witch Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 A lovely teacher apparently poured juice over her laptop during half-term. She proudly told me that she didnt switch it off but just tipped it up to drain the juice out - but it just went off by itself. It has just been handed to me - it is perfectly dry now - has been on the radiator for days (not a hot one!). What should I be looking for and/or cleaning before I try and power it up? I have opened it up and it isn't sticky or anything anywhere that I can see?
X-13 Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 (edited) What should I be looking for and/or cleaning before I try and power it up? Look for electrical burns and blown capacitors on the motherboard? Also, look at the internal connectors [if there are any, it's been a while since I've cracked a laptop open] and make sure nothing has gotten into them. Le EDIT: Also, check the screws... The teacher may have opened it up to let it dry out better and inadvertantly disconnected something/made it worse. [i've had a few do that...] Edited February 25, 2013 by X-13
ICTDirect_Dave Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 A lovely teacher apparently poured juice over her laptop during half-term. She proudly told me that she didnt switch it off but just tipped it up to drain the juice out - but it just went off by itself. It has just been handed to me - it is perfectly dry now - has been on the radiator for days (not a hot one!). What should I be looking for and/or cleaning before I try and power it up? I have opened it up and it isn't sticky or anything anywhere that I can see? You checked everything I'd suggested pretty much (and mastered keyboard replacement in the process) let me know if it's worked or if I have to start looking for something suitably horrible to replace it with
andrew_91090 Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 This has happened to me once, a teacher spilt coffee on hers, I took it completely apart and checked it over from top to bottom, made sure of no burnt electrics and made sure the AC port is completely dry.
witch Posted February 25, 2013 Author Posted February 25, 2013 I checked the motherboard in the end too - being a test engineer I was quite comfy with capacitors and the like. Nothing to see So I powered it up... The battery charging light comes on but the machine won't switch on. I don't think she deserves a new one...the hard drive cover is missing and there are screws missing from the back. There is a missing key, and the whole thing has paint splashes on it. So I think I do want something suitably horrible to replace it with. Are you sure you havent any old T60s lying about the place, ICTDirect_Dave ?
ICTDirect_Dave Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 I checked the motherboard in the end too - being a test engineer I was quite comfy with capacitors and the like. Nothing to see So I powered it up... The battery charging light comes on but the machine won't switch on. I don't think she deserves a new one...the hard drive cover is missing and there are screws missing from the back. There is a missing key, and the whole thing has paint splashes on it. So I think I do want something suitably horrible to replace it with. Are you sure you havent any old T60s lying about the place, ICTDirect_Dave ? No T60s but I do have a couple of X60s in stock. Similar spec to the T60, just smaller (I'm not sure your teacher deserves a full size laptop anymore!) I'll PM you the price.
witch Posted February 25, 2013 Author Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks but she needs a DVD drive for use in class unfortunately.
mac_shinobi Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 What make n model laptop ? Lenovos here now and when ya get lights but no screen we generally disconnect all power sources ie battery and mains. Take the laptop apart enough to get access to the cmos battery to disconnect that for a min and re-connect and put back together and put battery n mains back in and power on again generally this will normally power cycle a few times etc and the screen comes back on at which point we can put date/ time and sata mode back to the correct settings etc. as the mains n battery weren't disconnected asap after the spillage ...... Obviously could of done more damage then you can physically see appologies for grammer etc 1
mac_shinobi Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 She didn't give it enough juice ba dum tish !! grab my coat n runs !! 1
jmak Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 The battery charging light comes on but the machine won't switch on. Last time I saw this symptom (albeit not related to liquid damage afaik) it was faulty memory. Could it be worth checking/cleaning the chips and the contacts?
tech_guy Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 I checked the motherboard in the end too - being a test engineer I was quite comfy with capacitors and the like. Nothing to see So I powered it up... The battery charging light comes on but the machine won't switch on. I don't think she deserves a new one...the hard drive cover is missing and there are screws missing from the back. There is a missing key, and the whole thing has paint splashes on it. So I think I do want something suitably horrible to replace it with. Are you sure you havent any old T60s lying about the place, ICTDirect_Dave ? I think she's possibly deserving of the edu-etch-a-sketch?
witch Posted February 25, 2013 Author Posted February 25, 2013 Last time I saw this symptom (albeit not related to liquid damage afaik) it was faulty memory. Could it be worth checking/cleaning the chips and the contacts? I did do that but I could change the memory just in case. It turns out that the paint is actually nail varnish- for goodness sake!!
andrew_91090 Posted February 25, 2013 Posted February 25, 2013 It turns out that the paint is actually nail varnish- for goodness sake!! I feel your pain, I really do, I used to hate it when people weren't treating their IT equipment with respect and just expect us to fix it and not to be blamed, but this story just keeps getting worse and worse
witch Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 I have done everything recommended and still nothing. I have a T60 at home so I swapped out the memory just in case but it made no difference. Still can't see anything - have cleaned all contacts but they look fine. The only evidence of damage is a very sticky hard drive. Any other ideas gratefully received - I would LOVE to give her back her own damaged machine!!
mac_shinobi Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 (edited) If you remove the hard drive and optical drive etc can you power it on with battery only or without the battery and with mains only ? Not sure on the older models of Lenovo but I know on some of them the power button is apart of the keyboard so if the keyboard is knackered from all the liquid, if you try a different keyboard from the same model of laptop and see if that helps ? Otherwise I would guess the motherboards had it and needs replacing. Edited February 27, 2013 by mac_shinobi
witch Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 I've taken out everything removable and still no joy. No spare keyboard to use to test unfortunately. I could take my own off my laptop and use that but I am reluctant to. I have had a look at the battery contacts and they seem fine. (The battery itself is definitely OK). If the contacts were damaged, it would still work on the mains? or not? It doesn't
X-13 Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 I have done everything recommended and still nothing. I have a T60 at home so I swapped out the memory just in case but it made no difference. Still can't see anything - have cleaned all contacts but they look fine. The only evidence of damage is a very sticky hard drive. Any other ideas gratefully received - I would LOVE to give her back her own damaged machine!! Take EVERYTHING that can be removed, and stick it in your laptop [Or vice versa.] Then try to turn the one with all the bits on. It could be that the motherboard is damaged, in which case it's [iIRC] cheaper to just replace it.
TonyJM Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 (edited) Hi Witch... I spotted this post and can empathise - most amusing... but equally sad :S I had a Sony Vaio and my 2 year old daughter tipped half a pint of milk in the keyboard and didnt tell anyone. An hour later when I picked it up there was milk pouring out of the memory cover underneath. Obviously no chance of it turning on - however about a week later it suddenly started working again and the only damage was some keys not working - one new keyboard later and presto... unfortunately sounds like you aren't so lucky. (advert removed) Edited February 27, 2013 by witch
witch Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 Take EVERYTHING that can be removed, and stick it in your laptop [Or vice versa.] Then try to turn the one with all the bits on. It could be that the motherboard is damaged, in which case it's [iIRC] cheaper to just replace it. I've tried the hard drive and nothing. I just keep hoping it will work in a minute - I have heard of so many like @TonyJM which are OK after a liquid spill
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now