Alcohol and PC = a great idea

[scoop]

Evening Freddies

I cleverly spilt a glass of alcohol over my PC a few weeks back. It shut off pretty quick. Quicker than i could reach to turn it off . No bangs or burning smells.

As i purchased it from Dell, they said that if i sent it to them they could assess if anything was still alive and give me replacement parts at largely discounted prices (£350 for a replacement 2080 TI for example). The crap(?) thing is that the parts are used. I didn't realise that they would be. Perhaps not an issue

Before i sent them my PC, i decided to test the hard drives (once dried) to delete my pr0n etc. They fired up fine with no issues.

When they sent the report back, they literally said that everything needed replacing, including the hard drives. They even said that the case needed changing too so i assume they don't bother to clean anything up and just replace it. This causes me to not trust what they said. It makes me wonder if they just tried to power it up and said ah its dead, and didn't test parts individually. Or saw dried liquid marks and classed the parts as dead regardless. I did query this but got a message that they test everything blah blah. Funny how the hard drives are dead though eh.

My question: How likely do you think it will be that the major components are all damaged? I don't know if this is a standard layout but the PSU is at the top of the PC and got the brunt of the liquid. I did see traces of liquid all over but i'm not sure if the PSU cut off before it touched anything else.

It cost £40 for me to send it to them and to have it sent back. So if i had it sent back to test it myself, it would cost me another £40 to do so... But i'm just wondering if it's pointless.

p.s. Please dont cuss me too hard for buying a pre-build and especially a pre-build Alienware

 

[MYstIC G]

Difficult to know, liquid inside electronics is a bad mix.

Personally, not specific to your machine, I'd be loathed to trust any PSU that had been exposed to liquids

 

[Moriath]

Depends where you spilt it. If it went like inside the case from the top chances are the mobo might be shorting somewhere at least. And it may have gotten in the psu and killed that.

really anything it went on could be compromised. Even if it spun up now doesnt mean it wont have issues because of it going forward. Also the reason you buy pre builds is so they replace things if stuff breaks. I guess this was your fault but depending on the cost and if the parts they put in are witha. Guarantee even if they are refurbished i would go with it.

 

[Syri]

The PSU is actually one of the worst areas for a spillage to hit, as it can result in higher voltage shooting out on wires it shouldn't go through, and can pretty much fry anything. I would say that it's unlikely to be the case though, as the hard drives work. It's possible that just cleaning it with a circuit board friendly cleaner may be enough (I use WD40 contact cleaner but there are several that are safe to use on circuit boards), though I'd probably replace the PSU to be on the safe side.

As for what Dell have said, they will really try to load things up if they get any accidental damage or spillages, especially if they pick up that someone might not be that technical, but even if they are, they will try to argue ridiculous points just to try to get more cash out of you. I've cleaned up laptops that have had spillages and some just need a quick clean up and they're fine, even the keyboard; others need half a dozen or so parts. Spillages are unpredictable, and sometimes damage only shows up later down the line if you try to do a specific thing, or put it under a certain load, so they may be going over the top as well rather than take the chance of other parts failing later on.

 

[Moriath]

The PSU is actually one of the worst areas for a spillage to hit, as it can result in higher voltage shooting out on wires it shouldn't go through, and can pretty much fry anything. I would say that it's unlikely to be the case though, as the hard drives work. It's possible that just cleaning it with a circuit board friendly cleaner may be enough (I use WD40 contact cleaner but there are several that are safe to use on circuit boards), though I'd probably replace the PSU to be on the safe side.

As for what Dell have said, they will really try to load things up if they get any accidental damage or spillages, especially if they pick up that someone might not be that technical, but even if they are, they will try to argue ridiculous points just to try to get more cash out of you. I've cleaned up laptops that have had spillages and some just need a quick clean up and they're fine, even the keyboard; others need half a dozen or so parts. Spillages are unpredictable, and sometimes damage only shows up later down the line if you try to do a specific thing, or put it under a certain load, so they may be going over the top as well rather than take the chance of other parts failing later on.

