SAVE THIS GPU!

[Dante0217]

Hey all!

 

In October my brother in law's house was infested with rats due to a neighbor gassing his house and I suppose the rats/mice found refuge in his house. 

 

Long story short some of the rats made it into his house and even worse into his PC.

 

Upon my inspection they didn't chew any cables but instead made a little nest near the PSU and used the PCB of the GPU as their restroom...

 

There are small dried puddles of urine and some solid waste on the PCB as well that have dried and crusted on to some traces and memory modules. 

 

I am looking to see what the best way to clean this card is and hope to save it. 

 

I hope it's not too dangerous or that the card isn't damaged beyond repair considering that the only symptom it is showing is artifacting. 

 

Any suggestions?

 

[TheRandomness]

Use some brake cleaner and spray down both sides of the PCB and the cooler before wiping down the whole thing with isopropyl alcohol before putting it back together. If this doesn't work, consider it dead.

[Shiv78]

5 minutes ago, Dante0217 said:

-snip-

This is one of the saddest PC damage stories I have ever heard

 

How did a rat get into a PC in the first place lol

[Lord Nicoll]

6 minutes ago, Dante0217 said:

Hey all!

 

In October my brother in law's house was infested with rats due to a neighbor gassing his house and I suppose the rats/mice found refuge in his house. 

 

Long story short some of the rats made it into his house and even worse into his PC.

 

Upon my inspection they didn't chew any cables but instead made a little nest near the PSU and used the PCB of the GPU as their restroom...

 

There are small dried puddles of urine and some solid waste on the PCB as well that have dried and crusted on to some traces and memory modules. 

 

I am looking to see what the best way to clean this card is and hope to save it. 

 

I hope it's not too dangerous or that the card isn't damaged beyond repair considering that the only symptom it is showing is artifacting. 

 

Any suggestions?

 

Probably 90+ isoproyle alcohol and a conductive soft brush to gently rub the PCB, you'd need to remove the cooler and throughly wash it (probably just water if the fans aren;t attached) and then once it's all cleaned make sure you use some more thermal paste to mount the cooler again. Probably a good idea to make sure the whole place is sterile as Rats can carry nasty infections and diseases  

[Dante0217]

9 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

This is one of the saddest PC damage stories I have ever heard

 

How did a rat get into a PC in the first place lol

Upon inspection the only place of entry would be a missing expansion slot covers. He said he didn't need his Wireless Adapter anymore so he took it out and left the slot wide open I guess...

[aisle9]

I'd be looking to replace the entire PC, tbqh. Saying that as a former exterminator, not as a PC enthusiast. Rats carry all kinds of crap you don't want to be breathing in, and with an entire PC, there's no way you catch and clean everything. I'd write it off.

[Dante0217]

9 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

Probably 90+ isoproyle alcohol and a conductive soft brush to gently rub the PCB, you'd need to remove the cooler and throughly wash it (probably just water if the fans aren;t attached) and then once it's all cleaned make sure you use some more thermal paste to mount the cooler again. Probably a good idea to make sure the whole place is sterile as Rats can carry nasty infections and diseases  

I have 91% Isopropyl alcohol I have no idea what a conductive brush is. I planned on taking the cooler off to reapply thermal paste anyways so I guess now's the time to do so huh?

[Lord Nicoll]

Just now, Dante0217 said:

I have 91% Isopropyl alcohol I have no idea what a conductive brush is. I planned on taking the cooler off to reapply thermal paste anyways so I guess now's the time to do so huh?

A conductive brush is a special brush for gently scrubbing PCB's. It looks like a tooth brush with black bristles, and said bristles are conductive so static won't kill the PCB. I have used normal tooth brushes before and it was fine, but be a bit gentler as tooth brushes can be hard, but generally used ones are soft,