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SPILLED LIQUIDS ON YOUR LAPTOP? DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TURN IT ON BEFORE READING THIS!

  • 17-09-2011 4:32pm
    #1
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Okay, this happens quite a lot so I figured i'd throw this up on the forum so people would see it and know how to react if it happens to them.

    1. Okay, if you spill any fluid on your laptop first thing is first. POWER OFF THE MACHINE IMMEDIATELY.
    Capt'n Midnight wrote:
    yank the plug out,

    turn laptop over so spill is lowest part and pull battery out


    2. Remove the power supply(ie plug), and battery immediately.

    3. Dry off the machine as much as possible. Get a cloth and wipe the machine down. If you can, open the machine as much as possible and dry the machine.

    4. Once the machine is as dry as you can get it. Place it in a hotpress for a WEEK. You read right. 1 whole week. Do not attempt to power it on. Leave it as open/disassembled as possible in a hotpress for a week.

    4a. If you want to be super cautious you could get a container to place the laptop in, and cover it in UNCOOKED rice. This will absorb the moisture.

    You can also use methylated spirits to clean the laptop if anything other than water was spilled. Use cotton buds to clean any effected areas. This is something i have never attempted myself, but i've read about it online.
    Tagged:


«1

Comments

  • #2
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 81,514 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    ...And in most cases, your warranty is fecked.


  • #3
    scudzilla
    Registered Users Posts: 11,908 ✭✭✭✭scudzilla


    Alanstrainor wrote: »
    4a. If you want to be super cautious you could get a container to place the laptop in, and cover it in rice. This will absorb the moisture.



    Make sure it's UNCOOKED rice!!!!!


  • #4
    westcoast1
    Registered Users Posts: 32 ✭westcoast1


    check your home insurance policy to see if it covers accidental damage :D


  • #5
    Antomus Prime
    Registered Users Posts: 2,463 ✭✭✭Antomus Prime


    The rice trick works a charm, i dropped my old iphone in the toilet a few months back (luckily i hadnt done my business) and left it overnight in a bowl of rice and it worked a charm :)


  • #6
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    scudzilla wrote: »
    Make sure it's UNCOOKED rice!!!!!

    Hahaha, i'll fix that now. I can just imagine some plonking their laptop in a bowl of this...
    570101.gif


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  • #7
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    1. Okay, if you spill any fluid on your laptop first thing is first. POWER OFF THE MACHINE IMMEDIATELY.

    2. Remove the power supply(ie plug), and battery as soon as possible.
    If it's anything more than a few drops I wouldn't waste time powering down the laptop.

    1 yank the plug out,

    2 turn laptop over so spill is lowest part and pull battery out



    use isopropyl alcohol instead of meths if you have it

    orientate the laptop so the liquid will flow away from the expensive bits

    usually this means turning the laptop upside down / turning on it's side with the spill side lower


  • #8
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Just so people know what is actually happening - water has salt in it, and salt conducts electricity, so if you are in a bath and the hair dryer falls in you get electrocuted. If it was distilled water (no salt) the current will not go through the water (don't try at home folks!)

    If you spill tap water on the laptop and it dries off it can leave traces of salt all over the circuits and these are just like wires connecting everything. If you turn on a laptop it might come on for a few seconds and then the internal checks might detect a short circuit and turn itself off again.

    Most alcohols should have no salts in them, methylated spirit does have some additives to give it the purple colour and off taste, not sure if these conduct but I prefer to wash with clear isopropanol. The alcohols also dry off quicker, but you could use distilled water to wash off salt.

    You can get distilled water in pharmacies and also the frosted ice you chip off the roof of your freezer is distilled water -I am not talking about ice cubes and if water spilled in your freezer it is contaminated. In the top of a freezer it is drawing moisture from the air and freezing it, so there will be no salt in it.

    I got a water damaged laptop the other day, there were dried out salt crystals connecting lots of pins near the hard drive.

    Another tip would be if there is important data on the hard drive remove it and dry it out and connect it to a USB caddy/enclosure and try and connect it to another PC to get the data off first. Then stick it back in the laptop and test it.


  • #9
    kenyDoIt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15 ✭kenyDoIt


    I'm a tec and if rubadub is looking can i use this on my web site, very well but and so so very right. if not I will just link to this

    very good work.


  • #10
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    kenyDoIt wrote: »
    I'm a tec and if rubadub is looking can i use this on my web site, very well but and so so very right. if not I will just link to this

    very good work.

    A reference back to your source would be nice:)


  • #11
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    kenyDoIt wrote: »
    I'm a tec and if rubadub is looking can i use this on my web site
    Yes, no problem. :)
    Alanstrainor wrote: »
    A reference back to your source would be nice:)
    +1


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  • #12
    lukasbolander
    Registered Users Posts: 74 ✭✭lukasbolander


    My cat got sick on my laptop but it still works.