And without getting it back and getting it assessed by someone who knows what they are doing you can only take their word for it. And the assessor may agree with them. So swings and roundabouts i guess

 

[scoop]

Difficult to know, liquid inside electronics is a bad mix.

Personally, not specific to your machine, I'd be loathed to trust any PSU that had been exposed to liquids

Yeah I feel the same. I don' t plan to reuse the PSU. I am assuming that it is definitely dead / compromised.

Also the reason you buy pre builds is so they replace things if stuff breaks. I guess this was your fault but depending on the cost and if the parts they put in are witha. Guarantee even if they are refurbished i would go with it.

If only i'd spent an extra £10 for accidental damage too :d Yes they're guaranteed for the duration of my PC guarantee (2 years) so pretty good i suppose.

The PSU is actually one of the worst areas for a spillage to hit, as it can result in higher voltage shooting out on wires it shouldn't go through, and can pretty much fry anything. I would say that it's unlikely to be the case though, as the hard drives work. It's possible that just cleaning it with a circuit board friendly cleaner may be enough (I use WD40 contact cleaner but there are several that are safe to use on circuit boards), though I'd probably replace the PSU to be on the safe side.

As for what Dell have said, they will really try to load things up if they get any accidental damage or spillages, especially if they pick up that someone might not be that technical, but even if they are, they will try to argue ridiculous points just to try to get more cash out of you. I've cleaned up laptops that have had spillages and some just need a quick clean up and they're fine, even the keyboard; others need half a dozen or so parts. Spillages are unpredictable, and sometimes damage only shows up later down the line if you try to do a specific thing, or put it under a certain load, so they may be going over the top as well rather than take the chance of other parts failing later on.

Quite interesting about the voltage shooting out point. Someone else said that but as you say, the hard drives survived so perhaps it didnt get to fire anything out. I agree on the Dell points too. They do seem as though they're potentially being over cautious but i guess it depends if i want to risk it.

And without getting it back and getting it assessed by someone who knows what they are doing you can only take their word for it. And the assessor may agree with them. So swings and roundabouts i guess

One of those win win lose lose win lose win decisions :/

Paying for them to repair seems to safest easiest option. Although i can potentially save a lot if i get it back and test parts individually. But that puts me at risk of having parts fail later on.

Cheers all

 

[Ctuchik]

There's a pretty big chance that they haven't even looked at your PC. They probably saw the report and just assumed it was a total write off.

Personally i wouldn't trust them, especially since they want to give you second hand equipment as a replacement. I mean, what?!

But that puts me at risk of having parts fail later on.

You're getting used parts as replacements (that doesn't have much of a warranty to begin with i'm assuming). You're basically just picking your poison here. :/

 

[Scouse]

Personally i wouldn't trust them, especially since they want to give you second hand equipment as a replacement. I mean, what?!
You're getting used parts as replacements (that doesn't have much of a warranty to begin with i'm assuming). You're basically just picking your poison here. :/

I don't think offering to help out a donkey who spilt beer all over his PC with cheap refurb parts is actually a horrible thing to do.

They could have just said "no, dickhead, you bought then broke it" - but they're at least trying to help out.

 

[scoop]

There's a pretty big chance that they haven't even looked at your PC. They probably saw the report and just assumed it was a total write off.

Personally i wouldn't trust them, especially since they want to give you second hand equipment as a replacement. I mean, what?!




You're getting used parts as replacements (that doesn't have much of a warranty to begin with i'm assuming). You're basically just picking your poison here. :/

To be fair, as i didnt take out accidental damage with them, discounted used spares is a nicer option but nowt. But like you i dont fully trust them.

I tink the parts will be covered under my warranty with them - around two years or so.

I don't think offering to help out a donkey who spilt beer all over his PC with cheap refurb parts is actually a horrible thing to do.

They could have just said "no, dickhead, you bought then broke it" - but they're at least trying to help out.

Harsh bro, harsh ;'( ..but THE TRUTH BE HARSH SO BRING IT