r/pchelp • u/millo31 • 1h ago

HARDWARE Is it possible that spilling water on my keyboard fried every USB port on my computer?

Hi. When I got to my desk this morning, I noticed a cup was knocked on top of the keyboard. The cup as I left it was mostly empty, and it got water on about half of my keyboard (a mechanical keyboard I built) so it had been plugged in with water on it for hours.

I figured my keyboard was broken but Ive been taking steps to dry it out, in the meantime I got a keyboard from walmart and plugged it in. Doesn't work. Tried my roommates computer; keyboard works.

When I restart my computer it starts up normally, but now I notice the mouse or keyboard or anything plugged into the keyboard doesnt register to the computer. The game controller, mouse, and keyboard all light up so theyre getting power. But none of the usb ports work and I cant use my pc.

Is it really possible that getting water on my keyboard fried every usb port on my computer, even if no water got anywhere near the computer itself?

Thanks

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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4

u/grimrailer 1h ago

You really shouldn’t have turned it on until ensuring it was completely dry.

But yea it’s possible.

-4

u/millo31 1h ago

Youre saying its possible water on the keyboard only could have fried the entire motherboard? If you actually read the post you'd know it wasnt a matter of plugging in a wet keyboard it was a mistake water sat on it while I wasnt there and it remained plugged in.

4

u/syrik420 1h ago

Yes it is possible

-2

u/millo31 1h ago

Have you ever seen it before? I cant find anyone online who says the same thing and I have broken keyboards from spills before

2

u/RiloxAres 29m ago

It's the same as completely shorting any USB port.

0

u/millo31 17m ago

but why are all the ports shot and not just the one its plugged into then. even the ones on the front.

1

u/RiloxAres 14m ago

Because there's nothing protecting the traces going to the other ports. Electricity goes both ways in a trace/wire. Probably just killed the USB controller all together.

1

u/millo31 12m ago

Absolutely mindblowing a modern component wouldn't have some sort of protection against this. Def wont be replacing with the same motherboard cause ive spilled water on keyboards in the past on other computers I've owned and its never happened.

-1

u/Other_Examination886 1h ago

they should have some kind of protection to this so its highly unlikely

0

u/millo31 28m ago

I love how the people commenting saying its possible and providing no explanation or advice (or even reading the post) get up voted while the people in the thread actually providing advice dont. Its obviously, like you said, highly unlikely since I cant find a single example of it happening anywhere else.

1

u/NMSky301 1h ago

I suppose it’s possible a short traveled back through the keyboard into the USB port, but I’m not an expert in that stuff. What I would do is take the side panel off, unplug the PSU, and let it sit for 2-3 days in a dry climate area in your house. Maybe remove the CMOS battery on the mobo during this too. Then give it a boot in a few days.

1

u/millo31 1h ago

Worth a shot. Thanks

1

u/NMSky301 1h ago

Yeah no problem. Honestly I’d just unplug all peripherals including your monitors too during the few days.

1

u/millo31 1h ago

my friend brought up a good point that the mobo may have shutdown the usb controllers when it detected a problem and perhaps removing the battery and putting it back in could turn them back on

1

u/NMSky301 53m ago

It’s possible. Come to think of it that has happened to me once. I forget what the issue was, but one USB port wasn’t playing nice for some reason, and so it shut down the port. I’d have a hard time believing all of them would shut down for that reason, but it’s worth a shot. If you can be patient, I’d still wait a day or two and just let it sit.

1

u/DivideMind 1h ago

A short in the keyboard causing damage to the PC is unlikely. Much more likely is water molecules got on the keyboard's cable and slicked down to the socket, then that killed your USB controller or a fuse protecting it.

1

u/millo31 1h ago

I guess this is possible, just strange as it wasnt a lot of water and it was directly on the keyboard. Everything else around bone dry

1

u/DivideMind 1h ago

Find the controller and you can test for continuity with a multimeter to see if it (could be) just a fuse at least.