Ask HN: My Toddler Micturated on My PC, How Do I Save It? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: My Toddler Micturated on My PC, How Do I Save It?

17 pointsthrowawayhalp12 comments

So to my toddler's credit it was not on purpose and she isn't even aware of the situation. We are potty training and there was an accident on the floor above where my computer was. A leak happened around an air vent and the liquid dripped all over my PC which was thankfully unplugged while being serviced on the bench in the basement.

So I think the parts are OK, they just have a little urine on them. How do I clean these parts?

A bit got onto my power supply as well. I am not keen to open that thing and try to clean it. Should I just trash it for safety reasons?

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You have the option of using distilled water or 90%/98% rubbing alcohol, both of which should be available easily (eg at Target), to rinse some components if you are sure there is no more charge. For a modern PSU this should be like 30 about of not-plugged-in-time. You may want to take things apart as much as possible to allow better drying.

The rubbing alcohol will dry sooner. You should try to do this in your garage or a very well vented area, if possible.

Conveniently, rubbing alcohol will also neutralize most smells from urine.

> For a modern PSU this should be like 30 about of not-plugged-in-time.

30 minutes/hours/days? Probably not days, but i am still not sure whether you meant minutes or hours.

Don't open the power supply, even unplugged there are caps in there that can be dangerous.

I'd trash the power supply, since a short can damage other more expensive components. I'd clean the case and case fans with warm water and lint-free paper towel then let them air dry thoroughly.

Furthermore, I'd wait for any circuit boards to dry completely from urine, try to blow off as much urine residue as possible with air pressure (e.g., Disposable Gas Duster), then try to dry-rub as much of the remaining with high quality shop towel and Q-Tips. You can use a tiny amount of distilled water on the towel to increase transfer, but less is more (talking droplets, or the stuff from your breath, not saturated).

If you run it while wet, it may fry things, if you run it after it dries it is more likely to just smell really terrible for a while.

Not related, but some many years ago, i designed my own Arduino boards, had the PCBs made in China, soldered all the parts myself. One evening, my cat was pissed with me and he peed in the box. Total loss. A few days ago i had to put him down. I miss that tiny bastard very much...

Isopropyl alcohol, as high a concentration as you can find. Before reassembly make sure the alcohol is fully evaporated. For the power supply if it doesnt stink after you clean the outside off and doesnt short out if you turn it on, do you really need to clean the interior?

Appreciate the advice! I will just get a new power supply and then clean the rest with the suggested 98% rubbing alcohol.

Mr Lebowski is responsible for all micturations in this fair city. Send him an invoice for repairs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TCgeaNfcw-w

Possibly a dumb suggestion: Remove the PSU and let it sit in a Ziplock filled with rice?

  >My Toddler Micturated on My PC...

That's a bit of a pisser.

I was bracing for the Pee-C jokes!

Pee-C is not memory safe. Pee-Rust is the future. /s

Even with thorough cleaning, I suspect rust in the future is more or less a certainty.

P.S. Note to self: hazard risk to my computers from my daughter is not limited to fingers. Oh dear.

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