Coke poured into a computer.

[Flashanator]

Had about half a glass of cola poured into a the top of a PC via cooling vent fan. Kids prank at party.

Anyway its been a few hrs now. Is it safe to try turn back on? Wanna see if it works, but dont wont anything in the house to short out, can anything electrical get damaged in the house? Power points etc?

 

[John_Galt]

Take off the outer casing, and clean up all that you can. Then, make sure that none got into any electrical/data connections. But I still wouldn't turn it on. Tell those kids, that if it fries, THEY will be responsible for buying a new computer. Not their parents, them. See what happens. Turn it on in front of them.

 

[Flashanator]

Yeah I cleaned most I could, but I think some went into the PSU which I cant tell. Oh well. Ill risk it. Its an office dell, or maybe it was.

 

[MarNav1]

You may be able to save it if you can find something that will cut through the Coke and then flush it out with distilled water and blow it out well and let it dry for a few days. It may or may not work, you don't have much to lose doing that. I would do it quickly. Let us know if it works.

 

[csshih]

coke?
what type of prank would that be? :shakehead
I'd say that computer would probably be roasted..

 

[carrot]

That's not a prank it's outright vandalism.

Cleaning your components with distilled water, or high proof isopropyl alcohol, may work, but make sure the computer is unplugged. Completely pure water does not conduct electricity, but contaminants in the water do.

 

[N10]

maybe if u could get most components(mainboard/graphic card etc... out of the case....and yeah like they said..don't use anything "corrosive"..the hard drive bight be toast though(they're supposed to be "airtight" but not sure they're waterproof..

 

[Egsise]

If theres any important files like photographs etc, take your pc to professional.
If theres nothing to lose just turn it on and make those kids parents pay for a new pc.
Even if it works ok, the coke sure has not extended the pc's life.

 

[Illum]

That's not a prank it's outright vandalism.

Actually...most pranks I've been through is outright vandalism, I think to some extent prank and vandalism in used interchangeably.

I was lucky, someone stuffed a chocolate chip cookie in my DVD burner, and the grounded dough never touched any other components.

coke... ugh, coke doesn't dry...it'll evaporate to a residual syrup...then it'll start collecting dust and look like droplets of tribbles. :shrug:

Break down the PC...wash the enclosure, I dunno if the PS is affected but check if it is.
Most components [HD, CD, DVD, SDD] have vents, but vents are to the side. they may survive and it'll be a simple alcohol wipedown
Probably easier just to replace the fans if they're contaminated
Motherboard dunno...I've never been through something that substantial. But I think alcohol will take out out.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

take out the 3V button battery. you don't want water shorting anything out.

Take all components out, ensuring that battery has been out for about an hour or so. You should then be able to carefully wipe with a damp cloth, and let it thoroughly dry. as for the PSU, those are harder to clean, and I would be very very careful with it, do not open it, plug the power cable in the back of the psu BEFORE plugging it into the wall, incase it throws sparks.

 

[Illum]

take out the 3V button battery. you don't want water shorting anything out.

Take all components out, ensuring that battery has been out for about an hour or so. You should then be able to carefully wipe with a damp cloth, and let it thoroughly dry. as for the PSU, those are harder to clean, and I would be very very careful with it, do not open it, plug the power cable in the back of the psu BEFORE plugging it into the wall, incase it throws sparks.

you might have to throw the PSu in the fridge for sometime. one is to keep coke liquid, and another is you'll want to leave your PSU isolated for awhile for internal caps to drain off or you will have sparks if you try to wipe it down

 

[gorn]

A friend brought a laptop to me to fix after he dumped coke on it. It had set a couple of days and the coke turned to syrup. It also at away at the motherboard. I cleaned it and never did get it to work. He had to send it back to the manufacturer to get his mobo replaced.

 

[Flashanator]

I tried turning it on today, doesn't turn on. Didn't hear any sparks or anything.

 

[jtr1962]

As a last ditch effort circuit boards can be cleaned in hot soapy water. Just rinse throughly and let dry a few days before applying power. Sometimes this method works, other times it doesn't. At at this point you really have nothing to lose but your time. The power supply might need a thorough soaking in water, followed by baking in an oven at maybe 200°F to remove all traces of moisture.

 

[will]

Is the cooling fan the one in the power supply? If it is you may have toasted one of the power levels. If the coke was limited to the power supply area, you might be able to just replace the power supply.

chances are - the PC is gone. You might be able to remove the hard drive and copy your files to another drive. Most PCs have the ability to have more that one hard drive.

As others have said - coke will turn to syrup, it is conductive. Water will remove most of the syrup, but, unfortunately it gets into areas that won't get cleaned.

 

[will]

As a last ditch effort circuit boards can be cleaned in hot soapy water. Just rinse throughly and let dry a few days before applying power. Sometimes this method works, other times it doesn't. At at this point you really have nothing to lose but your time. The power supply might need a thorough soaking in water, followed by baking in an oven at maybe 200°F to remove all traces of moisture.

That might work - I would keep the temperature much lower, around 125 or so. If you have access to an air compressor, You might try to blow out the water. A safer method is to use a vacuum hose connected to the output of a vacuum. That will put out warm air. OR a hair dryer on low temp.

 

[ducat]

I think somebody owes you a new PC.
Apply cricket bat repeatedly and forcefully to back of skull of miscreant until forthcoming!

 

[Mjolnir]

I tried turning it on today, doesn't turn on. Didn't hear any sparks or anything.

There don't need to be visible sparks for something to short. You really should have cleaned everything off and let it dry before you turned it on the computer. Now some part of the computer is probably broken.

How was it that someone poured coke into this computer? I agree with the others... They should be buying you a new PC.

 

[electromage]

First, I'd remove and check the hard drive(s), rinse it with distilled water if it's got any on it, then put it somewhere safe. If you have the appropriate screw driver, carefully remove the controller board from the bottom and make sure both sides are clean and dry. If all else fails, at least you'll still have your data.

Then, dismantle the PC and inspect the pieces, rinse off any Coke with distilled water, and I might use a hair dryer to accelerate the drying process so nothing oxidizes, just make sure it doesn't get so hot that you can't hold your hand on it. If nothing sparked when the Coke spilled, you should be OK.

Edit: The kid definitely needs to take some responsibility and pay for any damage, if they're a minor, contact his or her parents so they can deal with it. Destroying someone else's property seems a bit beyond a "prank" to me.

 

[Egsise]

I tried turning it on today, doesn't turn on. Didn't hear any sparks or anything.

Make those kids pay or they'll do the same "prank" for your new computer too!

Others: pls stop giving advice that require basic knowledge on how to fix computers, the first post revealed that it is not necessary.