever I post here. Like who to watch
out for. ;)
 
Kyle said:
On Sat, 9 Jan 2010 20:10:32 -0800 (PST), (e-mail address removed) wrote:
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but water damages completely and irreparably any kind of
electronic device.
Click to expand...

I hope you're aware they wash PCBs at the factory, just after the
soldering is finished. Here is an advert for a defluxing system,
which is the step after soldering is complete. As long as the
product has no post-drying residue and the PCB is dry before
test, it works just as it did before.

http://www.emasiamag.com/article-2840-automaticpostreflowdefluxingsystem-Asia.html

You can see in the picture here, these particular ones operate like
dish washers, with the PCBs sitting in a rack.

https://www.manncorp.com/pcb-cleaners/index.php?auto=done

This one is inline and this machine sits in the conveyor belt
line and washes PCBs as they go by.

http://www.electroiq.com/index/disp...fluxing-systems.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html

This article mentions some of the changes in washing practices
over the years.

http://www.smtnet.com/library/files/upload/Defluxing_Deja_vu.pdf

At one time, they used liquids like trike to clean boards, because
the solder flux wasn't water soluble. The switch to alcohol and
water solvent systems, means no nasty stuff to give the staff cancer.
They make the flux water soluble, so that the cleanup is easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene

Paul
 
Rick said:
All true Paul but, when you put power to the components then as you
should well know problems may occur.
Click to expand...

I'm correcting the statement that electronics are instantly destroyed
when they come in contact with water. They're not.

If a circuit under bias, comes in contact with a higher than normal
voltage, it could be damaged. Say, for example, you drop your operating
computer into a vat full of salty water. The 120V from the power feeding the
computer, may then come in contact with circuits that are only capable
of handling much lower voltages (5V/3.3V/1.8V etc). The reason the
computer of "Toolpackinmama" wasn't destroyed, is because even though
there was a sizzling sound (water contacting 120V), it didn't come in
contact with anything sensitive. There wasn't sufficient water providing
a continuous conducting path, to ruin anything.

If a circuit is not under bias, then you can pour water on it all you want.
(Like they do, when they're washing the PCBs during manufacturing.)
If the water contains dissolved salts, acids or the like (Coke), then
there could be consequences down the road. Washing with clean water
and removing any residues, then thoroughly drying, should give you
many more years of service.

Paul
 
Disassembling everything introduces more chances to damage the
computer. Plain (clean) tap water DOES NOT harm unpowered electronics
in a few days!
Click to expand...

Great. I'll soak my wife's computer in the bathtub for a few days to
get the dust out. And you must be all thumbs if you are worried about
damaging a computer just by disassembling it. -Dave
 
Dave C. said:
Just
disassembling everything will probably dislodge much of the water
before you even plug a hair dryer in.
Click to expand...

Disassembling everything introduces more chances to damage the
computer. Plain (clean) tap water DOES NOT harm unpowered electronics in
a few days! The absurd methods proposed in this thread to remove such
water would do more harm than just leaving the water. The OP did exactly
right, but no thanks to the truly crappy advice from ignoramuses here.
 
I opted not to go that route simply because the process of removing
things would open up places to the residual water that wasn't open
before.
Click to expand...

Ever notice that several days after the last rain storm, there is water
underneath the rubber mat on your deck? That area was never open to
residual water, but it got soaked anyway. -Dave
 
Great. I'll soak my wife's computer in the bathtub for a few days to
get the dust out. And you must be all thumbs if you are worried about
damaging a computer just by disassembling it. -Dave
Click to expand...

I opted not to go that route simply because the process of removing
things would open up places to the residual water that wasn't open before.
 
Ever notice that several days after the last rain storm, there is water
underneath the rubber mat on your deck? That area was never open to
residual water, but it got soaked anyway. -Dave
Click to expand...

Well, you may have a point there, Dave.
 
Well, the power supply just blew. Fortunately I had a spare generic 485
watt that I could pop in. Got me up and running again.
 
Toolpackinmama said:
Well, the power supply just blew. Fortunately I had a spare generic 485
watt that I could pop in. Got me up and running again.
Click to expand...
Does 'blew' mean something other than died/quit?

That is, how did it 'go'?
 
Does 'blew' mean something other than died/quit?

That is, how did it 'go'?
Click to expand...

Well, where I come from if you fail at some thing you might say "I blew
it". You have heard of things like bombs blowing up? Well, the past
tense of blow is blew.

It blew/went suddenly: no sound or warning, but there was an evil odor.
Silent but deadly, the epitaph read. The computer suddenly shut down,
and then my UPS began to emit a keening wail.

I unplugged everything, put the patient on the table, and performed an
emergency PSU transplant. The operation was successful and I am using
the computer right now.
 
I hope you're aware they wash PCBs at the factory, just after the
soldering is finished. Here is an advert for a defluxing system,
which is the step after soldering is complete. As long as the
product has no post-drying residue and the PCB is dry before
test, it works just as it did before.

http://www.emasiamag.com/article-2840-automaticpostreflowdefluxingsystem-Asia.html


You can see in the picture here, these particular ones operate like
dish washers, with the PCBs sitting in a rack.

https://www.manncorp.com/pcb-cleaners/index.php?auto=done

This one is inline and this machine sits in the conveyor belt
line and washes PCBs as they go by.

http://www.electroiq.com/index/disp...fluxing-systems.QP129867.dcmp=rss.page=1.html


This article mentions some of the changes in washing practices
over the years.

http://www.smtnet.com/library/files/upload/Defluxing_Deja_vu.pdf

At one time, they used liquids like trike to clean boards, because
the solder flux wasn't water soluble. The switch to alcohol and
water solvent systems, means no nasty stuff to give the staff cancer.
They make the flux water soluble, so that the cleanup is easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene
Click to expand...


Hey Paul, thanks for a really interesting post with lots o' links :)
 
I'm correcting the statement that electronics are instantly destroyed
when they come in contact with water. They're not.

If a circuit under bias, comes in contact with a higher than normal
voltage, it could be damaged. Say, for example, you drop your operating
computer into a vat full of salty water. The 120V from the power feeding
the
computer, may then come in contact with circuits that are only capable
of handling much lower voltages (5V/3.3V/1.8V etc). The reason the
computer of "Toolpackinmama" wasn't destroyed, is because even though
there was a sizzling sound (water contacting 120V), it didn't come in
contact with anything sensitive. There wasn't sufficient water providing
a continuous conducting path, to ruin anything.
Click to expand...

I might as well mention that it was water from a "snow globe" type of
object. It wasn't just plain water, there were glittery bits in the fluid.

In my case, it's not a discussion about plain water. I was concerned
about the glitter too, and also possible fragments of glass.
 
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