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Starbo

Registered
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Joined
Apr 19, 2006
I finished my rig a good 6 months ago. Plugged it all in, fired her up - sweet as a nut! THEN... it happened...!

I noticed an air bubble in one of the w/c tubes. It was only small and I was going away for the weekend so I thought i'd take care of it when i got back.

So I get home, take a look at the bubble and it had gotten much bigger! I put a UV light into my case and there was coolant all over my 7800GTX 256! :bang head

I have taken the card apart and cleaned it as best I can using lint free cloths and cotton buds to get into the nooks and crannys. I also used AS5 when I put it back together. Just wondering if I have done everything right? I know most coolants are non conductive etc and I can't see any more coolant on the card but I havn't turned the PC on since as I'm awaiting a hs/f to arrive and I'm gettin nervous as the time is getting near...

Would just like any advice just in case I missed something...
 
Thats part of the problem - It's been so long since I even took the pc out of the box I can't remember...

It has been over 3 months since the accisent happened though... Has anyone ever had to clean coolant off a gpu before?
 
No chance of that - I keep reciepts for most things but not coolant. I do know it was UV reactive (hence why I said I used a UV light inside my case to see where the coolant had spread to and it was non conductive.
 
oh... sorry dude, my bad. I got the card second hand from e-bay (was only a few months old at a fraction of the price so couldnt refuse!)

If no-one has any tips then i guess there's only one way to tell... hope it doesn't go bang! :-(
 
I'm sure you'll do this, but I feel the need for a cautious reminder... do a leak test before you start up again, no need for an instant repeat of what's already happend. Sorry to hear about the trouble you've had, hope that it all works out well for you.

And also :welcome: to the forums. Good luck Starbo!
 
Give the card a few days to dry off. You could wash it off with alcohol if you wanted to, it will evaporate fast and displace any water that is still on there.

Good to know you didn't try to stick it back in after ten minutes of "drying".

Most coolants are conductive, and if they are nonconductive they could become conductive over time.

Wait... the card has been dry for 3 months now? I think you're safe.

Never know until you plug it in.

And don't try to RMA the card if it fries.
 
Depending on your coolant it can be a b***h to clean. I run a mix of distilled water and antifreeze, and once that antifreeze gets on stuff and then has time to dry it gets sticky as all hell. I can't stand when I have to take my system apart and get my hands all gross from that stuff...but it's all part of the game.
 
RUbbing alcohol seems my best option then... I already took it apart and used AC5 on it :bang head Gonna have to do that all over again... at least I'll know how it's done this time! :)

Maviryk - What do you mean by "RMA"?

Burdman27911 - thanks bud! I used to post on here while i was building my rig but I forgot my login info :eh?: By the way I'm not going w/c'd again, I'm going to invest in the best hs/f I can get my hands on instead :cool:
 
Starbo said:
RUbbing alcohol seems my best option then... I already took it apart and used AC5 on it :bang head Gonna have to do that all over again... at least I'll know how it's done this time! :)

Maviryk - What do you mean by "RMA"?

Burdman27911 - thanks bud! I used to post on here while i was building my rig but I forgot my login info :eh?: By the way I'm not going w/c'd again, I'm going to invest in the best hs/f I can get my hands on instead :cool:
Click to expand...

Yup rubbing alcohol or Contact Cleaner is the best, it doesn't leave a residu.

RMA - is when you send your product back to the manufactuer, they investigate the problem, if it's faulty product they ship you back a new one.
 
Sweet! I thought I would be but I just wanted to know if there's anything I was missing... £300 for a video card so i wonna look after it!

Just the CPU cooling holding me back now...

Thanks guys
 
I had a leak once when i was playing games at my friends. My system just locked up. I shut down and happened to look into my case to see distilled water on my grapfics card.

I was scared, but I took it out and blowdried it (not letting it get too hot, I switched bewteen hot and cold so it would just be warm). I blowdried it for like 20min. I then set it on the window sil for a day and let the sun help me out to make sure it was dry.

I then tryed it and it worked fine to this day (2yrs later), the card is now in my bros comp.
 
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