Coffee spilled on laptop on the train...

shnaek

So I get on the train for the first time in two years. I end up sitting on my own in a four seater and I take out my laptop. Then this girl gets on, with a coffee, and sits opposite me. I catch sight of the coffee and wonder should I move my laptop, but surely I am over reacting. No. She knocks over the coffee within 10 seconds of putting it down, and it spills over the back of my laptop.

Luckily a woman across from me has a cloth and I wipe up the coffee. The laptop works for the duration of the journey so I am thinking - no harm done. But on Monday it stops working.

Gutted.

The laptop is an m1710, and at the moment it is showing red lines on startup, then white lines, then it blacks out when it get's to the logon screen. I can start it in safe mode, and from searches I have done on line I have found that it is probably a problem with the graphics card. I am assuming it's no coincidence that coffee was spilled and within a couple of days I am getting these problems, so what I am looking at is probably a hardware issue, right?

So I am thinking - should I open up the machine and try to 'clean' the graphics card (assuming there's congealed coffee on it)? Or have you guys any suggestions as to what I might try?

I have disabled the graphics card for now, and it runs in vga mode.

Cheers

DanGlee

Hmmm...

No bit expert, but had trouble with a Dell M1330 Graphics chip (Dunno about your model, when you say card, is it a card or just a chip?)

As for the coffee, I'd say its well and truly dried in by now!

In my own case (nothing spilt on it) but I got a few lines like you say and it was the first sign that the chip was on its way out. After a little while the chip was fried and I needed a new mobo (cos it was all built in)

I'd say its probably going to have to be replaced. Tis a shame it was turned on when it was spilt because if it wasn't my first advice would be not to turn it on for about a week or so to get it dry naturally, without power running through it!

Hope you get it sorted. And just to let you know, a new mobo from ebay for the M1330 was €200 :eek:

shnaek

DanGlee wrote: »

Hmmm...

No bit expert, but had trouble with a Dell M1330 Graphics chip (Dunno about your model, when you say card, is it a card or just a chip?)

As for the coffee, I'd say its well and truly dried in by now!

In my own case (nothing spilt on it) but I got a few lines like you say and it was the first sign that the chip was on its way out. After a little while the chip was fried and I needed a new mobo (cos it was all built in)

I'd say its probably going to have to be replaced. Tis a shame it was turned on when it was spilt because if it wasn't my first advice would be not to turn it on for about a week or so to get it dry naturally, without power running through it!

Hope you get it sorted. And just to let you know, a new mobo from ebay for the M1330 was €200 :eek:

Jebus!

Yeah, from what I am reading I should have switched it off straight away. Too late now.

It is (was) using an Nvidia GeForce Go 7900GTX card.

BrotherGrim

OPtions:

1. See if your system is listed here: http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/09/12/nvidia-gpu-update-limited-warranty-enhancement-details.aspx

2. Cost a replacement with Dell

3. If all else fails (not something I'd recommend unless you know what your doing but...) you could buy a new card & fit it yourself (http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19245221.aspx, http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1710/en/SM/video.htm#wp1006368)

If you do go near the card & try to clean it, be bl**dy careful
Remove all batterys, read the service manual before you start & have a copy handy while you work & make sure you use the correct cleaning liquids.

DanGlee

Is this the one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/nVidia-GeForce-7900GTX-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-2xDVI-512MB_W0QQitemZ110498324959QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW?hash=item19ba36a1df#ht_500wt_975

Seems very big for a lappy?

I'd defo get it replaced yourself, otherwise it will cost you stupid money! Most people know somebody with the computer skills to do it. Its not rocket science, but you need to know enough about computers (and patience) to get by without breaking it further!

shnaek

BrotherGrim wrote: »

OPtions:

1. See if your system is listed here: http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/09/12/nvidia-gpu-update-limited-warranty-enhancement-details.aspx

2. Cost a replacement with Dell

3. If all else fails (not something I'd recommend unless you know what your doing but...) you could buy a new card & fit it yourself (http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19245221.aspx, http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1710/en/SM/video.htm#wp1006368)

If you do go near the card & try to clean it, be bl**dy careful
Remove all batterys, read the service manual before you start & have a copy handy while you work & make sure you use the correct cleaning liquids.

Thanks for that - really helpful. I'll get on to Dell this evening and see what they have to say. My machine wasn't listed on that page.
Cheers.

shnaek

DanGlee wrote: »

Is this the one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/nVidia-GeForce-7900GTX-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-2xDVI-512MB_W0QQitemZ110498324959QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW?hash=item19ba36a1df#ht_500wt_975

Seems very big for a lappy?

