Water + Comps = Non-Exploding Comps?

[OulOat]

I work in a SUN lab with about 20 workstations and 2 printers for the Engineering department. The lab is in the basement of the schools library. All these electronics are plugged into outlets that a sunken in holes beneath the floor.

Now, the other day, I went to plug in my Tablet PC and I noticed that all the holes were filled with water. The workstations were all working flawlessly, and even the internet worked (ethernet connecters were submerged also). Printers work fine also. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that the phone line was dead (Phone connecter was under the water too).

This brings me to my question. We were always taught that electronics + H2O = you go byebye. Then WTF was going in that lab?!?!

 

[amdskip]

The connectors must all be somewhat water tight or not in the water. Why the heck is there water in the basement anyways?

 

[Mingon]

water (h20) is not in itself a problem, when it gets other particles in it, then it becomes a problem. Sea water for example is OK for between 12-17 volts (but corrosion then becomes a problem)

 

[fredtam]

Are you sure it wasn't Fluorinert? You can also use pure mineral oil and a few other things.

 

[OulOat]

Well, I'm assuming it's water because a) it was never there before, b) it was raining earlier. I'm guessing they didn't do a very good job sealing the hubs when they made the lab. I know that H20 doesn't conduct electricity, but the water coming out of the ground ain't pure. The connectors were all submerged, and there were free ones (why else would I go plug in my Tablet).

The thing that perplexes me the most (besides why the comps were working) is why the comps were working fine while the phone was dead (old school phone, doesn't have a power cable).

 

[dkozloski]

Reasonably fresh water is a pretty good insulator. We used pure distilled water as a coolant in a fire control radar that applied several thousand volts to the water.