Water damaged gpu

[StefanN]

Hi there

I've just got my hands on a GTX 970.
The owner of the card had spilled some kind og liquid on the PCB - and has propably tried to turn it on while wet..
So when trying to powering it up after soaking it with isopropyl 99% and a q-tip it still cant power on..
The GPU led indicates power is on but when trying to fire it up it just wont. (No reaction)

This is a short, am i right?
Is it possible to fix/repair somehow?
I have heard that some will make a alcohol bath for the whole PCB - i havent tried that yet

Thanks in advance

Best regards,
Stefan

 

[MDD1963]

Certainly if it was powered on while wet, something was shorted, and now, one or more components is damaged.....

This is likely a lost cause, save for perhaps a few miscellaneous parts, IF you have exceptional solder skills and, perhaps a PACE solder station....

 

[ohio_grad_06]

I know it's a semi expensive card, but if they tried to fire it up when wet, recommend replacement imo. By the time they pay you or someone else to find damaged components and to solder it, then if it does work, seems like the time/parts might be enough to warrant getting a new card with a warranty. Your call though.

 

[Krynn72]

It's possible some Component has died, but also possible there is still some mineral deposit left causing the short itself. The way we clean liquid damage here is through a sweep frequency ultrasonic cleaner with Branson ec cleaner, an alcohol bath (not to clean, but to displace the Branson liquid) followed by blowing the alcohol off (to try and move air underneath the chips and clean out anything stuck there) and then finally drying.

If you see a lot of liquid damage it's worth the investment, our cleaner paid for itself in a month.

 

[NETWizz]

There are polar and non-polar solvents... I doubt alcohol would be great for cleaning up stains left by something disolved in water.

If anything, I would try to put it in the sink and use some Dawn dish-detergent and a toothbrush to scrub it... Then rinse well, dry with compressed air, spraying with WD-40 to get the rest of the water out.

Then use your alcohol to de-grease it. ;-)

If it still doesn't work, replace it. ;-)

 

[Altster]

There are polar and non-polar solvents... I doubt alcohol would be great for cleaning up stains left by something disolved in water.

If anything, I would try to put it in the sink and use some Dawn dish-detergent and a toothbrush to scrub it... Then rinse well, dry with compressed air, spraying with WD-40 to get the rest of the water out.

Then use your alcohol to de-grease it. ;-)

If it still doesn't work, replace it. ;-)

WD-40? Seriously? I'd use warm water ONLY to soak the item in. Then after a good soaking, place it in a vertical position to let the majority of water to drain from it, followed by a spraying or soaking in alcohol - followed up with compressed air and another good amount of drying time.

WD-40 has its place in the world but not on or around electronic circuits - IMHO (only).

 

[NETWizz]

WD-40? Seriously? I'd use warm water ONLY to soak the item in. Then after a good soaking, place it in a vertical position to let the majority of water to drain from it, followed by a spraying or soaking in alcohol - followed up with compressed air and another good amount of drying time.

WD-40 has its place in the world but not on or around electronic circuits - IMHO (only).

Well, I was going to also suggest baking it in a toaster oven to dry it, or perhaps just run it through the dishwasher making sure to select "Heated Dry" not forgetting the JetDry, but that too would be a satire.

 

[Altster]

Well, I was going to also suggest baking it in a toaster oven to dry it, or perhaps just run it through the dishwasher making sure to select "Heated Dry" not forgetting the JetDry, but that too would be a satire.

The best way to dry out a circuit board such as this is to put it into a regular (cool) oven then set the temperature for 200 degrees (F) and once the temperature is reached, turn off the oven and let it cool completely.

Heated dry is just too hot for circuit boards. Have you ever immediately opened and removed items from a dishwasher when it is finished with its cycles.

 

[StefanN]

Thanks for all the replies !
The customer went for a new card
But thanks for all the tips and tricks - its nice to knoe

Have a nice weekend !

Stefan

 

[Krynn72]

Thanks for all the replies !
The customer went for a new card
But thanks for all the tips and tricks - its nice to knoe

Have a nice weekend !

Stefan

If you still have the card I may be interested in giving it a shot myself if you wouldn't mind sending it. I'd pay shipping of course.