Can a spill on the power button damage the motherboard?

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GeorgePar

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Yesterday i spilled bit of water (2-4 drops) on the Power button of my pc while i was doing something. the button functions normally however i am afraid that this might cause problems in the future more specifically the motherboard. can a malfunctioning Power button fry the motherboard?
I use Cooler Master CM Storm Enforcer mid ranged tower.
 
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volcanoscout
Not really, but frankly I don't think it's necessary unless you are currently experiencing power-related issues, or have some reason to expect that you'll be pouring liquids on your computer again :)

If you were going to have any issues from the previous spill, they would have been immediate and something would not be working now. If your PC powers on and off using the power button, runs fine while it's on, and your other front panel features are working, it's reasonable to assume that there was no damage.
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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If you haven't seen any problems yet, you're not likely to. If it happens in the future, turn off the power supply and allow the system to sit unpowered until you're sure it's had enough time to dry. If it's soda or something sugary like that, you'll probably want to do the same, but add in disassembly and cleaning with high-purity isopropyl alcohol (99% preferred), coffee filters and qtips.
 
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GeorgePar

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I apologize for the poor info, The water was spilled ONLY on the power button which is isolated from the main parts of the pc since its on the outside, yes i am aware of the what must be done when water is spilled on a device however this time its just the power button (switch) which is built in the case and i do not want to take it apart. my main question was is that IF something goes wrong with the power button(switch) can it damage the motherboard?
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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It's possible that a short could damage the mobo's power/control run to the front panel header, but it's more likely that a short would just burn out the switch itself, or possibly the front panel PCB, depending on the design. If you've got a good quality PSU, it should cut off the power quickly enough to prevent damage to the motherboard. Some motherboards incorporate the same type of fault protection and will cut the power themselves. Then again, there's no guarantees, just warranties...
 
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GeorgePar

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hmm I am using MSI Z68A-GD65(G3) motherboard and Intel Core i5-3470 CPU do those have the protection you mentioned?
 
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GeorgePar

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apologies for the late reply but i do not remember the PSU, is there any way to find out what my PSU is without actually taking the pc out and checking the label?
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Not really, but frankly I don't think it's necessary unless you are currently experiencing power-related issues, or have some reason to expect that you'll be pouring liquids on your computer again :)

If you were going to have any issues from the previous spill, they would have been immediate and something would not be working now. If your PC powers on and off using the power button, runs fine while it's on, and your other front panel features are working, it's reasonable to assume that there was no damage.
 
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GeorgePar

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thank you very much good sir i have been worried sick because of this, i know that all the power button does is just let current through 2 pins on my motherboard, i am no expert but i knew the damage could have extended just from replacing the power switch to an entire motherboard. Thank you very much for your attention one last question tho, IF it had caused any damage would it be motherboard only? or the entire pc might have needed replacing just because of few drops?
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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With a power surge or spike, if the PSU doesn't react quickly enough or doesn't have sufficient protective features, you could lose an entire system. If the PSU itself suffers a catastrophic failure, again whole system loss is possible. You guard against these by using a good quality surge protector or uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and a high quality PSU.

With a short, the damage is likely to be much more limited. Having said that, almost everything in a computer connects directly to the motherboard which acts as the central hub for power and communication between components, so if a component experiences an electrical failure, it's possible for the damage to extend to the motherboard or a part of the motherboard. Some parts are more important than others - if you burn out a fan header, you can work around that; if you burn out your front panel header, you'll need to replace the mobo. It's possible for the damage to extend from a component to the mobo and then to another component, but that's not very common. If computer designs allowed that type of event as a norm, you'd have computers burning out all over the place and mega liability lawsuits. Normally if a component dies or shorts out, it dies by itself.

Again, with a good quality surge protector, a high quality PSU, and a moderate amount of care and maintenance, you shouldn't need to worry about it.
 
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westom

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You had no damage. We literally clean new electronics boards in a dishwasher. You did not have damage. You had water that, to the motherboard, was acting like an always closed switch. Trick is to get the water out. Some use a series of vacum and air to move air inside the switch and dry it. Others put it in a jar of rice for a few days. Once water is out of the switch, then everything is just fine,

Water in a switch does not cause damage - expecially not to any other computer part.. Hard part is getting that water back out.
 
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