Catastrophic Milk Spill

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Catastrophic Milk Spill - 7/2/2010 1:51:25 AM

Anthropoid

Posts: 3107
Joined: 2/22/2005
From: Secret Underground Lair
Status: offline

So I was settling down for some gaming, cookies and milk . . . let the puppy out and when I came back in didn't realize I had looped the headphone cord behind the milk glass. There was only a large swallow left in the glass, but it hit the ground right next to a vent on the rear right side of my case and at least a few drops splashed inside.

Suddenly my screen turned into a fuzzy checkered color pattern. Within a couple seconds I had processed what had happened. Powered it off, unplugged, turned upside and looked inside. I only noticed about three small drops of milk inside the case: one on the main power cable to the mobo, one plastic housing of the CPU fan, and (possibly) one on the mobo, though that last one was questionable. I used a paper towel to dab those coule spots that were obviously liquid, then I blew a hair dryer at it for a few minutes (on cool temperature) with it still sitting upside down between two small tables. I left it that way for several hours, and then I moved it to another room and also unplugged all the cables to the mobo. I only noticed one other possible spot that had got doused, right where the vidcard rests against the case. That one is the one I suspect was the main culprit. It hit a spot with metal (the others were on plastic) and it was close to connector that I think milk could have splashed inside of. Obviously milk hit something sensitive or the screen would not have fritzed out.

So my plan is to leave it that way, in a room, upside down, cables unplugged, a ceiling fan running, and a fan on medium blowing up into the case for at least 24 hours. After that I'm not sure.

Any suggestions? Any hope that it is not fried, or that it is only the vid card or something like that? Should I just plug it back together myself, or take it to a shop?

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Post #: 1

RE: Catastrophic Milk Spill - 7/2/2010 3:38:48 AM

bairdlander2

Posts: 2264
Joined: 3/28/2009
From: Toronto Ontario but living in Edmonton,Alberta
Status: offline

Should be fine,I dropped my Blackberry in the toilet on a drunken New Years Eve and let it dry and worked fine.

(in reply to Anthropoid)

Post #: 2

RE: Catastrophic Milk Spill - 7/30/2010 8:59:06 PM

madgamer2

Posts: 1235
Joined: 11/24/2004
Status: offline

I feel your pain as i have two cats and the house rule is no liquid on the case or the large coffee table where the monitor and printer sit. If you think it is the video card and have another that would work for a test run use it and go for it.......otherwise plug it all back in and hope for the best.

the other approach is to remove all the cards and stuff you can check for spots. If it were me after all this time I would go for it. If you are worried have it checked by a good tech.

Madgamer

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(in reply to Anthropoid)

Post #: 3

RE: Catastrophic Milk Spill - 8/7/2010 7:57:26 AM

72M

Posts: 6
Joined: 8/7/2010
Status: offline

Most likely it'll be fine. I've seen desktops with beer spilled on them without much damage. On the other hand i've also seen a laptop die from minor winespill on the keyboard.
Paper towel was quite enough, the blowdrier might've done more harm than good, altho I use vacuum cleaner to clean my desktop innards every few months so it can't be that bad. (I'm a professional computer builder, trust me *grin* )
You should try if the compu still has graphics anomalies, if not, you're fine, if yes, try switching another gfx card (from one of your older computers, or borrow from a friend)in its place to see if thats the problem.
Hanging computers upside down is not usually a great idea since the towers sometimes only support the components from downward gravity when in correct position. ;)

(in reply to madgamer2)

Post #: 4