Personal Computer fully wet... Any Chances of working normally in future..??

[sude]

dear users..
recently, due to an accident, my pc got drenched with water... TOTALLY DRENCHED..
the system was off when this happened...
this is to ask u all the readers that whether i can use my pc again in future or not??

in order to use my system again what should i do??
waiting 4ur replies..
====================
elaborately... this is what happened..

here in bangalore its raining anytime..
and to me this rain along with AIRTEL TOWER on my rooms roof made the situation worse..
bcoz of the work going on the roof the drains of my roof had choked up badly...

now theres an opening on the roof of my room (for the cable connection wire etc)..
the accumulated water on the roof, not finding any exhaust finds the opening on my rooms roof and gushes in..

believe me pals..
it was a horrifying moment to see water pouring in from all the electrical points, Tubelights, CFL, fan , plugs etc..

and just below the CFL bulb was my computer (ie, MONITOR, CABINET, UPS, KEYBOARD, MOUSE )..

Note:
the water directly fell on my MONITOR then on other peripherals...

Now this is the whole story..
any modification in ur replies after reading this...

SUDE

[goobimama]

Well for one dont' start it. If it got wet while it was on, then something must have short-ed and that pretty much sums it up. Otherwise letting it dry completely (like for at least four days) will get the system back and running no probs. Make sure you take extra care about drying the hard drive though, cause you don't want to lose that.

[it_waaznt_me]

Boy ... This reminds me of that dreaded thread poseted three years ago on 26 July 2005 .. Someone (I dont remember whom ) started a thread that his cyber cafe was flooded and what could be done about those PCs ..


@Author : Let it dry completely .. If the computer were not powered on while they drenched then you'r prolly in luck ..

[the.kaushik]

i think you can put it under sun and let it dry each and every part.. also keping in a rice bag helps as it socks water but i would prefer the first one

[abhi.eternal]

sorry to hear what happened. well... don't switch on the system before drying the components... and only sun-dry (not direct sunlight) them.

[jal_desai]

^^ right said.. dont put it under the sun like clothes... but put it outside ur house at a safe place so tht it gets heat of the sun under some shade...

[dheeraj_kumar]

That happened to me too sude, My cabbie was opened up, and I was drinking water and then I dropped it accidentally. Unscrew all components like HD, motherboard, proccy everything. Take a soft cloth and wipe carefully to drain standing water. Let it dry for 1 day. Wipe it again to see if there is more water. Connect them back after they are fully dry. You will most likely need to replace your cmos battery. No big deal 5-10 bucks.

[sude]

thnx for replying guys..
wil try to follow.

SUDE

[iinfi]

take the machine to a friend's place.
use a vacuum cleaner blower frm a distance to blow warm air into it.

ur situation is bad yaar... really feel for you. i know its easier said than done!! but get someone from ur society to start work on the roof drainage quickly. ur society sud sue airtel!!

[The_Devil_Himself]

^^he said airtel tower on his room,that means Airtel people pay them rent every month for using it,so forget about suing and all.

SUDE:Like goobi said,dont switch it on for atleast 3-4 days.let it dry.And when you switch on,don't put all the components,say put the proccy back on motherboard and connect I\O and see if you get any error beeps just to save HDD and RAMS from possible damage incase...

[MetalheadGautham]

which area do you live in ?

[pimpom]

@sude: This is one helluva serious problem, I'm sorry to say.

Is your monitor a CRT? If so, the best thing to do is to take the cover off. Just leaving it to dry by itself is probably not enough. The high voltages generated inside a CRT monitor will quickly find any remaining damp spots and create an arc. Open the cover, wipe dry wherever possible, blow with a hair dryer, and then expose it to the sun for a long time.

I don't see any problem with exposing the monitor or the CPU to direct sunlight. I've often done it with other people's computers that have a problem originating from moisture. Most components can withstand 85 degrees.

I suggest taking the CPU apart and drying and exposing the components to the sun separately. Wiping them dry is not enough. Remember, even if you can't see any wet spots, there may be invisible damp spots than can cause problems.

[sude]

well The_Devil_Himself,
i am a student and i stay in an room on rent.. its not my building..
so i am not relieved..

SUDE

@MetalheadGautham..
my room is near BigBazar, Hebbala...

SUDE

@pimpom..
YES, my monitor is an CRT one.. and my monitor is the one where water poured in first...

@goobi..
will try to follow ur words..

SUDE

[MetalheadGautham]

hebbal ? I am near yashwanthpur and I Xperience no flooding at all.
but yes, one day the roof water pipe got blocked in the floor below and water rushed in from the waste water outlet in my balcony.

[sude]

@metalheadgautham
well even in hebbal too no flooding occurs but my situation is different.. see the first post for details..

u r from yeshwantpur... very near from my place..

SUDE

[bikdel]

Well one thing. My cousin had a similar problem. His PC was off. I advised him to fully dry it. Even after that it didnt work, coz the CMOS battery had shorted the Motherboard components.

So it would have been better if you removed the battery, though how much that would help, god knows. Also if your PC was off but power was still being supplied, then...
Im not being a sadist but a rational.
But hey you have pretty good chances. Just make sure it dries pretty well, I'd say for a week. Open up all parts that you can at home and dry them.

regards
bikdel

[VarDOS]

Remove Each And Every Part Of The CPU. (Note:If U Know Then Only Remove It.)

Use Vaccum Cleaner And Clean Each And Every Part.

[MetalheadGautham]

hey and one more thing: since you are in bangalore near hebbal where rains occur every alternate day, here is my advice:

keep the comp in the center of the room on a raised platform, perhaps made of card board boxes or a wooden board on bricks.

This will ensure ZERO damage to your computer in the future. I do something similar, but I have a computer table which is raised a good length above the ground.

And yes, try to save anything and everything you can from the computer. If something dries, remove it and pack it well and stuff it into somewhere safe. This will give more room for rest of the things to dry.

And whatever happens, try to ensure that the HDD is safe and dry. It contains your IDENTITY.

I guess the speakers might not have been affected. So save them and pack 'em off.

Some internal components of the tower, like the CPU, might have survived. (cpu may have been protected by heat sink). If its only slightly wet, wash it with a little concentrated alcohol or acetone, and let it dry. This will help dry faster.

[sude]

thanks everybody for ur valuable suggestions..
some days back i connected my PC, and to my utter amazement... everything worked fine... everything okay..

SUDE

[pimpom]

I'm really glad to hear that. It may be helpful to others later if you described what you did.

[sude]

well friends i didn't do anything special,,,...
i even didn't opened part by part for drying..
nor did i use blower or vacumm cleaner to cool it off...

i didnt touch the system for 4 days and kept it under FAN intact... and after 4 days when i switched it on.. everything works fine... even speakers..

lucky.. isnt it..
though i hope such incident shouldn't occur to anyone..

SUDE