Water cooling dripped onto graphics card

[YoloYuhan]

So my loop leaked and that's not good, But what's worse, there was a massive puddle on my graphics card PCB (or whatever it's called). I have the MSI R9 390x which has a backplate on the back with holes in it for some reason. I took the backplate off and decided to just let it dry over night.

 

Now there's what looks like black stains on the card. In the attached file, the darker areas are the stains.

[W-L]

So my loop leaked and that's not good, But what's worse, there was a massive puddle on my graphics card PCB (or whatever it's called). I have the MSI R9 390x which has a backplate on the back with holes in it for some reason. I took the backplate off and decided to just let it dry over night.

 

Now there's what looks like black stains on the card. In the attached file, the darker areas are the stains.

 

Clean off the PCB with 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove any corrosion or residue from the fluid, it will also displace any water that is left there or under the SMD components.

[Belgarathian]

Clean off the PCB with 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove any corrosion or residue from the fluid, it will also displace any water that is left there or under the SMD components.

 

If you do this it will likely be fine, the fluid in the loop is designed to be non-conductive. 

[Imabigmac]

was it running when it leaked? 

[W-L]

If you do this it will likely be fine, the fluid in the loop is designed to be non-conductive. 

 

Fluids become conductive very quickly by picking up metal ions in the loop from blocks and rads, but it doesn't look like a lot of water which is good.

[YoloYuhan]

was it running when it leaked? 

I noticed it as it was running. Turned it off immediately.

[YoloYuhan]

There's still what looks like stains after cleaning the PCB with a micro fiber cloth and 99% isypropyl alcohol. They just won't come off. I don't think I can attach a picture here so basically it just looks like what it does in the picture above just not as bad.

[W-L]

There's still what looks like stains after cleaning the PCB with a micro fiber cloth and 99% isypropyl alcohol. They just won't come off. I don't think I can attach a picture here so basically it just looks like what it does in the picture above just not as bad.

Try using a small cotton swab with the isopropyl it may be able to pick up some of that stuff better, you can be fairly liberal with the isopropyl while doing this, it will just flash off in a min or so.

Overall that doesn't look to bad even orginally since there wasn't any corrosion yet from the fluid.

[ToastyBear]

The amount of electricity going through the back of the card is very small and shouldn't cause any permanent damage. I had it happen several times on different cards and different builds. Just clean with vinegar to remove the stains, then rinse down with tap water or distilled water and air dry for a few hours or use compressed air.

 

Do not rinse with alcohol because its a waste of alcohol. (I have tried). Its not a solvent for the things that matter. You want water with the H's and the O's because it can actually dissolve and clean coolant. Water is conductive or whatever but none of that matters because you are going to dry your hardware, and you are going to dry it good.

 

 

However do make sure the PCI-E slot is dry. The power pins on the PCI-E slot carries like 40W of power and can fry the graphics card like fireworks. This has also happened to me. I was also using non-conductive liquid in a new build and it basically fried day 2. So much for non-conductive.

 

I also advise against using glycol solutions. Glycol solutions raise the boiling point of water which also makes water harder to evaporate. Like a lot a lot harder to evaporate. This is good for cars which runs near boiling point but bad for computers with sensitive electrical components. The only reason why I fried my card is because I sprung a leak, disconnected everything, wiped everything down. Then I let everything dry for 24 hours and used compressed air. Hooked everything back and started the fireworks. Took everything apart again and bam wet coolant still inside the PCI-E slot. 4 weeks after the disaster I found some coolant I didn't clean out.... still wet. Do yourself a favor and just use water and dye. Glycol doesn't offer anything for PC watercooling.