Monitor hookup moist/plastic chipped off

[RelentlessMH]

Hi,

I have just discovered that the end of my monitor cord where it hooks up to my video card is slightly moist all over, and little pieces of plastic chipped off, one in my hands when I pulled the plug out.

The liquid does not smell or have a color.

My 8800 GTS has been running pretty hot (around 60C degrees idle, 80C on load). And it's pretty cramped back there, not much room between my tower and the wall.

What should I do? Is this a big safety concern, do I need a new monitor? The computer is being given to my brother which is why I was unhooking things, and he'll have more room for airflow. The moist monitor cord will be plugging into my expensive new computer, so I'm nervous.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RelentlessMH]

Please help.. this is urgent :/

 

[COLGeek]

First, you should move your PC from where it is currently located. Unless you have a water cooled system with a leak, there is nothing in a PC that generates any sort of moisture.

Are you in a damp or humid environment? Please describe how you have your system physically set up, including how tightly against the wall you had your PC
setting.

You want good airflow and a minimum of about 6 inches clearance between your PC and the wall.

This is not a monitor issue either.

You should be fine connecting your monitor to another system. Just dry the connecting off with a hair dryer (on cool setting) to make sure it is completely dry.

 

[RelentlessMH]

I'm not in a humind environment, but this summer I had been without an air conditioner and my room gets very warm, and my GPU hit nearly 90C on full load, before I turned the fan up 100% and I then got an air conditioning a few weeks ago.

I did not check the connector then.. could that heat have cause the moisture/destruction of the plastic and then the stickiness lingered this long?

My tower is right beside my bed, the right side vent is pretty blocked off and the back does have about 6 inches of clearance from my wall. The left side there is room for airflow.

I will be getting a furniture piece to put my new computer on so it is raised above the bed, and my room will be constantly cooled now.. plus my new computer has much better cooling.

I'm just worried about that monitor connector.

 

[COLGeek]

It was probably just condensation from the AC blowing in the vicinity of the hotter PC. You should be fine once you rearrange things. Dry it out and you should be fine.

 

[RelentlessMH]

OK so I have discovered that both ends of the cord are moist. Which is odd considering my monitor has unobstructed airflow, and I have a second monitor whose cord is just fine. I guess the cord is just of bad quality? Damn you Samsung.

So right as I began wiping the connector with rubbing alcohol as suggested on another forum, the entire plastic surrounding of the connector came off in big pieces.. without much pressure. Here is a picture of it all off and the rubbing alcohol wipes:

I decided I didn't want to take a chance and I threw it out. I'll order another one and use my second monitor in the meantime.

So I guess what caused it was the combination of my room being really hot, then suddenly cool when I got my AC? How come none of my other cords were affected? I hope none of the internal parts of my hardware are damaged.

 

[RelentlessMH]

P.S. Can someone recommend a good quality VGA monitor cable seller on Ebay? Thanks. :]

 

[COLGeek]

That is one of the oddest things I have seen in all of my geekage. Having built more than 100 systems and worked on many 100s, I have never seen that happen. PM me an address and I'll drop you a VGA cable today from my stash of cables (if you are in the US).

 

[RelentlessMH]

Haha, interesting. That's alright, I'm from Canada and I've already purchased a replacement over Ebay.

Thanks for the replies though.

 

[RelentlessMH]

Best answer selected by RelentlessMH.

 

[COLGeek]

No problem. By the way, I noticed in your picture of the cable that you used some pads of some sort. What chemical is on them? I was wondering because the blue coloring rubbed off on them. BTW, thanks for the best answer selection. Good luck!!!

 

[RelentlessMH]

Those are rubbing alcohol pads. Someone on another forum suggested a wipe it with that. Though when I used a regular rag it rubbed off blue on that too. That's the coloring/moistness that was getting on my hands.

 

[COLGeek]

Odd, I would expect that from something containing acetone or alcohol, but not just a rag. Still, glad you have a new cable on the way. HOOAH!!!