Mysterious water in monitor screen.

June 29, 2020 2:43 PM

My wife's newish 27" computer monitor today, all of a sudden, has water behind the glass screen. How can we get it out? Images: https://imgur.com/a/lnLL2Zg

We've had a hot air blower pointed at it for about 1 hour to no effect.
We're fairly sure we haven't dropped any water on it. There was a little bit of moisture along its bottom edge. Today was a rainy day, and she stores it on a bench near a window but the bench and window themselves are dry. It seems like it might be condensation?
People online seem to recommend rice, but we don't have enough to do the trick.

posted by signal to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Here's what I did a few years ago and it worked: I got a plastic storage bin, a shallow-ish one about 9 inches deep, a heating pad and a giant bag of rice. I put the bin on top of the heating pad. I filled the bin to about 6" depth with the rice. I gently laid the monitor face down atop the rice and loosely put the lid on the bin. You want to keep the rice out of any of the monitor's vents. I turned on the heating pad and set it to low and left it alone in my garage for 4-5 days. The heat helps the desiccant, the rice, absorb the moisture.

Putting it in a large contained with a dehumidifier works as well. You still need a heat source to help get the moisture into the air to be removed by the dehumidifier.
posted by bz at 4:25 PM on June 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

That is a ton of water. To be brutally honest, this may not be fixable.

First and foremost, though, turn it off and keep it off. bz's method is a thorough one that may be worth trying in your situation. Either way, you really are looking at days - not hours - before should try turning it on again. At the very least, make sure it's in a well-ventilated place with lots of airflow around it, and keep it warm but not hot - I've used the combination of a space heater and a fan for a waterlogged laptop. Using too-hot air for short periods can create its own problems.

Best of luck.
posted by ZaphodB at 4:32 PM on June 29, 2020 [4 favorites]

That's a lot of water. Maybe you have a child in the household who has poured some water inside?

It doesn't actually have to be buried in rice, just in an environment where the rice can absorb the moisture. Put it in a bin with the rice and any desiccant packets you have on hand, check packaging for clothing and food, you probably have some. You can warm these things to get the moisture out and put them back in with the monitor.

I don't have high hopes for your monitor but understand wanting to do everything you can before giving up. If your wife needs a monitor in the meantime, try asking around if anyone has an old one to use.
posted by yohko at 5:45 PM on June 29, 2020

That picture seems to show the iridescence of an extremely thin film of liquid trapped between two optically flat transparent sheets.

And it looks like it wicked up from the bottom by capillary action (note that the longer wavelength red is at the bottom, implying a thicker layer of water there).

I would say a very small amount of liquid splashed on the screen and then dripping down past the frame to the bottom edge would be enough to do this.

I would try to get the frame off and hope the sheet of plexiglass at the very front could be easily dismounted, because I think the water is directly under that sheet.

Take it off very gently if so because there will be a lot of suction, and then you might be able to clean the two surfaces very non-abrasively and put it back together.
posted by jamjam at 6:08 PM on June 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's not water, that's LCD delamination, and a warranty return.

Do not spend another minute worrying about it, and certainly not trying to fix it. It's a warranty return. If your "newish" monitor is already out of warranty, then I'm sorry ...

I'm sure the manufacturer had a bad batch and they taking it in the shorts right now.
posted by intermod at 6:37 PM on June 29, 2020 [26 favorites]

Oh yeah that's not normal and I don't see any reason to assume it's water, with all the films and other fluids in play. I'm no expert but would also figure you're looking at some kind of hardware problem, to start.
posted by Lady Li at 11:27 PM on June 29, 2020

That is too much water, that things not salvageable and is dangerous if plugged in. Get rid of it.
posted by james33 at 5:37 AM on June 30, 2020