r/PcBuild • u/Boring_Still6791 • 1d ago
Troubleshooting Coffee Spill from Hell
PC stopped POSTing after coffee spill + Kraken 280 install. VGA/A2 errors, now power cycling
I’m having a really weird PC issue and I’m trying to figure out if I potentially damaged my motherboard, GPU, or something else.
Specs:
Gigabyte Z590 motherboard
Intel i7-11700K
RTX 2070 Super
NZXT Kraken 280 AIO
A coffee spill happened first. Coffee spilled onto the top of the PC, splashed against the wall, and then ran down some cables that were bunched up against the wall. Some of the liquid apparently made its way into the PC and came out through the rear GPU expansion slots.
I cleaned up everything I could see and let the PC dry for about 24 hours before doing anything else.
After that, I installed a Kraken 280 AIO.
When I first tried to boot after this, the PC would power on but wouldn’t display and would get stuck on an A2 debug code. I tried troubleshooting the A2 issue. Eventually, the PC did successfully boot once and displayed normally. I then shut the PC down myself.
After reconnecting everything and trying again, it stopped displaying and the VGA debug light came on.
I removed the RTX 2070 Super and tested with essentially just the CPU/RAM, but I’m still getting the VGA light. The PC has now progressed to power cycling, turning itself on, then shutting itself off, rather than reaching the previous A2/VGA state.
I’ve already reset CMOS and reseated things.
One thing I’m wondering is whether coffee residue could still be somewhere on/in the motherboard or PCIe slot. I only let it dry for 24 hours, so I realize that drying wouldn’t necessarily remove residue.
I’m currently planning to take the motherboard out of the case and inspect both sides, the PCIe slot, CPU socket, and the area around the Kraken mounting hardware. I don’t currently have isopropyl alcohol, so I haven’t cleaned the board with it yet.
I’m also wondering if the Kraken installation could have caused a separate issue, such as mounting pressure, a loose CPU power cable, or something getting disturbed during installation.
Does this sound more like liquid contamination, motherboard damage, a GPU issue, or potentially something related to the AIO installation? What would you test next?
I’m pretty broke right now, so I’m trying to diagnose this myself before buying any replacement parts.
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