I'd defo get it replaced yourself, otherwise it will cost you stupid money! Most people know somebody with the computer skills to do it. Its not rocket science, but you need to know enough about computers (and patience) to get by without breaking it further!

I wish it was that one! 40quid! Grand But it isn't.

Cuddlesworth

Get a can of isopropanol alcohol. Strip the laptop and clean the motherboard and any electrical connectors which shows signs of Coffey or could have come into contact with it, with the spray.

Leave it to dry out, reassemble and test it. But as said above, that model card is prone to failure and it could be a coincidence.

patchrick

You could try opening the laptop and cleaning it alright. Its a tricky process and to be honest if you are not EXTREMELY careful you may not have a working laptop when you put it back together!

That said, here's a few tips...

1. Try and find a guide online to show you what the process of taking the laptop apart should be like e.g. http://ahwee.com/how-to-disassemble-laptop-dell-xps-m1530. dismantling laptop can be harder to figure out than Chinese puzzle boxes so you need all the help you can get.
2. Avoid the "leftover screws syndrome" by using an ice cube tray to store screws as you take them out. Use the individual ice cube compartments to store screws for each stage of the dismantling and just work backwards when putting everything back together again.

HTH,
Patrick

shnaek

Thanks for all the tips -much appreciated. It could be a coincidence, but I have the laptop three and a half years, and coffee is spilled on it a couple of days before it stops working -it'd be a BIG coincidence!

Snowbat

Google brings up numerous problems with the 7900 card in the m1710. Your problem may be entirely unrelated to the coffee incident.

From the first page...
Geforce Go 7900 GTX is fried and my Dell XPS M1710 is out of ...
VGA MODE in a XPS M1710 with Geforce Go 7900 GS : DELL, XPS, M1710 ...
useless 2-yr old ($2500) Dell xps M1710 with a fried NVIDIA ...
Death of a gaming laptop XPS M1710
XPS M1710 Serious Problem black screen won ... ... When I start up ...

BrotherGrim

shnaek wrote: »

Thanks for all the tips -much appreciated. It could be a coincidence, but I have the laptop three and a half years, and coffee is spilled on it a couple of days before it stops working -it'd be a BIG coincidence!

You just go to Dell & say you spilt coffee on your laptop then :P

Cuddlesworth

shnaek wrote: »

Thanks for all the tips -much appreciated. It could be a coincidence, but I have the laptop three and a half years, and coffee is spilled on it a couple of days before it stops working -it'd be a BIG coincidence!

I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was a possibility. Its about the right time for failure on those gfx chips.

Overheal

Snowbat wrote: »

Google brings up numerous problems with the 7900 card in the m1710. Your problem may be entirely unrelated to the coffee incident.

From the first page...
Geforce Go 7900 GTX is fried and my Dell XPS M1710 is out of ...
VGA MODE in a XPS M1710 with Geforce Go 7900 GS : DELL, XPS, M1710 ...
useless 2-yr old ($2500) Dell xps M1710 with a fried NVIDIA ...
Death of a gaming laptop XPS M1710
XPS M1710 Serious Problem black screen won ... ... When I start up ...

As soon as a Dell Technician discovers moisture, coffee or creamer inside of that laptop, they arent going to honor Anything.

Taking apart the laptop voids the warranty also. Theres a little bead somewhere in HP Pavillions that drops out of place when its been tampered with. Im sure plenty other companies have plenty other measures to show youve been inside of your chassis. All of which can void your warranty.

You can attempt getting warranty work, but your chances are pretty good of getting absolutely screwed in some way or form.

ressem

Taking apart the laptop voids the warranty also.

No. Dell are usually OK about you opening the laptop. They provide full service manuals for free for most laptops.

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1330/en/index.htm

It's running correctly in safe mode so any chance that the cooling assembly has been damaged?

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1330/en/sm/cpucool.htm#wp1084976
This document doesn't refer to the GPU, but looking at the diagram I'm guessing that it's connected to the same heat pipe that runs to a cooling fan.
Is the fan still working?

---

My Mistake: Links were to the M1330 instead of the M1710.
Should have been...
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1710/en/SM/index.htm

And there is a link to the video card.
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1710/en/SM/video.htm#wp1006368

It looks like it sits pretty high on the computer, just under the keyboard, so I wouldn't have though that it would be coffee stained. So point stands about checking that the fans are working, after that perhaps it might be worth cleaning the heat sinks at the air intake point.

Of course with those laptop nVidias, the failure might be permanent if it has overheated.

Snowbat

Tom's Guide pulled one apart

Pic taken from the rear of the machine. Nvidia daughter card is under the large metal rectangle with heat pipes (it has it's own heat pipe and fan on the left *and* a heat pipe going to the duct of the CPU/Northbridge fan on the right).