Why is electronics fine when places under oil but not on water?

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So I’ve seen some videos before where they literally put entire pc builds in oil and some machines work under oil (although I forgot what machines are those)

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27 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Electronic components can work totally fine when submerged in specifically mineral oil. It’s often an option for cooling components that produce a ton of heat, since mineral oil does not conduct electricity like water does. Water also causes corrosion on electrical connections where mineral oil does not. Mineral oil is also used all throughout the electric grid to cool components. Those tin-can transformers you see on all the electric poles are all filled with mineral oil!

Anonymous 0 Comments

Related, the Cray 2 supercomputer ran in a tank full of freon, recommend you go find a video of it running on YouTube.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even pure water can be contaminated by electronics placed in it due to the various materials and metals. Some oils are excellent insulators. Most high voltage power transformers and various components used by utility companies are submerged in oil. It prevents arcing and acts as a coolant.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Water can conduct electricity. The whole point of electronics is very finely controlling where electricity can go, so introducing water ruins this.

Another problem is that when water evaporates it has minerals in it that is left behind, this can ruin circuits too. And even if the water is free of minerals, putting it on electronics can make it disolve some minerals and later deposit it on the circuit, except now in the different place and it ruins the circuit.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Water can conduct electricity. The whole point of electronics is very finely controlling where electricity can go, so introducing water ruins this.

Another problem is that when water evaporates it has minerals in it that is left behind, this can ruin circuits too. And even if the water is free of minerals, putting it on electronics can make it disolve some minerals and later deposit it on the circuit, except now in the different place and it ruins the circuit.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Related, the Cray 2 supercomputer ran in a tank full of freon, recommend you go find a video of it running on YouTube.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Even pure water can be contaminated by electronics placed in it due to the various materials and metals. Some oils are excellent insulators. Most high voltage power transformers and various components used by utility companies are submerged in oil. It prevents arcing and acts as a coolant.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Related, the Cray 2 supercomputer ran in a tank full of freon, recommend you go find a video of it running on YouTube.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because oil is an isolator just as air is, but water is not.

That being said, not all electronics are fine with being submerged in oil or any other liquid regardless of conductivity. Specifically there is problem with high frequency signals, oil has different dielectric constant than air so that can screw up impedance matching on sensitive signals.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because oil is an isolator just as air is, but water is not.

That being said, not all electronics are fine with being submerged in oil or any other liquid regardless of conductivity. Specifically there is problem with high frequency signals, oil has different dielectric constant than air so that can screw up impedance matching on sensitive signals.