[angrier44]

Long story short, I have the coolermaster case with an opening at the top for USB ports. I knocked a can over and watched the liquid travel through the hole in slow motion..a few seconds later the computer died (funny that)

I left it a week to dry out, but hitting the power button does nothing with the graphic card inserted. If i take it out, it doesn't short out, and its possible to hear the hard drives spinning up. This makes sense as the opening for the ports is above the huge 8800 card, and was bound to be splashed.

Basically, I'd like to know whether I need to replace the CPU? I'm ordering a new video card obviously, and a new motherboard in case something in it is fried which only shorts when a card is inserted.

Does the fact that the hard drives are doing anything at all mean the CPU is alright? If it's not, and I place it in the new motherboard, could it damage the new one aswell?

Thanks for any help

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You need to remove the residue that is in your machine. It contains sugar and other ingredients which can absorb moisture and conduct electricity. Basically any part of the machine that got Coke on it has to be removed, taken apart as much as possible so that you can rinse any connections, you can wash it with ordinary tap water but rinse it will distilled water which contains no minerals, which most tap water does. Obviously you can do this with any of the drives, you can only wipe them down. Don't be too afraid of this as much of the equipment was cleaned using ultrapure water during several steps in the manufacturing process. And it needs to dry for at least a couple of days near a fan before putting it all back together.

Do not turn it on until the residue has been removed, you may incur more damage. If you don't feel confident about doing this take it to a repair good repair shop. They have seen many computers that had stuff spilled on them.

[Tyger]

You need to remove the residue that is in your machine. It contains sugar and other ingredients which can absorb moisture and conduct electricity. Basically any part of the machine that got Coke on it has to be removed, taken apart as much as possible so that you can rinse any connections, you can wash it with ordinary tap water but rinse it will distilled water which contains no minerals, which most tap water does. Obviously you can do this with any of the drives, you can only wipe them down. Don't be too afraid of this as much of the equipment was cleaned using ultrapure water during several steps in the manufacturing process. And it needs to dry for at least a couple of days near a fan before putting it all back together.

Do not turn it on until the residue has been removed, you may incur more damage. If you don't feel confident about doing this take it to a repair good repair shop. They have seen many computers that had stuff spilled on them.

[angrier44]

So are you saying that even the graphic card is saveable?

Saving all this cleaning bother, is it safe enough to assume that the processor still works?

Cheers

[Neil Jones]

Any form of liquid that entangles itself with electrical current and components is never good. Its why its illegal in the UK to put electric plug sockets in the bathroom because water is a conductor of electricity, therefore its lethal in that situation.

You may well find that your computer bits that have had a drink of Coke will be fine providing you remove all the residue. Typically mop up the excesses then you'll often find the dry residue will evaporate in time.

There is no guarantee that any of the system works. As I previously stated, water is a conductor of electricity. The components all use electricity to get things done and its entirely possible that the entire lot has been electrocuted to death, processor included. The only way you're going to find that out is take it out, dry it out if needs be and plonk it into another board. If it comes on, good. If it doesn't, that's not good.

[smot_poker]

I dropped a full pitcher of water once in my comp that was on it's side with no sides on it... screen turned brown with a bunch of wavy lines... I unplugged it, shook alot of the water out and turned it back on and it worked fine

just tought I'd share that

[angrier44]

I dropped a full pitcher of water once in my comp that was on it's side with no sides on it... screen turned brown with a bunch of wavy lines... I unplugged it, shook alot of the water out and turned it back on and it worked fine

just tought I'd share that

haha, that's v lucky! I'd love to have seen your face.

I managed to find some speakers and plug them in, this let me know when windows was loading up so the processor is fine. Managed to get a good deal on a card and mobo so I'm just going to stick them in instead of clean anything up, I would have thought it a miracle to get that video card going again.

Taking everything apart i noticed some sugary goo on the RAM contacts aswell, but I'm going to wipe that off.

Tyger suggested it'd be fine to wipe this with water, would boiling it help at all? (I'm not sure why it would, I'm sure the minerals would still be there)

[TheQuickBrownFox]

I dropped a full pitcher of water once in my comp that was on it's side with no sides on it... screen turned brown with a bunch of wavy lines... I unplugged it, shook alot of the water out and turned it back on and it worked fine

just tought I'd share that