Strange fluid leaking from motherboard?

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rollingbarrels

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Oct 6, 2015
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I opened up my computer today and found that there was a patch of damp on my motherboard around one of the heatsinks. My computer is working fine and there are no performance issues, but this did look quite concerning.
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Any ideas what it might be?
 
Solution
It may even be from the heat pipe.

I would contact Asus tech support and send them your picture.

Update: my best guess is that. It looks like a small amount of condensation spreading from the heat pipe under the top-left heatsink for your VRM's.

If so, it should be fine. It's probably a very small amount of liquid that's just slowly discoloring the surface of the board.

The reason it could exist is a break in how the heat pipe is soldered in. The heat pipe is supposed to connect the other heat sinks to share the cooling, and they work by sealed water vapor absorbing heat, evaporating, then condensing again.
can you get a better picture? the flash reflection makes it hard to see. Also, don't make the picture small.

Could it be condensation?

Inspect the motherbaord for bulging capacitors. May be leaky caps, but unlikely, My money is on condensation. Is it humid where you live?
 

rollingbarrels

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Oct 6, 2015
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I don't think it is condensation since the texture of the dampness is quite oily and it is not humid where I live. There are no capacitors that look damaged or bulging, as far as I know it just mysteriously appeared there.
irYa052.jpg
 
It may even be from the heat pipe.

I would contact Asus tech support and send them your picture.

Update: my best guess is that. It looks like a small amount of condensation spreading from the heat pipe under the top-left heatsink for your VRM's.

If so, it should be fine. It's probably a very small amount of liquid that's just slowly discoloring the surface of the board.

The reason it could exist is a break in how the heat pipe is soldered in. The heat pipe is supposed to connect the other heat sinks to share the cooling, and they work by sealed water vapor absorbing heat, evaporating, then condensing again.
 
Solution

Rwest1

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Sep 20, 2016
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Hi, I have the same issue on my MSI mobo. I'm guessing it's a product fault. I was scared at first thinking that my AIO was leaking

Mine seems to have spread a tad more than yours :(

I'm using the NZXT h440

2hrhm5x.jpg
 

RainbowCrescentWolf

Commendable
Oct 9, 2016
1
0
1,510


im actually having the same problem but mine leaked all the way down to my top PCI-E1 slot
and the chip to the left of it i dont know what do to with it
i also stumble upon the problem where when i play games for a litlle while my pc all of a sudden blackscreens and colpletely freezes up if that happens and i touch the back of my motherboard on that spot it will be super hot to the point of where i cant even touch it anymore
so i was wondering if someone knows any help for it?
and im using a NZXT x61 cpu cooler
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
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Really guys? This post is 6 months old. The OP has it figured out. Don't necro threads or someones going to need to necro your account.

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