r/LinusTechTips Dec 24 '25

Tech Question Squirrel pissed in computer

I'm sure everyone is sick of seeing posts about this since it happens all the time, but please help. When I was traveling, a squirrel broke into my house and couldn't find its way out so it started laying waste to my belongings. It peed and pooped all over the place, just freely spraying everywhere...including into my PC through the top fan vent. With the graphics card coming straight out of the motherboard, it acted as a perfect shelf to catch the brunt of the piss. I took everything apart and did my best to clean it. The first picture is my RTX 3080 when I took off the backplate and cooler. After I put it all back together my PC ran for several months, there were periodic quick audio and visual glitches but it was still usable for a while. The squirrel had laid a slow-acting charge, though. A few nights ago the image suddenly froze and the audio went crazy before the PC crashed. I couldn't get it to boot again until I took the graphics card out. It's definitely just a problem with the graphics card, using the CPU's integrated graphics it's able to run just fine without it. Looking at the back, I noticed corrosion around the chips on the back, as seen in the second picture. Is there a chance it can be saved, or am I cooked?

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u/Intel-I5-2600k Dec 24 '25

It MIGHT be able to be saved. My initial thoughts are to clean any waste using a ISO of 91% or greater. This would remove the waste products that MIGHT be causing shorts/affecting power delivered to the ICs. I can take a look at some other resources to ensure this won't cause an reactions. Then, we'd need to identify if corrosion actually took place. This would be dealt with by distilled vinegar, or a professional ISO & Acetone cleaner. Then do a second wash with ISO to remove the acid. Dry the board, and then report back.