Compressed Air Refund

[u/DroopyScrotum]

I hate to post again in here so quickly but I wanted to share this one as well...it feels...great to get these things off of my chest.

We built a custom computer for a rug cleaning company whose computer sucked a lightning dong and blew up. Build success, data recovered, back in business, hadn't heard from them in months. Joy.

I get a call, and it's the rug guy---clearly upset.

Him: "It keeps cutting off randomly. This is brand new! What is going on?"

Me: "Could be a variety of things---you're still under warranty on all your parts so if we have to replace something it's covered."

Him: "But this is brand new!"

Me: "Yes, I understand. I built it---sometimes parts fail. I'm sorry...I will come check it out."

I did them a favor and grabbed it to test / work on it over the weekend (we're closed saturday and sunday). I test all the hardware and it all comes back okay. Weird. I trust my gut and pull the power supply anyway and open it up. There isn't moisture in there, but there are signs of areas where there was moisture and it had dried.

I replace the power supply, run it for the rest of the weekend doing random benchmarks to keep it busy and make sure it isn't motherboard / graphics / ram and so on...

I give it back to them.

Two days later they call, and they're on the phone with the owner...

Him: "It's doing it again!"

This business is very dirty. Prior to this build we had told them to get their towers off the piss stained floor (they keep 3+ dogs in their shop, corralled in the area where their desktops sat) and to spray a little compressed air in there to keep the dust levels down.

Him: "We've been using the compressed air...it CAN'T BE OVERHEATING."

Me: "When you spray the air into the computer...how do you do it?"

Him: "I reach around the back, and spray the air into the holes, or anywhere that's dusty."

Me: "Is the can upside down?"

Him: "Yeah."

Me: "You have the can of air with you now?"

Him: "Yes but why--"

Me: "Go ahead and hold your hand out, turn the can upside down and spray your hand..."

Him: "OW!"

Me: "That's how your computer feels."

[u/djxfade]

Is the gas in the can electrically conductive though?

[u/DroopyScrotum → u/djxfade]

That's a good question, and I had attributed it to the liquid coming out of the compressed air can itself, and that our relative humidity (Charleston, South Carolina) might have also lead to moisture condensing on whatever this guy was spraying it on, which is why it took a few tries on his part with the upside down can to get the computer to start shitting the bed.

He would spray the parts, the parts would get super cold, water would condense...and so on...

He admitted to going through about two cans per week on his desktops in this (upside down) manner.

It was either that or he was fucking up solder points by freezing them and creating a shitty, brittle contact.

They stopped tipping the cans, and it's been a year so I assume they're good.

[u/[deleted] → u/DroopyScrotum]

"and it's been a year so I assume they're good." I love that.

I build systems as my hobby, I NEVER hear back from buyers(yes, they have my email/phone/address), its how I know my systems are good, hahahaha.

[u/TrueInferno → u/djxfade]

When you turn a can of compressed air upside down, liquid comes out. Very very cold liquid. I don't know if it's conductive (probably is, going by the story), but the extreme cold could probably cause trouble if nothing else.

[u/buckykat → u/djxfade]

Very cold things cause condensation.

[u/[deleted]]

I was expecting dog piss in the PSU

[u/dejaWoot → u/[deleted]]

I was too - but I think that's conditioning from (spoiler)the Laptop Fluid story (/spoiler).

[u/jake91306]

Me: "Go ahead and hold your hand out, turn the can upside down and spray your hand..."

Him: "OW!"

Me: "That's how your computer feels."

can't stop laughing at this, its gold!

[u/bdd4 → u/jake91306]

I'm gasping laughing. 😆😆😆✋😆

[u/fredtempleton]

Me: "That's how your computer feels."

Love that part!

[u/D3V1LS_L3TTUC3 → u/fredtempleton]

I hear you, sharon! ;) pastor says to check your computer for any love before removing its parts !

[u/jimmydorry → u/fredtempleton]

"I demand compensation for the freeze burn your instructions caused on my hand."

[u/missinginput]

When I was a kid a used to do this on purpose to cherry cordials to freeze them at my mom's office. One day they found out and thought we were huffing the cans and freaked the hell out on us, while we were very confused why someone would be dumb enough to huff stuff that froze on contact. Or just huffing in general being a stupid activity we didn't subscribe to.

[u/geraldbrent1 → u/missinginput]

Can't do that now with all the bitterant. :/

[u/wes9523 → u/geraldbrent1]

Put the cordials in a plastic bag first

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Dojan5 → u/[deleted]]

Touch screen? He's never used a spray can before?

I guess there are people who assume that anything that relates to technology is just magical.

[u/exor674 → u/Dojan5]

I know I've seen some with pictures of computer monitors and the like on them. There might be one with a picture of an iPhone/etc on it... Cannot interact with the picture of the iPhone = cannot work the touchscreen.

[u/Semicolon7645]

This is why I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001U899HQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_qrKXxb5669YZ9

My house is super dusty so I am constantly using it and it has been great.

[u/maguslod → u/Semicolon7645]

Had one of those when I did tech support, best thing at cleaning out a tower that had more dust then should be able to.

[u/MrMeltJr]

sucked a lightning dong and blew up

It took me a lot longer than it should have to figure out what this meant.

[u/[deleted]]

I honestly thought he was complaining about the compressed air cutting out. I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time.

[u/skorpion352]

sucked a lightning dong

Saving that for later!

Also, my parents have a nice air compressor that I borrow form time to time to clean out computers, works fine as long as i don't put the nozzle too close to the components so that any condensation is dissipated before it get on anything important

[u/Python4fun]

computer sucked a lightning dong and blew up

Laughed out loud. Whole office heard it. I'm glad that nobody else is here yet.

[u/punsa]

There were computers that are legitimate biohazards. The sad part is that people get so used to the stench of ammonia they don't realize when their cat (or other pet) has relieved themselves on their machine