My brother in law spilled soda on my GTX980

[zushiba]

So my years ago I built my brother in law a gaming system out of spare parts and a half working computer I got from a friend when he upgraded his system. 

The system came with a GTX 760, I had 2 980's I was using in SLI and I "loaned" him one, until he could buy a better card. 

Well that day hasn't happened yet and it appears that it'll likely not be a thing any time soon considering the current video card market. He uses it to play Destiny 2 and Overwatch mostly and a little WoW which, the 980 can actually handle at 1080p quite well. 

Fast Forward to yesterday. He calls me up and confesses that he just accidentally spilled soda on the computer which went right through the CLC radiator, missed almost everything.. except my 980.

He tossed it in a bag with rice because... rice...

 

And finally brought my now fallen comrade back to me.

It's probably dead dead, but I want to try to resurrect it because it's still a great card and you don't just let them die like this. What do you guys think the chances are of me resurrecting this guy? I was thinking I could stripe it down, give it an isopropyl alcohol sponge bath in hopes that I could resurrect it, what do you guys think? Is it a lost cause?

 

I love this card, it's been to hell and 3 systems!

[SignatureSigner]

worst you can do is try!

You can't kill it if its already dead.

hey if all else fails you can put it on a shelf as a piece of decor.

[Guest]

There's no harm in cleaning the card. And if you can't spot any burn marks or corrosion after it's cleaned then there's a good chance it'll still work.

[zushiba]

1 minute ago, Medicate said:

There's no harm in cleaning the card. And if you can't spot any burn marks or corrosion after it's cleaned then there's a good chance it'll still work.

well that's hopeful! I got a lot of alcohol and q-tips. I intend to spend most of the day on it tomorrow.

 

2 minutes ago, SignatureSigner said:

worst you can do is try!

You can't kill it if its already dead.

hey if all else fails you can put it on a shelf as a piece of decor.

This is true, even if it's dead dead I can still make some wall art out of it, put it in a shadowbox or something. Of course that doesn't help us with the no videocard issue. That 760 was on it's last legs I don't think it'll work anymore either. I'll dig it out though and give it a once over too.

[MarvintheParrot]

7 minutes ago, zushiba said:

So my years ago I built my brother in law a gaming system out of spare parts and a half working computer I got from a friend when he upgraded his system. 

The system came with a GTX 760, I had 2 980's I was using in SLI and I "loaned" him one, until he could buy a better card. 

Well that day hasn't happened yet and it appears that it'll likely not be a thing any time soon considering the current video card market. He uses it to play Destiny 2 and Overwatch mostly and a little WoW which, the 980 can actually handle at 1080p quite well. 

Fast Forward to yesterday. He calls me up and confesses that he just accidentally spilled soda on the computer which went right through the CLC radiator, missed almost everything.. except my 980.

He tossed it in a bag with rice because... rice...

 

And finally brought my now fallen comrade back to me.

It's probably dead dead, but I want to try to resurrect it because it's still a great card and you don't just let them die like this. What do you guys think the chances are of me resurrecting this guy? I was thinking I could stripe it down, give it an isopropyl alcohol sponge bath in hopes that I could resurrect it, what do you guys think? Is it a lost cause?

 

I love this card, it's been to hell and 3 systems!

Let me pay my respects  

 

But seriously, was the PC on when he spilled the dink? If not, you still have a decent chance of getting it back alive. I would take it apart, and see if there is any visible damage, probably not, because it was just a spill, not a submersion, but still a good idea nonetheless.

[Applefreak]

8 minutes ago, zushiba said:

So my years ago I built my brother in law a gaming system out of spare parts and a half working computer I got from a friend when he upgraded his system. 

The system came with a GTX 760, I had 2 980's I was using in SLI and I "loaned" him one, until he could buy a better card. 

Well that day hasn't happened yet and it appears that it'll likely not be a thing any time soon considering the current video card market. He uses it to play Destiny 2 and Overwatch mostly and a little WoW which, the 980 can actually handle at 1080p quite well. 

Fast Forward to yesterday. He calls me up and confesses that he just accidentally spilled soda on the computer which went right through the CLC radiator, missed almost everything.. except my 980.

He tossed it in a bag with rice because... rice...

 

And finally brought my now fallen comrade back to me.

It's probably dead dead, but I want to try to resurrect it because it's still a great card and you don't just let them die like this. What do you guys think the chances are of me resurrecting this guy? I was thinking I could stripe it down, give it an isopropyl alcohol sponge bath in hopes that I could resurrect it, what do you guys think? Is it a lost cause?

 

I love this card, it's been to hell and 3 systems!

I am guessing the system was on when it happened. Did it crash or did he pull the plug? 

If it was off, there is good change to recover the card. Also depends on the kind of Soda your friend spilled. 

Any type of mineral solution (sugar for example) will be hard to get out of and can or could have caused the card to short out. 

I would take it apart, clean it with electrical contact cleaner (CRC or WD specialist, non oiling). Then rinse it with distilled water and put it in isopropyl alcohol over night. Then take it out and let it dry off for a couple of days or use a heat gun or hair dryer at low setting. You don't want to further damage those solder joints. 

