> Dumb question: wouldn't non-conductive liquids be harmless?

Mostly yes, except for things like concentrated sulfuric acid which is highly corrosive but a bad conductor.

I guess I won't be liquid cooling my setup with concentrated sulfuric acid then

This is definitely the next "Cooling Adventures with Alex" video on Linus Tech Tips.

Well, the device can't make heat if the device no longer exists I guess...

Wise.

Agree: bad conductor - https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/153107/why-doe...

I'll keep that in mind.

Somewhere, a YouTube content creator scribbles Macbook Pro in concentrated sulphuric acid.

(And I'd probably watch it).

As long as we get a Steve Mould cross-section made from 3D printed parts, I’m on board!

NileRed for HN, paging NileRed for a video about non conductive liquids in USBC PD

NileRed: I turned this MacBook Pro into Cotton Candy!

At least bigstackD can recover the aluminum afterward.

Is Codys Lab ok?

Sure, this is the same principle of, eg, the mineral oil cooled PC: https://www.pugetsystems.com/mineral-oil-pc/

Also some companies like 3M actually make a collection of liquids specifically for immersion cooling in data centres, so it's mature enough that people are happy to use it even in a data centre setting.

I wonder if any of those coolant varieties survived the recent jihad against fluorochemicals. AFAIK 3M is out of the business entirely at this point.

Very mature, going back to at least 1985 in the Cray-2.

Non-conductive liquids still might be corrosive, or might provide enough thermal insulation to cause heat build-up, or might leave some kind of residue that would be problematic, or...

Or dissolve plastics and rubber, maybe delaminate circuit boards, destroy any tape and glue...

Would depend on the nature of the liquids. A harmless liquid can still damage the plastic or be toxic for the owner.

But you would need to make sure that the pins still contact though.