Water in PC

[veggie_mane]

Hi

Last night the geyser burst at my house and nobody was home so it pretty much flooded the house. Unfortunately the geyser is located in the ceiling, above the bathroom which happens to be next to the study where my pc is. Anyways the ceiling of the study filled with water and partially collapsed destroying my screen mouse keyboard and speakers.

My case however was sort of shielded because it stands under the desk. Some water has however entered the case. I have a CM sniper case if it helps. So basically water went into the top control panel of the case-where the usb,firewire etc. Connectors are as well as the power and reset buttons and fan controller unit. The hardrive is located below this in one of the top drive bays.

It is unclear whether water has got to it. So basically my question is what is the first thing that i should do? Atm i am leaving it standing to dry completely. All i need is the data on the hdd, the rest of the hardware is replaceable. Do i wait a few days and then try and turn the pc on? Or do i take out the hdd and take it somewhere for data recovery? Water may have gotten to the psu but its hard to say because i wasnt home when this happened, and when i did get home the priority was to turn off the water mains and the plugs etc. So by the time i got to check out the pc properly, it had already begun drying so i cant tell where the water has reached.

Please advise me on the steps i should take. As i said, the hdd is my priority, insurance can replace the hardware but not whats on the hdd. And plz dnt go on about how i should do backups, the external hdd where the backups are on is also ruined.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

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[Fader4]

dont try to turn on until you have established the extent of the damage, i would disassemble the pc as far as possible and gently dry as many components as possible with a hair dryer (cool) or blower, then leave for another few days to dry completely before assembling and turning on, it all depends how much water got in, if the hdd is unharmed (dry) just plug it into another pc to recover your data.

 

[Venomous]

strip the PC into parts.

Place on absorbent paper, dishcloths or towels. Leave to dry for about 2 days. Give the items a gentle shake (obviously not HDD) every now & then.

If you have a blower/compressor you can blow the items as you remove them to help speed up the drying. Then at least 24 & not 48 hours.

Remember rather wait a lil longer than too lil.

It is possible that all the parts survive if the PC was off.

 

[Venomous]

dont dry to turn on, i would disassemble the pc as far as possible and gently dry as many components as possible with a hair dryer, then leave for another few days before assembling and turning on, it all depends how much water got in.

:erm:

hairdryer???

Inland that causes faaaaar to much static.

A blower is a better option as it produces more air & no heat to create static.

 

[Fader4]

:erm:

hairdryer???

Inland that causes faaaaar to much static.

A blower is a better option as it produces more air & no heat to create static.

as a last resort with a cool setting, i have used it before with success in emergencies.

 

[satanboy]

So basically my question is what is the first thing that i should do? ...

contact your insurance company

 

[killadoob]

Take out the hdd, let it dry and flip the switch.

If it is an old pc just take out the hdd and flip the switch. If it breaks well new pc, if it works you still have the option of making it water damaged depending on the age of the pc obviously.

 

[SouthBit]

You want to make 100% sure that your HDD is dry before you attempt to power it up. By checking the exterior of the drive, such as the joins and labels/stickers etc, you should be able to get a good idea of whether water has entered through a breather hole or not. An important thing to check is the PCB when it comes to something like this. Depending on the brand and model of HDD, there might be a piece of padded foam between the PCB and drive itself. You'll need a hex bit (normally T10 size) to remove the PCB, whilst observing anti-static precautions. If the foam is damp or wet, or the area between the PCB and drive show any signs of dampness then be careful as you don't want to fry the drive's electronics.

 

[Pada]

I usually remove the water from PCB's with methylated spirits/pure alcohol. Please do not leave PCB's too long in it.

Other than displacing the water with alcohol, you can use uncooked rice to capture the moisture/water.

You can pretty much just follow the same steps as saving a water damaged cellphone: http://www.catalogs.com/info/electronics/how-to-save-a-wet-cell-phone.html