HELP High humidity causes failure to boot + quick fix.

[Gone_Troppo]

Hello Everyone,
This is a bit of a weird one for you.

I'm currently trying to get to the bottom of an issue where high relative humidity causes my PC to not start up.
Hopefully someone here might have run into this before and may be able to shed some light on the situation.

Sorry this first post is going to be a long one.
I will try to keep it short yet detailed as possible there is also a potential quick fix at the end of this mega post.

Firstly here are the build specs, details to follow.

MOBO: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
CPU: Intel i7 3970X @ stock 3.5 ghz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
RAM: 32 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133mhz c9 (4 x 8 Gb)
GFX: ASUS GTX Titan (Nvidia)
PSU: Corsair AX1200i (1200W)
HDD: 512 Gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD (OS)
HDD: 1 Tb Western Digital VelociRaptor (Storage)
DVD: Pioneer Blu-Ray burner
CASE: Corsair Obsidian 800D
OS: Win 7 Pro 64 bit
MONITOR: Samsung 50 inch plasma @ 1920 x 1080

OK my PC has been running just fine for the past few months, the first time this happened was a few weeks ago after it had rained overnight and I tried to switch the PC on in the morning, there was simply no response when I pressed the power button on the front of the case, yes I tried it several times.

At first I thought the worst, That it had suffered the same fate as my last PC ... Death by Lightning Strike.

However I noticed that the mouse light and motherboard lights were still on and working,
So I tried switching it off at the power supply, and unplugging it from the wall socket before plugging it back in and trying again, It still did not boot.

As the PC is still under warranty from the store that it was purchased from I packed it up and took it in to them so they could have a look and see if they could find the fault. I thought that the front power button had probably failed or developed a fault.

The guys in the PC store had their tech's look at it and they re-seated the ram to fix the problem.
Apparently they had 5 PC's come into the store on the same day with the same issue and re-seating the ram fixed them all.
They claimed that it was due to the rapid increase in humidity caused by the first decent rains this wet season and if it should happen again I should re-seat the ram myself rather than bringing the PC into the store and that I would not void the warranty.

When I got the PC home again everything was working as it should, except the clock was now 15 hours slow, easy enough to rectify, reset the time.

I was very doubtful that humidity would cause such a thing to happen.
I have lived here in the tropical north of Australia for long time (10 + years in this house) and have always had an uncovered 6 foot fish tank in this room,
humidity is always high in here, as is the temperature most of the year round, generally in the 32*C - 34*C range.
No Air conditioner only ceiling fans, and my previous PC's have all been located in exactly the same place on my desk.

I have never had any other PC or electrical appliance have this issue, nor have I heard of anyone else having such an issue caused by humidity, had a fair look around on google and could not really find any credibility to this theory / explanation.

It was 9 days later before it happened again, exactly the same symptoms as the first time, rain overnight PC wont start in the morning.

So this time I re-seated the ram myself, PC still would not switch on.
Next I re-seated the GFX card, PC still would not switch on.
Then I pressed the bios button on the motherboard, PC still would not switch on.
So I pressed the bios button on the motherboard again to return to primary bios, PC still would not switch on.
Next I tried the reset cmos button, PC still would not switch on.
I removed the front panel from the case and tried operating the tiny power micro switch manually with a thin bamboo stick, PC still would not switch on.

So I decided I would try something a little different and outside the square so to speak,
I lied to my PC to make it think it had taken a trip into the PC store.
I removed all the external cables USB/KB/mouse/sound/HDMI including the PSU from the supply and left it all unplugged for about an hour maybe an hour and a half, about long enough for the PC to have been taken back into the store anyway.

Then I plugged everything back in again and what do you know, It worked, the PC started when the power switch was pressed the first time .... as you would expect it to.

The clock was out of wack again the date was still correct, but I figured this was simply because I had pressed the cmos reset.

This is where I started to think that there may be some credibility to the whole humidity being the root cause of the issue.
So I went and had a look at our local weather bureau readings. (www.bom.gov.au)

Relative humidity was highest at 96% at 6 am on this morning.
Relative humidity @ 84% at 8 am when I tried to first boot the PC.
Relative humidity @ 72 % at 9 am which was about when I last tried to boot it after clearing off the desk re-seating the RAM etc. ( still not working unplugged everything )
Relative humidity @ 64 % at 10 am, down to 54 % at 10:30 am, which is about when I plugged the thing back in and it just worked without any issues.

