Diary of a rescue and Coke down to the last crack: How many soft drinks can an aged gaming PC take?

Sometimes unusual situations require unusual solutions. In the circle of relatives there was a momentous accident. A glass of a certain brand of cola had tipped over and the broth ran straight from the desk into the perforated PC case. Igor’s LAB rushed to the rescue and tried to save what could be saved.

When I receive calls for help from the family, I’m usually on my way before the phone call is even over. It’s different with PC problems, because often you hang yourself there – for nothing and again – for hours on completely banal problems. Usually, such requests are about printers that are at least 10 years old or other antiquated devices for which compatible drivers have not been available for years or which have simply given up the ghost after an eternally long service life. And as a thank you, you might later get the ever-popular saying “since you were on there…” – just thinking about it makes my jugular swell.

When the question reached me just in time for the weekend whether I could have a look at the PC, it already dawned on me that I could not wriggle out of the number. I owed the gentleman at least one favor, and considering the rather modern device, I had only expected one or two toolbars and some malware. Error description by the owner: The PC sometimes (…) does not boot up and always hangs after a short period of operation. Well, let’s just take a look at that.

 

Error analysis

Arriving at the much too small desk, I found the following situation: From the point of view of a contemporary system. B350 board, Ryzen 5 1600 – well cooled, 16GB RAM, a GTX 1060 6GB, an SSD for the system + an HDD for data, powered by a Corsair PSU. For the older gentleman, who actually only looks at the gas prices and plays some solitaire, actually complete overkill. I had purchased this system for him some time ago in the near vicinity at an incredibly low price, when his notebook had quit the service “for reasons…”. Somehow it was a pity that the PC had to lead a shadowy existence on the floor next to the much too small desk and was only switched on for such menial tasks.

Power button pressed, monitor turned on immediately. POST Screen. After a good minute it was clear: nothing more was happening. No reaction to keystrokes, NUM lock could not be switched anymore, which almost always means “total crash”. A press of the remainder button to try again. Short POST screen, then suddenly the Windows loading icon and after a very tough login screen actually the desktop. Okay, maybe it’s just the Windows installation that’s broken? When trying to open the task manager but directly again Freeze. Nothing works anymore. Meh, maybe something is defective after all. Time to pull the box out from under the desk. The view through the dusty window already suggested that a small cleaning action would be necessary here. But overheating shouldn’t really be a problem with this giant debris of a cooler, even despite nasty contamination. At least not without load directly after booting.

When I then saw the PC in the light, I was almost struck! What’s that siff in there? “Yes, umm.. there used to be a little cola in there.” What?! And you’re just telling me this now? “Yes, but then it ran again for a few weeks after drying!” oh man.. PC disconnected from power, packed and off home with it. It will probably be a longer action after all.

 

Inventory and disassembly

As we all know, pictures say more than 1000 words. Thank God, then I was speechless for the first time. You could already guess from the back that the PC wasn’t even taken out from under the desk after the shower. Neatly wiped around it.

Due to the filthy side panel, I had already guessed what fatal proportions this action would take.

Yes, the Sharkoon case in question is “open” at the top.. Oh dear!

Here you can already see that the broth dripped directly onto the PCI-Express slot and left a really bad sticky crust there. I’ll probably never forget the sound when I “broke” the Molex connector from the graphics card.

Why the CPU fan is installed the wrong way around will probably remain a mystery forever.

Besides the usual dustiness of a poorly maintained PC,..

completely encrusted cola residues came to light. Isn’t that gorgeous how the sheet metal of the case was used as a rain cola gutter?

The residents had probably abandoned their property because of the flood, there was no one to be found.

I’m not sure if that’s mold or corrosion there on the components, but it can’t be healthy.

The sticky broth got into the smallest crevice. Pulling off all the plugs became a real feat of strength, and again and again this sound as if you were breaking thin glass.

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