This why you leak test boys and girls

A mother board and a graphics card I'm now scared to use. No performance loss before I shut it down. A wonderful burning smell though.

5 weeks in. We shall see what Swiftech warranty support is like.

Any one have any idea if this is safe to use?

6 Likes

What damage has been done is already done.

Let it dry completely (a few days), try to boot. run some tests.

That gpu and slot are probably unusable though. And you may want to make sure there are no shorts.

1 Like

I'll be honest, I read the title and thought, "Someone must be buying some cheap diapers."

But yeah, that looks bad. That slot is probably no good. That area is where all the 12v and 3.3v power lines are which is why the corrosion and heat damage is so bad. :(

2 Likes

that is brutal

best of luck

If you are very careful, patient, and lucky you will be able to use the gpu after you separate and clean the contacts assuming there were no shorts on the GPU board.
As for the slot I would try to separate and clean the contacts then never use the slot again. Might as well desolder it off the board if you are brave enough to do that.

If you manage to clean up the GPU enough you could test it in a scrap computer and see if it will work.
If you don't want to go through all of that or you deem the parts irreparable then you should just replace them.

I recommend replacing the damaged parts if you are financially able to do so, just for piece of mind.

Looks like it got hot enough to melt the solder in that area, GPU probably won't work again.

Try this to clean off the cauterized liquid.

3 Likes

This is why I have even been afraid to use closed loop water coolers for the cpu. :S Just when I was entertaining the idea I see this thread. I currently have an air cooler that needs a back plate and I hate dealing with taking it all apart and putting it back together and thought **** it and sell the cooler and put the money towards a closer loop water cooler for the cpu but ....

1 Like

What model is that water cooler?

Mine questions are more what fluid was it, what was the loop and how did it fall to left corner of CPU block?

As the damage, clean gpu, clean slot and use another slot in the future. Good luck on the RMA, hope it was defect of product, as they need to cover it, had happen with a friend with a acrylic top that cracked (Raijintek).

The reason I'm a strong believer in air cooling, best of luck with the warranty

5 Likes

Funny enough, everything was still working as of shutdown. I'm replacing the board, but the Fury X I really want to save.

Thanks.

Look into Corsair's AIOs. It's what I replaced it with. I've read that they use a non-conductive fluid and that they tend to cover components they damage as a result of their defects.

Swiftech H240 X2

I would call it a defect. They don't need to cover my damaged components as they specifically disclaim responsibility for that.

However I will probably look into what consumer protections might be able to do for me.

Whatever Swiftech fills their AIOs with.

The loop was just how the stock H240 X2 is configured. IT leaked out of one of the 360 degree swivel connects on the CPU Block, ran down the Northbridge heatsink. pooled onto the GPU, and spread across the top PCI-E slot.

It only shorted out and damaged the x1 section of the slot because that is where most if not all of the wattage runs through if I'm not mistaken.

2 Likes

PC boards are very low voltage, high amps
https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Electronics_Water_Damage
Don't know if this vid will help but it looked cool

Air cooling ftw lol... A 212 Evo is 30 bucks and gives you peace of mind and amazing bang for the buck. Anything more than that get a custom loop, even then.. i'd rather have an evo. no maintaining no worries will be good for 8 years of use. forever if you replace fans...

1 Like

Did you make any progress? I think you might be able to use the gpu if you clean the contacts up enough so that they look like contacts and not a solder blob.
I have a few ideas as of how to do it but using chemicals (electrical contact cleaner) is probably the safest way.

If the contacts are damaged you might be able to solder a ribbon cable between the gpu and a m/m pci adapter. It would be a huge pain in the ass but you might be able to use that card again.

If all else fails and you can't figure out some way to get it working you could ship it to me and I could give it a go, but if you reach that point I probably won't be able to get it working either.

Good luck!

I always select my components using a cost vs. benefits ratio.

Air cooling cost me about $60, I get a 4.5 Ghz overclock and it is 100% safe.
Water cooling would cost hundred$, I might get 5 more FPS with a better o/c and I would always be worried about leaks.

If you have to have the best of the best of the best, by all means use water cooling.
If you want to be economical, stick with air.

I'm just gonna go check and see if all my fittings are tight, for no particular reason..

a year without leaks but I'm gonna have nightmares now

Thanks, but if I'm going to ship anywhere, it'll probably to this guy, or some real professional place that can fill silicon and solder the leaves back on.

Definitely won't go for the ribbon cable, seems like a solid enough idea but I'd really like this to work again without a Macgyver'ed solution. If you look close you can see one of the pci-e contacts is burnt clean off, another is loosened off and crooked.

What you can't really see in the photos is that on the contact that is about a millimetre of silicon is vaporized and you can see the copper of the PCB.

First electronics shop in town I've visited is just some old dude changing TV logic boards in the back of his house. Thus, the search a real electronics technician goes on...

This is why I don't trust water cooling. And until someone comes up with an unbreakable water cooler I won't bother. Sure those things look nice, but I'm not about to pay more for something that's by design less reliable than a simple air cooler. Modern CPU's don't produce too much heat anyway and overclocking doesn't matter as much these days as it used to. So with all things considered, water cooling is mostly useful only for the overclocking enthusiasts. As for everyone else, it's just a nice thing to look at. It's like the RGB craze. People just want it because it's been advertised as something that enthusiasts should have. And everybody wants to feel like an enthusiast.

Has been running a custom loop cooling solution for 5 months

clicks on this topic and looks around

Grabs a flashlight and inspects all of my fittings

Thanks for freaking me out on a beautiful Sunday. :(

This is one of the reasons I prefer air cooling. I also prefer it for aesthetics (I'm weird like that i guess), it lasts forever, Is quieter (pumps hum guys...), and high end is very similar performance wise to aio cooling.

Now, I'm not bashing water cooling, to each their own, but this looks bad... you may be able to salvage if you are careful and follow some of the suggestions already posted, but I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch if i were you.