 

One more thing to check is your warranty. That model number looks like an EVGA card, did you get the extended warranty when you bought the cards?

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Applefreak said:

One more thing to check is your warranty. That model number looks like an EVGA card, did you get the extended warranty when you bought the cards?

To be fair i don't think any warranty will cover a soda bath.

[Applefreak]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

To be fair i don't think any warranty will cover a soda bath.

Probably not but if the card still works and crashes in games, there is good chance it could be repaired by the manufacturer. This service will cost a bit of money but rarely is offered for out of warranty products.

[Sauron]

13 minutes ago, zushiba said:

What do you guys think the chances are of me resurrecting this guy?

Unless it works right now then 0%. Most of the PCB looks corroded so you'll never be able to isolate what parts are broken. The rice was a bad idea, soda isn't just water and he should at least have cleaned off the gunk first.

[zushiba]

7 minutes ago, MarvintheParrot said:

Let me pay my respects  

 

But seriously, was the PC on when he spilled the dink? If not, you still have a decent chance of getting it back alive. I would take it apart, and see if there is any visible damage, probably not, because it was just a spill, not a submersion, but still a good idea nonetheless.

yeah, the monitor went blank but the computer kept on running. I don't think the fans got a lot of it so the soda didn't really get to anything else sensitive, aside from the vide card.
I loaned him my second 980 while I attempt to repair this one.

 

3 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

I am guessing the system was on when it happened. Did it crash or did he pull the plug? 

If it was off, there is good change to recover the card. Also depends on the kind of Soda your friend spilled. 

Any type of mineral solution (sugar for example) will be hard to get out of and can or could have caused the card to short out. 

I would take it apart, clean it with electrical contact cleaner (CRC or WD specialist, non oiling). Then rinse it with distilled water and put it in isopropyl alcohol over night. Then take it out and let it dry off for a couple of days or use a heat gun or hair dryer at low setting. You don't want to further damage those solder joints. 

 

One more thing to check is your warranty. That model number looks like an EVGA card, did you get the extended warranty when you bought the cards?

yeah it was on, this is the first I'm hearing about using electrical contact cleaner, I can order some if that'd be better than using the alcohol. 

It is an evga card, and is no longer under warranty. I missed the 90 day window.

[zushiba]

3 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Unless it works right now then 0%. Most of the PCB looks corroded so you'll never be able to isolate what parts are broken. The rice was a bad idea, soda isn't just water and he should at least have cleaned off the gunk first.

well to be fair, he's a paramedic not a tech. If he kills my other 980 though, he'll be happy for his medical training. I'm running my system on onboard graphics right now >:|

[merco]

18 minutes ago, zushiba said:

well that's hopeful! I got a lot of alcohol and q-tips. I intend to spend most of the day on it tomorrow.

try using a toothbrush, it is a cheap anti static brush 

[zushiba]

Just now, merco said:

try using a toothbrush, it is a cheap anti static brush 

Oh, good idea, I even have a few new ones laying around!

[Applefreak]

3 minutes ago, zushiba said:

I loaned him my second 980 while I attempt to repair this one.

You should have covered that one in Vaseline to prepare for another spill.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

I'll just leave this here:

 

 

[manikyath]

carefully get the cooler off, then use plenty of isopropyl alcohol and a small brush to scrub off the spills.

 

if the card hasnt ran (long) after it's soda bath, there's a pretty good chance there's nothing wrong with it at all. just make sure it's well clean and dry before you power it back up.

[zushiba]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

carefully get the cooler off, then use plenty of isopropyl alcohol and a small brush to scrub off the spills.

 

if the card hasnt ran (long) after it's soda bath, there's a pretty good chance there's nothing wrong with it at all. just make sure it's well clean and dry before you power it back up.

He turned the computer off immediately and pulled it from the system, that's the only thing that gives me hope that it might make it.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, zushiba said:

He turned the computer off immediately and pulled it from the system, that's the only thing that gives me hope that it might make it.

just clean it, it'll be fine.

[germgoatz]

suck it out

[zushiba]

Thank all of you for your comments, I'll update this thread with my success or failure.

[Fatih19]

[Guest]

Remove the heat sink and stick the card in the washing machine on regular cycle with heated wash. 

 

Pull the card and dry it the best you can, you can use low pressure compressed air.

 

Let it sit at least 2 days to fully dry in nooks before installing the paste and heat sink. 

 

Good Luck!

[zushiba]

Update: Well not only did my cleaning job not work but while testing the card, it managed to kill my system along with it.

Stops at postcode 45 now even with the card removed  even my backup card doesn't operate in it anymore.

That's what I get for trying to repair my dead 980. 

 

Scratch that, the error indicated a memory issue. I pulled my ram, reseated it and finally got it to boot to the bios. I have successfully repaired the 980. 
But then I was unable to boot, it took me longer than I'd like to admit that I couldn't understand why I couldn't boot until finally realizing that resetting the bios, switched it out of AHCI mode. 

 

So yay, success!

EDIT3: Pictures from the procedure including it running. ... Ignore dust.