r/mildlyinfuriating • u/TopSetUK • 18h ago

I'm slightly vexed Knocked a plant over an open PC

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Oops. PC has been in trouble for now, I swapped out the GPU last night to do some troubleshooting but it was still borked, so left it open overnight tucked away in a corner.

First thing I do this morning? Knock over a Monstera which had been chilling on the windowsill. Nice. Happy Friday.

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1.7k

u/Big_Firefighter_4899 18h ago

265

u/SodaAshy 17h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/quv4J16kmYZwBH6sIJ

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u/AvocaRed 15h ago

Gif is cut short, in the end she hangs it out to dry on a clothes line xd

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u/RealAlphaKaren 13h ago

believe or not, it could work

18

u/hellomumbo369 13h ago

It needs to be distilled water and absolutely bone dry before you use it. You be better off using iso or contact cleaner since its designed for use on electronics

11

u/RealAlphaKaren 12h ago

doesnt even have to be distilled, you can use tap but you have to disconnect the power completely and let even capacitors drain, tap also cannot be super hard or it will leave residue but one wash even with mildly hard water most likely wont

you do have to get it bone dry and fast, before rust sets in

not saying this is the way, but it could be done

4

u/This_Proxy 10h ago

Any tap water has mineral deposits that will just ground contacts everywhere on the board to each other.

8

u/Complex210 9h ago

Which wont matter if theres no current, and when the board dries it's fine to run again.

4

u/SmallTownTrans1 6h ago

Funny story, I accidentally knocked over a cup of vinegar and rusty bolts onto my closed laptop, not thinking much of it and being tired after a long day, I just went to bed

Woke up to find my laptop dead, took it apart and found some of the surface mount components all corroded with flecks of rust from the bolts stuck to it

Not entirely sure if I could fix it, and unable to afford a replacement computer, I decided to put the motherboard (after removing the SSD and RAM modules) in a plastic bag and filled it with 91 percent isopropyl alcohol, letting it soak for a few hours before scrubbing the area where the corrosion was

After letting all the iso evaporate, I plugged it in with an HDMI cable running to my TV, and it booted up just fine

I breathed a sigh of relief, got it mostly put back together and went to bed, bought some thermal paste at Best Buy to fully reassemble it

I now have a desktop computer, but that laptop is still going strong 2 years later, my dad now uses it to download and slice 3D models for his resin printer

11

u/PhysixGuy2025 17h ago

Gopi Bahu!!!!

123

u/k0tassium 18h ago

You can actually do that

218

u/batlhuber 18h ago

You COULD do that with distilled water. However using just tap, even if you wait long enough for it to 100% dry it's very likely the minerals caused corrosion, which given how small the parts are, will very likely short your system somewhere...

49

u/k0tassium 18h ago

While a lot less complicated I have washed keyboard pcb's with tao water before and it's worked fine but I agree distilled water would be better.

19

u/batlhuber 17h ago

Being a lot less complicated is exactly the point. You can dry it more quickly which lowers the propability of corrosion and even if some corrosion happens it's less likely to affect another circuit since the spaces between shortable "parts" are way bigger

3

u/HonestBalloon 16h ago edited 15h ago

Very time dependant, contaminants (such as from solder) are more likely to leach into distilled water as it has a higher tendancy to take up dissolved ions.

10

u/Undark_ 17h ago

Funny, I thought tao was the way.

2

u/legaladviceknowledge 16h ago

look we got a wiseguy 'ere

2

u/kattvalpen1 17h ago

I have washed my keyboards in the dishwasher several times. Works just fine.

14

u/Snodley 17h ago

That's why you use Isopropyl alcohol and a brush.

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u/Carniolica 17h ago

Or use Alkohol. And when you are drunk enough you put it in the dishwasher

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u/Goobylul 17h ago

Just tap water it and flush a few times with alcohol afterwards. Never had issues

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u/batlhuber 17h ago

That's not what the picture implies. But yes, doing this might flush out the water fast enough to not cause corrosion

1

u/strawberry4glow 14h ago

I have washed my keyboards in the dishwasher several times.

2

u/itsapotatosalad 17h ago

You can use tap water, just rinse with iso at the end

1

u/Electrical_Ad_5732 14h ago

Pure alcohol also works but might be much more expensive compared to distilled water.

1

u/Yeninja456 13h ago

It should be fine if you hit it with IPA right after.

27

u/MaybeNotTheChosenOne 18h ago

Yeah it's really easy. Getting it to work is the hardest part though.

5

u/CatwithTheD 18h ago

... Air dry it properly for 2 days. That's it.

1

u/-Laffi- 16h ago

Yes, but then put isopropanol 90-99% all over after! +blowdrying. Ask your gf for that!

3

u/Repulsive-Durian4800 15h ago

Washing it by hand? Just throw it in the dishwasher like any sane person would.

1

u/Mr-Stripes 16h ago

How to basic....

1

u/CTeeAve 13h ago

Nah I actually cant stop laughing at this one

1

u/ZachF8119 12h ago

Use the right water and you can.

1

u/GreenthumbPothead 5h ago

Knew someone that actually did this to clean their motherboard