The temperatures outside are high and many gamers quickly resort to cooling down. But you should put your glass of water or the open cola far away from your gaming PC.
It’s getting hotter and hotter outside and people are sweating in the high temperatures and hardware in particular can’t take it at all. At the moment you should definitely leave your switch at home in the summer heat.
Many gamers try to cool down with water or another drink. However, you should be extremely careful when using it near your gaming PC or game console. Because even a simple glass of water can be absolutely deadly for your hardware.
Water and electronics just don’t mix
Why is liquid a problem? Conventional tap water or sparkling water contains small particles, so-called ions, which often come from salt. You cannot see them with your eyes. These ions ensure that the water becomes conductive (via lenntech.de). Pure water does not occur naturally in this way, since ions from salts are often dissolved in the water in nature (via wassertechnik.pro).
These particles also cause the short circuit in your device when your cell phone takes a bath or you pour a glass of mineral water over your computer. An exception is distilled water.
If you have not only poured water, but even cola or juice over your hardware, there will be other problems. Because there is sugar in juice and cola, which then deposits on the hardware and can damage solder joints or damage sensitive conductors.
What else can happen? If you have submerged your gaming PC or individual components and things should still work, then you should still be careful.
Because water can cause annoying consequential damage. Liquid can have penetrated and caused corrosion on the circuit board. So there is rust. Maybe your PC will work again at that moment, but in the worst case it’s only a matter of time before it finally says goodbye.
Also important: If you pour your drink over your cell phone, console or gaming PC, the guarantee or warranty will normally expire. An exception is if you have taken out additional insurance for your device against water damage, which some sellers offer with the purchase of new hardware.
Does your cell phone get hot when you play with it? Then we have the right tips for you here:
Mobile phone gets hot while gaming – 7 tips on what you can do about it
Keep water and other refreshments away from your hardware
When the temperature is high, it is understandable that you want to cool off and drink a cold beer or a glass of water on the PC. But don’t put an open glass on your desk, where in the worst case it can tip over. Then it’s better to walk a few steps and refresh yourself instead of risking property damage of several hundred or even thousands of euros.
A user on reddit has now shown how annoying this can be (via reddit.com). He accidentally poured a glass of water over his PC. Accordingly, the computer switched itself off immediately.
He still hopes that his hardware will survive the water attack, but many users tell him that his graphics card is very likely to be dead and that in the worst case he will have to buy a new gaming PC. So take this as a warning and keep drinks away from your gaming PC and console.
Tips and tricks against the heat: If you want to cool your gaming PC in the summer and do without rabid means, then we have a few helpful tips for you. This allows you to keep your PC cool even in summer and prevent your hardware from overheating. You can read the entire article here on MeinMMO:
8 tips to keep your gaming PC cool and faster in summer