Disaster - my 9800 Pro got a bath.

[felinusz]

I managed to slip, and spill quite a lot of water *all over* my 9800 Pro when removing it from my test water circuit (after discovering I had borked my NF7-S - go figure, bad day for me).

The card was not plugged in. However, the entire thing was totally *drenched*, and I'm worried about cleaning it up. The water contained Prestone Dexcool Anti-Freeze, mixed 15% with distilled water. I have cleaned the card thoroughly with rubbing alchohol, and it is underneath a lamp right now.

I am unsure whether this cleaning is sufficient, or if I need to take extra precautionary steps. As of now, the card looks normal, except for some patches of residue visible under a magnifying glass, which doesn't seem to want to come off.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome - I am out of cash having ordered a replacement board, and I *need* this card to live.

[JoT]

Go to the corner and cry. Seriously. Do it.

It's been a really really bad day for you man =/

My suggestion: clean it off as best you can with the highest % alcohol you can, let it dry for at least a week, and then try to use it; do a dance if you think it will help =/

[felinusz]

I've used 99% Isopropyl :-/

Yeah, this sucks really badly. For all I know my PSU is dead, and my processor could well be dead, seeing as how the 12V Vcore line was the one which got reversed (as you know, ground went to 12V, and vice versa) and borked the board.

If this card is dead, then I'm going to be very, very, VERY, sad, then angry, and then destructive and psychotic, and then just sad again.

This is the first spill incident I've ever had (I've done about three circuit overhauls and reroutes), great timing... :cry:

[johan851]

I had water spill onto the backside of my 9500, run through the mounting holes, and onto the frontside of the GPU. While it was plugged in and running...yeah, that was bad.

All I did with mine was pour alcohol right onto where the water spilled onto it (after it was off, of course). Let it dry for the evening, tried it when I came home, and it worked perfectly.

Take heart my friend. Pour generous amounts of alcohol over it, massage it gently with cotton/q-tips, etc., and let it dry overnight. It should be alright.

[PolarExpress]

I herd if you sacrifice a Mac the PC Gods will make it all good. :D

I'm praying for your GPU bro.

[felinusz]

Guess what I'm using right now PolarExpress?

We now have 5 computers in the house. Only one is a PC (mine!) , and it (probably, although it just started beeping again) just died in a horrific accident. My Parents, and my sister are all Macsters.

I'm sure they won't miss just one of them... should I use the Chainsaw, or the Drillpress / 8" Hole saw to perform the sacrifice? :D

johan - Q-Tips it is then. I'll keep you all updated :(

[FizzledFiend]

Flames dude the god's love flames...pour alcohol over the 9800pro ontop of the Mac and ignite it(The Mac not the pro)..then break out the rubber chiken and dance!



Edited for the sake of clear ritual proceedures!

[Raider84]

dont you dare roast a 9800pro, take one of the horrible designed original imac mice and burn that sucker. great idea though!

[Shadowcat]

I agree, burning a mac will help and if you run out of them, just swear in the general direction of their website.

You might also try some 'tender love and care' with your 9800 pro.. talk to it or something, it might feel encouraged.

[cack01]

The card should be fine. Just let it dry, then use a cloth and dust off any minerals that could have been left off.

I used to keep my pump in the extra bay below my PSU. The pump split in half and pretty much all the water in my system dumped right onto my ti4200 while the system was on. Two years later the card still works. :)

[JFettig]

if you havent put much rubbing alcohol on it yet, totally drench it in rubbing alcohol. You might want to redo the TIM because the alcohol might eat away at the thermal paste.

I have spilled water multiple times with no casualties, you shoudl be alright if it all gets cleaned up properly.

Jon

[Contra]

guys i spilled antifreez on mine and just dried it off with a towel
and it is fine
then put it in a few min. later


i works fine

luck i guess

[felinusz]

The card has been drenched in Alchohol ;)

The sacrifice (a piece of paper with a lovingly drawn Mac logo on it) has been ritually burned, while the card watched.

I'm going to wait a little longer before seeing if it lives - I'll let you all know :)

[TheTick]

well, good luck. Mine died before I got a chance to WC it. Its going back to RMA for testing now. of course it wont work, and I will get a new one, and that one I will be WCing.

[Big_Baller]

Hey I have done this more times than I want to admit. Did you really bath it? I have revived many things doing this. But you also need to scrub it with a tooth brush in most cases. It looks like you know what you doing so I'll just say that you should put it under a fan for about 2 hours rotating ever once in awhile.


A windows on your case does wonder for water cooling. Once I saw water drops falling on my dads video card (too scared to put my new 5900 in there at the time) It dripped right on to one of the ram chips. It was really funny actually but I was to sick to laugh at the time. The colors started going crazy. I did revive that card with proper scrubbing and denatured alcohol bath.

[Black_Paladin]

Originally posted by Big_Baller
Hey I have done this more times than I want to admit. Did you really bath it? I have revived many things doing this. But you also need to scrub it with a tooth brush in most cases. It looks like you know what you doing so I'll just say that you should put it under a fan for about 2 hours rotating ever once in awhile.


A windows on your case does wonder for water cooling. Once I saw water drops falling on my dads video card (too scared to put my new 5900 in there at the time) It dripped right on to one of the ram chips. It was really funny actually but I was to sick to laugh at the time. The colors started going crazy. I did revive that card with proper scrubbing and denatured alcohol bath.

Funny, I was also about to suggest drenching the card in alcohol as I have done this to my cards as well.

Furthermore, my Radeon 9700 has taken many a bath since I bought it and it still works perfectly.

I'll never forget the day where I suddenly started seeing messed up colors and dots on the screen where I wasn't paying attention to my case and when I looked, I realized that my 9700 pro had been **soaked** with water dripping from the place where the tubes connect to the CPU waterblock. The funny thing is that the water had been dripping for some time and I only realized it when the screen went berserk.

After I took the card out and cleaned it though, it worked perfectly. The same kind of incident happened several times after that as well altough not on a scale as big as the one I described above.

Take heart, friend! Our beloved Radeon cards are not as fragile as you might think them to be. Despite all the abuse we inflict on them, their stubborness in survival is quite amazing. :)

Also, you did the right thing by sacrificing a MAC logo!!!! The gods always take kindly to a person when a MAC related item is sacrificed. You see, the MACs have actually been cursed as heathen objects by the gods ever since their creation and the more you destroy them, the more favor the gods will grant you. :D