Pretty big Water cooling problem tonight

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Nick_Leo

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 26, 2007
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So there I am sitting using my pc talking to some friends on aim when all of a sudden I hear a bubbling noise coming from my pc. First thing I thought was wtf is that then I relized my watercooling must be leaking so I quickly turn off and unplug my pc and quickly throw a towel under it to try and avoid turning my carpet blue.

Then I open up my pc expexcting for the res. to be drained but only a hose popped off the back rad so there wasn't that much water loss. I have a lian li v1200 so the only thing that seemed to get wet was the top of the motherbaord (bottom in the case but top since it's reversed atx) and the psu. The fan on the psu is aimed towards the ground so hopefully I didn't get any water in there.

I'm going go let it sit as is overnight and till like 3 tomorrow then prob take it apart and check out the damage. How long should I let it sit and dry before trying to start her up again?
 
well im not sure specifically how long it will take to dry but the longer you can w8 the better, also one thing i do if i get an electronic wet is put it in the freezer if it will fit, my uncle is an IT and its a trick he taught me, and actually oddly enough it has worked quite well
 
dont start it up until every last bit of water has been cleaned up and the affected area cleaned with denatured alcohol. youre lucky you have a reversed atx case or it couldve been much worse. when you put everything back together i recommend using worm drive hose clamps. they are the most secure method.
 
i agree with ek...i use wormdrive clamps they dont look the best but i know the will not gt loose and come off
 
If you can get 91% isopropyl alcohol you can douse your mobo, cards, or anything else that may have gotten wet (wouldn't try the PSU). The alcohol displaces the water since it's more dense. Set it out with a fan blowing on into the case for a few hours and you should be golden. A casserole dish works really well for sloshing your board around in it. Our local Walmart has the 91% isopropyl for around $2/liter, so it's a pretty easy/cheap fix. 70% will work, but takes longer to dry. My roommate and I have both done this to our pcs after leaks. Ditto on the worm drive hose clamps btw. Hope this helps.
 
Woh!!! You can dunk a motherboard in a bucket of isopropyl alcohol let it dry and it will be alright? Does this work with a graphic card?
 
absolutely. the nastiness floats off into the alcohol in the tub, and whatever alcohol is left on the component will evaporate away. its good for cleaning anything with electrical components since you cant use water.
 
I love this forum. I learn all kinds of things. I did not know that water cooling existed till two days ago.
 
I had hose clamps but it must of not been tight enough. It's the line from the pump to the rad so it has the most pressure.
 
worm drive hose clamps? its hard to say just how tight they should be, but id say with a really small screwdriver that you cant get hardy any leverage with, you should hand tighten as much as you can. once you tighten it try to rotate it on the barb by hand. if it rotates then it isnt tight enough.
 
ekuest said:
worm drive hose clamps? its hard to say just how tight they should be, but id say with a really small screwdriver that you cant get hardy any leverage with, you should hand tighten as much as you can. once you tighten it try to rotate it on the barb by hand. if it rotates then it isnt tight enough.
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the hand turning to see if it's tight enoguh is a good idea. Thats how determined if my clamps were tight enough. I am using those plastic do-jobbers though (Herbie clips??)
 
alright i got it back running and it seems to be running fine. except my 1.5tb hard drive doesnt seem to want to work. It wont show up in the control panal but i can see it everywhere else. I went to the hard drive manager under admin tools and i could see it and whenever i try to reactiviate it the pc just crashes.
 
id say clean out that sata port again a little better with a toothpick, or else try plugging it into another port. it sounds like it wasnt in the path of the spill, but it also seems like something is wrong there because it is seeing that there is something there, but when it tries to talk to it, or connect, something fails/shorts/whatever. i know i had a sata port die on my mobo a couple months ago, an i thought it was my HDD and got super pissed. but then the HDD still worked in my brothers computer, so i plugged it into a different port and it worked fine.

by toothpick i of course mean q-tip. :)
 
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Nick, what do you put in your cooling loop? This might be of importance to mention since pure water alone isnt much any concern as long as you let it dry off (pure water is actually a very poor conductor). My concern might be more with what you put in there... will alchohol remove all that?.. I dont know. The freezer trick doesnt work with many additives (since most additives ARE anti-freeze!). I put G11 or G12 in my loops, which is actually anti-freeze, so no freezer trick.
 
as soon as the pure water touches some dust on the components, or has dye in it, it becomes quite conductive. definitely get all of it off.
 
i dont understand how a properly installed barb / steel worm clamp can have a leak without someone loosing either the barb or the worm clamp. tubing doesn't come off of car parts with "weaker" pinch-clamps and cars constantly vibrate and hit bumps at 60mph.

i'm sorry but i'd call bs if you say your barb and worm clamp were properly installed. its just twisting lol
 
Nick_Leo said:
So there I am sitting using my pc talking to some friends on aim when all of a sudden I hear a bubbling noise coming from my pc. First thing I thought was wtf is that then I relized my watercooling must be leaking so I quickly turn off and unplug my pc and quickly throw a towel under it to try and avoid turning my carpet blue.