Today ( 11 days later ) it happens again, exactly the same as the 2 previous occasions, lights are on but nobody's home.
Only this time I figured I would first rule out the front power switch being the problem before I tried anything else.

So I removed the power switch header from the motherboard and shorted the 2 pins with a flat head screw driver, this did not work.
I thought maybe the screw driver was not conductive enough so I stripped a piece of copper cable and used bare copper wire to short the 2 pins, still the PC did not boot.
I reconnected the power switch header.
I then also tried the Start button on the motherboard, this too did not work, the PC would not boot even though it clearly still had power running through it, ( USB mouse still lit up, motherboard lights on).

I have one last ace up my sleeve to try and rule out that it was the high relative humidity,
before I go re-seating everything again or taking it back into the store for another warranty job.

I hit it with the missus's hair drier increasing the ambient air temperature thereby reducing the relative humidity.

I only had to run the hair drier for about 1 minute on the lowest possible heat/fan setting blowing warmish air all around the internals of case and moving the warm air flow back and forth all over the motherboard while intermittently pressing the front power switch every 5 seconds or so before the PC decided that it would boot normally.

I did not re-seat any components.

Yet once again the clock was out of wack ( correct date, but 3 hours slow ) this time there was no reason for it to be so.
This makes me think now ( just a theory ) that possibly the humidity is creating a moisture film between the cmos battery and its contacts which is why the time is out of wack, I just can not think of another explanation at this point.

Basically it would appear that the quick fix is to warm the ambient air temp with a hair drier and reset the clock.

I don't like it because, hair driers like vacuum cleaners are notorious for creating nasty static and should never be used on a PC.
I know a couple of people who have claimed to have killed their PC's by being lazy and vacuuming them out instead of getting / buying a can of air to blow them out, only to find that they never ever booted again afterwards.

I am looking for a better solution if anyone knows of one.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help !

Until then I will have to just keep carefully hitting it with a hair drier every time it rains overnight when it wont boot in the morning ...
who knows, maybe this will even help someone else get their naughty misbehaving PC up and running again.

USE OF THIS QUICK FIX IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!

[akshayv]

I had a special shoe need for my mom's diabetic feet. I was able to remove the innersoles and replace them with the ones from the podiatrist. Orthofeet the only shoes I could find that would provide support and allow for the straps to still wrap around over the thicker innersole. I still had to take them to the shoe repairman to have the Velcro moved, but he was able to customize them for a more secure fit. Great shoe for this particular need.

[Gone_Troppo]

Well now, there is a suggestion I hadn't thought of ... nice one !

I have not dabbled in the dark arts of sub-zero cooling.
I will see what info I can find on the subject from the dark recesses of the inter-webs.
Undoubtedly there is some stray info lying around here some where too.

I will add it to the list of possible practical solutions, thanks.
Liquid Electrical Tape ... on the list ... check.

What is this ASUSVIP business ... Arbitrary award for the longest posts or something ?
Only shows up in the avatar part of the most recent post I make.
I'm not saying remove it or anything ... makes me feel like the prechassss. lol:D
Join the Dark Side we have cookies.

I can not possibly be the only person to have ever run into this phenomenon in the history of computing,
the odds against it must be astronomical.

C-3PO: But Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1.
Han Solo: Never tell me the odds.
R2-D2: beep bleep beep bleep
C-3PO: R2 says that the chances of survival are 725 to 1.
Actually R2 has been known to make mistakes... from time to time...

Ever felt a bit like this ? ^ ^ ^ ... right now ... I do.

[Zka17]

For most people the high relative humidity becomes a reality at sub-zero cooling- when condensation is very likely to occur... at those conditions insulation of the motherboard is mandatory... and there the condensation is much more significant than in your case - hence the idea to use the Liquid Electrical Tape... you don't need the closed cell foams and paper towels, just the Liquid Electrical Tape...

It is Liquid and you can use a brush to apply on the mobo where it will solidify - hermetically insulating everything below it... it is very easy to remove it and the mobo remains clean after it...

[Gone_Troppo]

I do not know how to thank you Zka17.
Words just don't seem to be enough to express the sentiment, though that is all I have right now.
You Sir, need say no more here, at least for the time being.
You have put a whole array of new solutions right in front of me with the liquid electrical tape idea.
You have just helped me more than you may ever know.
No longer shall I need run in circles around this problem.

