Drinking and computing.

Propagandhi

Propagandhi

I'dRatherBeFlagBurning
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My wife decided that her laptop needed a drink and poured 1/2 a beer onto the keyboard last night.

We drained the laptop right away, but they keyboard and touch pad are fucked. Last night the screen wasn't working at all, but I was informed this morning that it is now. Otherwise everything else is running fine on it... for now.

I've been told that it needs to be cleaned right away or parts will start to corrode, but i'm not going to shell out a few bills to get this fixed if it's just going to have problems in the future, due to the beer. It would just be best to buy her some low tech computer that she can break again next year.

Two quick questions;

1. If I were to take it apart and attempt to clean it, would it be even worth my time? What cleaning products would I need to attempt this, and what parts would I probably need to repurchase? (Keyboard, etc)

2. Would it be worthwhile to bring it to a tech and have them clean it? It's only a $1000 Dell laptop and all the quotes I got run around the $2-300 dollar range, and I know i'm getting ripped off with those prices. I'd rather spend $500 on a new (although less powerful) computer.

TL;DR, laptop fucked?
 
Short version: laptop fucked.

Long version: You might be able to soak the components in water to prevent corrosion (we did this to an IBM R32 that had a cup of coffee spilled on it), but it will likely not work "the same" ever again.

Same concept applies to why water damage is particularly bad for cell phones. You can soak them, but you have to let it air dry completely, which is difficult.
 
Tristam Green said:
Same concept applies to why water damage is particularly bad for cell phones. You can soak them, but you have to let it air dry completely, which is difficult.
Click to expand...

Tristam does know this because I'm put my phone in the washing machine twice. >.> The phone worked after being dried but it would act up and I think one button wouldn't work. Sorry to hear about the laptop.
 
I also dropped a cell in a half inch of rainwater once, and even after allowing it to dry it would drop calls and get very, obscenely hot.
 
rofl, i know plenty of college-age girls who would go nuts for that @.@
 
-.-; Seriously? I don't even let liquid near my laptop. Buy her a cheap one, or... let her buy her own (which is what I'm hoping you meant - she's the one who broke it).

And Stine - 2 times? Geez woman! My cell is in my purse 99% of the time (the other 1% it's charging) did you put it in your pants pocket? lol.
 
take the battery out dont turn it back on, soak it in water as long as its NOT ON.... and then let it sit for 2-3 days your computer SHOULD be fine after that but it wont be the same
 
Mirewen said:
And Stine - 2 times? Geez woman! My cell is in my purse 99% of the time (the other 1% it's charging) did you put it in your pants pocket? lol.
Click to expand...
Yeah it was in my pants. lol Now I usually put it in my purse. I used to carry around metal lunchboxes as my purse so I wouldn't hear the phone if it rang.
 
If she's really accident-prone, you could always look into getting her a laptop that's somewhat... sturdier than the norm.
 
10-4196-01.jpg


Solved.
 
Stine said:
Yeah it was in my pants. lol Now I usually put it in my purse. I used to carry around metal lunchboxes as my purse so I wouldn't hear the phone if it rang.
Click to expand...

Put it on vibrate, and annoy your co-workers with an infernal metallic buzzing sound!
 
I have a mac laptop and I like Mirewen said I don't let any liquid near it at all. Not even on the other side of the table.

Really sorry this happend to you.

Speaking of cell phones, I don't have a night stand and I keep a glass of water on my floor while I sleep at night just in case I get thirsty and one time, while the cell phone was plugged in for charging, I lowered it by the cable onto the floor instead of actually getting up because and I lowered it right into the cup of water.

/facepalm

I swear I heard bubbling and then after that, it stopped. Phone didn't work in the morning.
 
surprisingly, laptops really arent that hard to completely rip apart. but here are the issues you WILL run into when/if you fix it on your own. first of all, the parts to replace probably will be fairly cheap. but problem number one is finding out what got affected by the beeer?

the finger pad itself cannot be replaced on its own. that is pretty much a permanent fixture of the front cover assembly. so, you would be replacing the whole keyboard bezel. number 2, chances are teh keyboard is probably boned. no big deal changing that out. 2 screws usually. and probably semi cheap. they typically semi waterproof under the keyboard. enough to keep it from getting destroyed by a tiny bit of water. but if it was a large amount of beer (1/2 cup +) then, something underneath is probably screwed too.
problem with cleaning the MOBO is being careful with the type of rag or whatever you use. static is a huge killer in electronics.

get it operational, once its operational, my suggestion is dont turn it on anymore and sell it.

dont be afraid to take it apart though. its not as big of a monster as you think. recently, i had to totally disassemble a toshiba touch screen computer to replace that front cover AND the touch panel. ive never taken a laptop completely apart like that. i was a bit nervous doing it, but not really a hard task at all. especially with what you would be doing to get it operational. only about 8 to 12 screws on the bottom to undo and the top cover will come off.then, you have total access to the keyboard.
 
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