Then I open up my pc expexcting for the res. to be drained but only a hose popped off the back rad so there wasn't that much water loss. I have a lian li v1200 so the only thing that seemed to get wet was the top of the motherbaord (bottom in the case but top since it's reversed atx) and the psu. The fan on the psu is aimed towards the ground so hopefully I didn't get any water in there.

I'm going go let it sit as is overnight and till like 3 tomorrow then prob take it apart and check out the damage. How long should I let it sit and dry before trying to start her up again?
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Put it in a PREheated oven at 180F for 1 hr. That will dry it out without damaging it. Yes, I've done it many times with MBs, Vid cards, etc. When nothing else works--put it in the oven= 180F for 1 hr. More heat is NOT better and make sure the oven is PREheated. Ovens run ON or OFF---ON is full blast, so don't melt the solder by putting the piece into an UNpreheated oven.

HTH
 
You honestly put the mobo and other internals in an oven... I'm sure it works but i wouldn't have enough kahoones to do that... :)
 
rcashier said:
You honestly put the mobo and other internals in an oven... I'm sure it works but i wouldn't have enough kahoones to do that... :)
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Yes, I have several times and will do so again in a heartbeat. It works....and it works better than anything else.
 
rcashier said:
You honestly put the mobo and other internals in an oven... I'm sure it works but i wouldn't have enough kahoones to do that... :)
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I would have to agree although I am intrigued to test it on a older but known working junker board now lol.
 
Ok, after reading this thread I'm definitely going with worm drives clamps for my loop. Its nice that you got lucky and not much got damaged.
 
aviduser said:
Ok, after reading this thread I'm definitely going with worm drives clamps for my loop. Its nice that you got lucky and not much got damaged.
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7/16 tubing over 1/2 barbs works great...been doing it for 4+ years now without issue.

i still use worm clamps though. :)
 
Haste266 said:
7/16 tubing over 1/2 barbs works great...been doing it for 4+ years now without issue.

i still use worm clamps though. :)
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I do the same thing, its a bitch to get them on, but once they are on, there is NOTHING getting those babies off haha.
 
Any idea if the alcohol splashing will start to disolve the TIM beneath any NB, SB, or MOSFET coolers still mounted?
 
When I get parts wet, I spray them with canned air to evaporate all the water.

When I get really DIRTY parts wet, I throw them in the dishwasher, set it on "medium" heat (about 140) and run it on economy.
 
I can just imagine the look on my wife's face when I'm using her casserole dish as an alcohol bath, putting my motherboard in the oven, then washing it in the dishwasher! I'm lucky enough that she let's me get away with the mess I make in the office let alone the kitchen! :p
 
Dew itt right said:
I can just imagine the look on my wife's face when I'm using her casserole dish as an alcohol bath, putting my motherboard in the oven, then washing it in the dishwasher! I'm lucky enough that she let's me get away with the mess I make in the office let alone the kitchen! :p
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lol
 
Dew itt right said:
I can just imagine the look on my wife's face when I'm using her casserole dish as an alcohol bath, putting my motherboard in the oven, then washing it in the dishwasher! I'm lucky enough that she let's me get away with the mess I make in the office let alone the kitchen! :p
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I do all the cooking, so I'm covered :p

MY kitchen, MY rules.
 
Any idea if the alcohol splashing will start to disolve the TIM beneath any NB, SB, or MOSFET coolers still mounted?
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It doesn't really seem to dissolve any of the thermal compound. Most of that stuff is pretty hard to get off. I would imagine if you were to soak it for a long period of time it may cause some problems, but a quick rinse doesn't hurt it.
 
Nick_Leo said:
I had hose clamps but it must of not been tight enough. It's the line from the pump to the rad so it has the most pressure.
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Since it's a closed pressure system with a negligibly-compressible liquid, the pressure is technically the same throughout the entire system. :D

You try running that mobo yet?
 
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