  • #13
    le la rat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,072 ✭✭✭le la rat


    Nephew threw a bottle of hot choclate over miine. Rip laptop


  • #14
    stevek93
    Registered Users Posts: 3,088 ✭✭✭stevek93


    Dad split a glass of wine on his laptop last year completely destroyed stupid fecker tried to dry it of with a hair dryer and turned it on straight away. just happened he had it out tonight so i said ill plug it and see what happens it worked well for about 10mins and the screen went all fuzzy so tried a second monitor in it to see was it the screen was running for about an hour everything perfect so i noticed on the laptop screen while the second monitor was plugged in that the resolution was lower than normal unplugged the second monitor fixed the resolution and bang the screen went fuzzy again. So done the same again plugged in the second monitor and changed the resolution on the laptop screen to a lower setting working perfect now. What would cause this checked the bios and everything seems to be working perfect just when I change the resolution. :confused:


  • #15
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 81,514 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    What would cause this
    A glass of wine?


  • #16
    stevek93
    Registered Users Posts: 3,088 ✭✭✭stevek93


    Overheal wrote: »
    A glass of wine?

    Yes everything else seems to be working fine strange one me thinks, if its working in a lower resolution it should be fine in a higher resolution then. :confused:


  • #17
    MugMugs
    Registered Users Posts: 17,875 ✭✭✭✭MugMugs


    Left my laptop out in the rain last week. Was doing some study outside.

    Stuck it into the rice and left it for the week. Working fine now.

    Cheers folks :)


  • #18
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    MugMugs wrote: »
    Left my laptop out in the rain last week. Was doing some study outside.

    Stuck it into the rice and left it for the week. Working fine now.

    Cheers folks :)

    Great success:D


  • #19
    RUCKING FETARD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,455 ✭✭✭RUCKING FETARD


    How To Save A Wet Cell Phone Or Tablet
    Pure Alcohol: one last suggestion that has been proven to work is the use of pure alcohol. If the damage caused to your device by water is the result of basic physics then the submerging of the switched-off device into rubbing alcohol is a result of basic chemistry. The concept is simple: the alcohol will displace the water, and when your device is removed from the liquid the alcohol will evaporate. This is an extreme solution, but useful if the other fixes don’t work.


  • #20
    Duffy the Vampire Slayer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,378 ✭✭✭Duffy the Vampire Slayer


    I spilled water on my laptop and several of the keys are no longer working. Is there any chance that they will recover if I leave it to dry out or will they definitely have to be replaced?


  • #21
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »
    I spilled water on my laptop and several of the keys are no longer working. Is there any chance that they will recover if I leave it to dry out or will they definitely have to be replaced?
    small chance

    in general individual keys are not repairable, a replacement keyboard would be required

    it could be dirt / salt / sugar etc shorting or blocking a contact


    the golden rule is remove battery and power supply if there is any chance of liquid or dampness still being present or things will get worse


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  • #22
    Duffy the Vampire Slayer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,378 ✭✭✭Duffy the Vampire Slayer


    Roughly how much would a new samsung r530 keyboard cost to have fitted ?


  • #23
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »
    Roughly how much would a new samsung r530 keyboard cost to have fitted ?

    Don't know how much really, I'd imagine 80 quid. Is an easy enough DIY though.

    Have to admit, that I wouldn't bet on it being as simple as just replacing the keyboard, I bet the motherboard is stuffed. It's very hard to tell until you go replacing parts.

    It was a cheapish laptop when new, you'd have to seriously weigh up your options being honest.
    1. Attempt to fix it yourself, try the keyboard which would set you back 20/30 quid. If it works happy days, if not you're down 30
    2. Give it to someone else to fix and be out closer to 100 to replace the keyboard, if it doesn't work you're out 100, and more then to get a new motherboard.
    3. Use a USB keyboard.
    4. New laptop.

    That's how I would see it.


  • #24
    Duffy the Vampire Slayer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,378 ✭✭✭Duffy the Vampire Slayer


    Could that be broken even if only some keys are broken?


  • #25
    kate.m
    Registered Users Posts: 574 ✭✭✭kate.m


    I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. I spilt some olive oil on the keyboard of my sony vaio, not a lot, maybe like a tablespoon? But I turned it off immediately and turned it upside down after wiping it and using cotton buds to try clean it. (also removed the battery)

    There is a plastic layer covering Part of it and I can see a little still trapped under it. I think it should still work but even if it does I'm worried the keyboard might be fecked. do places clean keyboards?

    Ive only had it a year - but warrenty probably doesn't cover spilling liquids on it. I'm not too sure opening it myself is a good idea though :/

    Any idea about what I should do?

    Thanks :)

    EDIT: The laptop is working ok anyway...so far. Any idea on places I could get it cleaned?


  • #26
    kala85
    Registered Users Posts: 1,879 ✭✭✭kala85


    spilt tea on my laptop. it was working briefly when I turned it on.- sorry i didnt read this or think about the circuits being shorted out... but was just anxious to see if it was still working. Do you think that there is any way back for any of the parts of the laptop now. What can i do to get it working again?? Do you think that the hard drive will be affected??
    Could i get a docking station for the hard drive in order to read it? can you recommend a docking station.


