Hello,
While flushing my water loop last night, I made a careless error that caused some of my residual Mayhem Pastel Coolant (along with distilled water) to splatter on my board. It landed on and around the DIMM slots to the left of my CPU socket, and dripped down to the first PCI-e x16 slot. It might have trickled further.
The board was not plugged in, but the CMOS battery was in. I removed the battery and have taken the following precautions:
- I removed the board and blotted all visible coolant with a lint free cloth and q-tips.
- I used my DataVac (high powered air blower) to dry what I could as well as push non-visible coolant from underneath parts of the PCB that are inaccessible (i.e. Underneath the DIMM slots, PCI-e slots and southbridge heatsink)
- I soaked up any coolant that blew from underneath the aforementioned places.
- I performed the same cursory cleaning to all components, such as RAM and GPU.
My question is whether there is anything else that I should do aside from waiting a few days to ensure that all parts are dry. I have researched and posted on other forums, and the most common recommendation is to use 90-99% isopropyl alcohol to lift stubborn coolant. Some have even advised saturating the board to a slow drip with the alcohol, and then waiting for everything to dry.
What steps should I take to minimize the potential of a short-out when I power on the board? Have I taken enough precautions? Mayhem's Pastel contains nano particles that are non-conductive... unless they come into contact with dust, which is a possibility.
Any suggestions/info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Carson