You have given me a new direction.

BTW don't say that too fast ... or ... it will sound ... like this ... newdirection, newdirection, newdirection.
Let that bring a smile to your face every time you hear someone say "a new direction". 😄

Thank you to everyone who has contributed a response in this thread.
I will update you all with the results when they happen.

My next mission is to seal that troublesome CMOS battery to the board ...
With something easily removed in case a replacement is required in the future,
and it doesn't necessarily have to be Liquid Electrical Tape either.

If anyone from ASUS R&D is looking ... innovate this ^ solution into your boards ... please.
You're Welcome ... Just don't forget to give Zka17 a big fat cheque with a whole bunch of zero's on it.

[Zka17]

Please, do keep us in loop about how things evolve...

BTW, that ASUS VIP thing gonna be a new feature of the Forum - right now is a work in progress...

[Saligan]

I have also the same problem with the same mother board. I live in a country where humidity is high almost all day. I have to turn on my air conditioner and after 5 minutes or so, PC will boot up. Also, the internal clock also stops when this happen. I am now used to it -- been about a year. My routine is:

1. Turn AC
2. Walk the dog.
3. Turn PC
4. Reset PC clock using "Internet Time" in "Change Clock and Time Settings"
5. Start using PC.
6. (optional) - if ambient temperature is around 25 degrees centigrade, turn off AC.

PC is very stable once it is running. I notice this this happens two hours or so after shutting down the PC.

[jheyar]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but im also having the same problems with my RIVE but may i see how you applied the liquid electrical tape? I have been at this problem for days now, we have almost similar build and my RIVE is failing on me just like what you had describe. Now, i wanted to try your solution but i dont know where to start putting the liquid electrical tape. Any tips? or a picture maybe? thatd be great 😄 please help the hair dryer is really scary cause it might give off some nasty static =(

[Ntwlf]

Hi ALL,

This thread is much older than I have been a member here. I have some experience in electronics repair, particularly the older stuff.

From reading the entire thread I have gathered the issue revolves around the CMOS coin battery making connection with the contacts within its holder on the motherboard.

My suggestion would be to start with a new replacement CMOS battery, apply some light oil lubricant to the whole outside of the battery, only need to apply a thin film of oil, and install/replace the CMOS coin battery on the motherboard. Of course you will have to check/reset all your BIOS settings and reset the clock.

The idea here is oil repels moisture and stops corrosion, thus humidity can not cause problems where the oil is applied.

Here's a couple of lubricants that will work...

http://comingsoon.radioshack.com/radioshack-control-contact-cleaner-and-lubricant/6400148.html

http://www.3inone.com/products/multi-purpose/

Even Baby Oil will work, as it is nothing more than Mineral Oil mixed with a little fragrance. Mineral oil has been used to totally submerge motherboards for extreme cooling/silent solutions...look here > https://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

[Jim49]

Still a problem Feb 2024 in North Queensland, Australia.  Whenever the weather is humid (every day for the last couple of months), my computer won't start until I "blow in its ear" 😉.  I use a hot air gun (similar to a hair dryer) to blow warm air through a vent in the side of the computer. Blow for a couple of minutes, let it sit for a couple more then it starts.  My guess is - there is a component that absorbs moisture.  

I'm reminded of a story I heard about Apple phones that stopped working in a hospital MRI department. All other brands continued to work. Some helium leaked from the MRI machine - not enough to be dangerous to staff but it was thought to be the cause of the problem. Somehow, someone came up with the following theory - Helium is a very small atom - one of the smallest. The Apple phones had an oscillator in a plastic case and helium was a able to permeate the case. This caused it to change frequency, much like a person's voice changes if they breathe in helium from a balloon. The helium is lighter than normal air and the vocal cords vibrate faster and the voice becomes higher pitched. With helium around the oscillator, it changes frequency and puts the phones out of acton.  All the other phones had oscillators that were absolutely sealed. An amazing theory but sound plausible to me. Hydrogen is an even smaller atom. NASA has problems with hydrogen fuel leaking from welded metal tanks. It is VERY dificult to contain.

Back to computers. I'm wondering if there is a component that can absorb some moisture and get out of spec. I'm going to have a look at the Liquid Electrical Tape. Sounds interesting..