Water Damage

[g4cytheclown]

Yesterday, I spilled a miniscule amount of water on my laptop. It was turned upside at the time to aid in cooling and the water landed right on top of where the power switch would be. I turned it off immediately and took it apart to see if I could dry most of the water. I let it sit a few hours near the heat vent and tried to boot it up and nothing happened; just the LED light indicating it's plugged in. Slowly but surely, over the course of a day, it seems to be getting closer and closer to booting up fully. Now, when I press the power button, it lights up and I hear the fans try to move for a second, and then it just sits there idle - lights on, but nothing happening. Is this a good sign? Or is it fried? Wishful thinking tells me that if it were fried, it wouldn't seem to be progressing. Is this correct?

 

[dodgyx666]

You should have left it to dry out on a radiator for a couple of days before keep switching it on, highly likely now you have short circuited something on the board, which means you'll be buying a new laptop. No it's not a good sign if it powers on and nothing starts mate.

 

[chugot9218]

You have to make sure any electronics are ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY dry before you try turning them on . If you manage to shut it down without damage you are lucky, but the second you hit that power switch while it is still wet anywhere on the board, it can short and fry something on the board. One surefire solution is to place the affected electronics in a bag of dry rice which helps draw the moisture out of the internals. At this point you likely fried something important, and without warranty you are looking at diagnostic/repair services, and it may be cheaper to just buy something new . Sorry to break the bad news! Someone else on here may have some troubleshooting steps you could try....

 

[bucknutty]

At this point you have nothing to loose from tryin to dry it more. I would leave it on the heater or in the sun for a few days.

Many times the wet spot is on a circut board, or under a chip, shorting something, Once it dries the short is removed and the computer works again.

Some times that short damages the board, some times the short is of such low voltage it does no damage at all.

I would remove the battery and ac adpater and let it dry for a few days.

 

[smorizio]

also the laptop may be stuck in a reset mode. see if there a keystroke or a jumper to short to reset the laptop. most of these on switches are electronic. most time pulling the ac power and battery and a few keystroke may reset the laptop.

 

[g4cytheclown]

Update:

So, after all this time of it not working, I turned it on. It worked for a little, but then the screen went black with the fans running. I turned it on again, but it did the same thing. Eventually, it wouldn't even go on. It just ran the fans and stayed dark. I removed the battery and just used the AC adapter and it worked for a bit, but the same thing happened.

I just tried it again a few minutes ago and it turns on with just the battery as long as the adaptor isn't plugged into it.

This all seems random. Sometimes it works with only the adaptor, sometimes only the battery, sometimes not at all. Any ideas?

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

You are just NOT listening are you to all the GOOD advice above...

I will tell you the same thing we tell all our customers who bring in a liquid damaged laptop to my shops...

Open laptop, turn it upside down into a >> A << shape, then put it in the airing cupboard or on a radiator FOR A MINIMUM OF 48 HOURS....

DO NOT TRY IT UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS....

Although I suspect you have blown the motherboard already...

Claim on your household Insurance IF SO....

All the best Brett