Spilled water in computer/on graphics card

twisted31

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Jul 22, 2009
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18,510
Yesterday i accidently spilled some bottled water on top of my computer, and it went through the top fan, i saw some of it landed on the back part (since the fan faces down) of my 8800gt video card.. i whiped it up quickly, im sure there were other parts where it landed... but i couldn't really tell.. i let it sit for around 30-45 minutes

Tried it.. and the screen was still blank.. the power on the monitor was just flashing, like it wasn't receiving anything... so does that mean the video card is fried?

Also, this morning I got a better look.. after leaving my computer powered off, video card out, RAM out, overnight... i put everything back in, and i noticed the CPU fan stops spinning after a few seconds of being loud, usually it just is loud for a few seconds, then starts goin regularly, so i took out the fan, and just placed it on top of the CPU instead of screwing it in.. and the fan was working... but same thing with the monitor

So far im just thinkin about testing the video card on a different computer, is there anything else i can do since im not even positive the video card is what got messed up?

Also.. i didn't smell anything burning, and there was no smoke.
 
Remove the card and remove the cooler to inspect for any water damage. You can clean a card this way but you have to be fast when it comes to this. You can try compressed air or the old lungs to blow away the water under any parts of the card. Wiping it away doesn't do the job. Soda, beer, and any other beverage is much worse. I have spilled water before on a board while doing a test but surprising that it continued on working despite half of it was covered in tap water.
 
if you ever spill liquid on any electronics, leave for at lease 24-48 hrs for it to evaporate before powering on (dismantle it to make sure all connectors have dried out also if you can). Are you sure no water got in the PSU? The damage has probably already been done. If you have onboard video, remove the gfx card and try that.
 

twisted31

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Jul 22, 2009
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18,510
Alright, well I got a crappy video card to test it out.. and sure enough, it worked... im not sure if theres any other damage that occured, but it seems fine with the swapped video card..

So my questions are... 1. Is there any chance of saving the other video card, cuz i really dont wanna buy a new one , and 2. If everything else seems fine, does that mean no water got on anything else?

Would my best bet be to just wait a few days and try the old video card?