  • #27
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    kala85 wrote: »
    spilt tea on my laptop. it was working briefly when I turned it on.- sorry i didnt read this or think about the circuits being shorted out... but was just anxious to see if it was still working. Do you think that there is any way back for any of the parts of the laptop now. What can i do to get it working again?? Do you think that the hard drive will be affected??
    Could i get a docking station for the hard drive in order to read it? can you recommend a docking station.

    Once you powered it on after it was wet you most likely did irreparable damage to the laptop itself. The disk could be fine though.

    Its not a docking station you need. It's a SATA to usb case.


  • #28
    Salty
    Registered Users Posts: 2,116 ✭✭✭Salty


    I had the grave misfortune of spilling tea on my netbook (HP Mini 110) last night :( It went all over the keyboard. I turned it upside down to get as much of the tea out as possible, dried it off, and also turned it off and removed the battery.

    I noticed before I turned it off (I just used to switch, didn't waste time shutting it down) that the mouse pad and keys were not working properly as when I tried to click anything, the cursor would just jump across the screen. Also, lots of windows were popping up, and then it disconnected itself from the internet. The whole thing happened in the space of 2 - 3 minutes.

    Will it be a complete loss? I've emailed itcentral here in Cork to get a quote from them as there's no way I'd be confident enough to take it apart myself and clean it. I haven't heard back from them yet. :( There was no sugar in the tea and I take very little milk, but it was very hot and I'm terrified of what it might cost me. I'm a poor lowly student with a part-time job who barely earns E200 a month.:(

    Edit: Just got an email from itcentral...

    We can offer you diagnostic service at €25.00. We can figure out what is wrong with the laptop, let you know what is the cost of repairing it and if you want to go ahead with the repair, the diagnostic charge won't be applicable.


  • #29
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    _meehan_ wrote: »
    We can offer you diagnostic service at €25.00. We can figure out what is wrong with the laptop, let you know what is the cost of repairing it and if you want to go ahead with the repair, the diagnostic charge won't be applicable.
    Don't bother.

    Unless they are prepared to guarantee a fix, and give at least six months warranty on the laptop. Water damaged electronics aren't repairable if the damage has already been done. With mobile phones the no longer fix them because something else may die in a few months :(

    You won't know if it's OK until it's dried out completely , and yes you have to wait days , longer is better for total dryness.

    If the keboard / track pad are gunthered then use USB ones for a while to make sure it's working OK

    don't forget you can hook up an external monitor if you see nothing on the screen next week


    Worst Case
    a quick look on adverts shows that they are going for less than €150 , ask around friends and family and you might get a discard for less.

    The drive is a 2.5" Sata so very easy to put in an external enclosure, most desktops would also have spare sata connectors too.

    If you have windows it won't boot on another machine because of hardware specific drivers, so if you put in another machine you may need to reinstall the version of windows that machine came with, so not the end of the world. Linux would most probably just boot up and good old windows 98 would spend a hour doing it's excited dog impression, bless it's little cotton socks. "Hey look I found new hardware, give me a pat on the head" times a hundred.


    Again with the asking of friends / collegues / family - you may not know how to change drives but in Ireland there's always a friend of a friend who will do this for chocolate biscuits or jammy doughnuts or a painting or something

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nELBz1VB7oo


  • #30
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    You won't know if it's OK until it's dried out completely , and yes you have to wait days , longer is better for total dryness.
    +1 If you can open it you could consider washing with alcohol or distilled water, or at least wiping it down with a non conductive liquid to rinse the traces of conductive salts off.

    I would take the hard disk out right now, as it could be moist inside and the HD might currently be OK, but get moisture in during the drying stage.

    The hard disks are often surprisingly easy to take out of laptops, should be guides online or vids on youtube.

    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    The drive is a 2.5" Sata so very easy to put in an external enclosure, most desktops would also have spare sata connectors too.
    Lots of people have external drives already, many can be easily opened up and have the drive removed/swopped so you can use it temporarily as your enclosure. I have put laptop drives in both small enclosures (with no power source) and in large enclosures which originally had large 3.5" sata drives (with power sources.
    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    Linux would most probably just boot up
    Linux can be ran live off a USB too, with no need to install. So I had a laptop, took out its HD, put in a semi knackered one, ran linux via USB and transferred what I could to a USB HD. Then pop in the original HD into the laptop and it was completely untouched.
    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    friend of a friend who will do this for chocolate biscuits or jammy doughnuts
    I get beer & vodka, have a whole press of spirits from fixing stuff! :pac:


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  • #31
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,657 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    rubadub wrote: »
    I get beer & vodka, have a whole press of spirits from fixing stuff! :pac:
    I'm stuck in the "free technical support for friends and family for life" zone :(


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