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Maraya1969

(22,441 posts)
Wed Apr 17, 2013, 07:28 PM Apr 2013

Help! I spilled coffee on my laptop and now besides having trouble with the keyboard I am having

trouble getting the thing to turn on. When I push the "turn on" button I end up with a loud beeping noise. Sometimes I end up at "Startup repair" but then when it goes to restart I end up with the beeping, (also when it is loading the files it beeps throughout the whole process.)

I bought a cheap keyboard and attached it with to the laptop but it doesn't automatically override and that may still be a problem; I don't know.

I was told by one computer repair person over the phone that it was a hardware problem and probably not worth the money to fix it - about $400.00. So I started looking at new laptops today but before I go buy one I figured I'd ask some of you experts here.

Is there anyway I can open up the back and see if there is corroded material that I can dust off or a short that I can just hook up again? I figure the computer is going down anyway so I'm not going to do much damage at this point, or at least nothing that will inevitably matter.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Also if I do have to get a new one ideas about where I can get the best deal would be appreciated too. I just had to shell out money for my teeth and this is not a good money time.

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Help! I spilled coffee on my laptop and now besides having trouble with the keyboard I am having (Original Post) Maraya1969 Apr 2013 OP
Your hard drive may well be salvagable but the keyboard and electronics are probably fried... hlthe2b Apr 2013 #1
yeh.. that sounds about right to me too. Phillip McCleod Apr 2013 #4
No expert, but best thing you can do is not power up and work on evaporating the liquids. Old and In the Way Apr 2013 #2
My first thought would be to take a good shop vac madokie Apr 2013 #3
As somebody said above, if this ever happens, DON'T try repeatedly powering up the laptop. Denzil_DC Apr 2013 #5
Any time liquid gets spilled, turn OFF power immediately hobbit709 Apr 2013 #6
It's probably dead, Jim sir pball Apr 2013 #7
Message auto-removed Name removed Nov 2013 #8
Well now I am curious. What would cause someone to get their post kicked off of this thread! Maraya1969 Nov 2013 #9
1 post troll spammer hobbit709 Nov 2013 #10
Yea that makes sense Maraya1969 Nov 2013 #11

hlthe2b

(101,730 posts)
1. Your hard drive may well be salvagable but the keyboard and electronics are probably fried...
Wed Apr 17, 2013, 07:35 PM
Apr 2013

You can go to somewhere like Best Buy geek squad (if you don't know how yourself) and get them to download the files on your hard drive to a portable drive and remove it for you so that you don't have to worry about data getting into wrong hands... But, the odds on the laptop itself being salvaged if you spilled a lot on it are not good.

 

Phillip McCleod

(1,837 posts)
4. yeh.. that sounds about right to me too.
Wed Apr 17, 2013, 08:22 PM
Apr 2013

the loud beep *may* just be that your RAM is shot but i doubt that's *all* it is, if that's what it is. if the beep is one constant loud beep that means it thinks it has no memory. simple test: take the RAM out and turn it on.. same beep? then the RAM's bad.

but the RAM is way in there, so yeh.. everything between the keyboard and the bottom of the laptop got wet, and that everything is (sorry, but 'was'..) the system board. saving your data is the thing now.

Old and In the Way

(37,540 posts)
2. No expert, but best thing you can do is not power up and work on evaporating the liquids.
Wed Apr 17, 2013, 07:36 PM
Apr 2013

Sadly, the damage will depend on the printed circuit board assembly and the level of water repellance (or 'conformal coating" which is a type of coating that keeps liquids from affecting the operation of the electronic components). Unfortunately, the water will contain organics that will create avenues to have electrical paths that could still screw up the operation of your laptop...hit or miss, but best not power up until it dries thoroughly...a hair dryer might be a good idea...

madokie

(51,076 posts)
3. My first thought would be to take a good shop vac
Wed Apr 17, 2013, 08:05 PM
Apr 2013

and vacuum the keyboard and keep it up for 10 minutes or so to help dry it out. I think most laptops have a plastic cover to keep water out of the innards under the keyboard just for instances like this. I spilled a beer in my keyboard way back when, '89 and not knowing I could buy a new one for a few bucks I took it apart and rinsed it good then put it in the dish dryer thingie and let it set overnight and the next day. When I got home from work I put it back together and never had a problem. this was way back when the computer was more magic to me than anything. Anyways I'd try a good vacuum followed by some time to finish drying out and see if that does work. Let it set over night somewhere where it can air out good and then go from there. Really nothing to lose at this point as you said

Denzil_DC

(7,188 posts)
5. As somebody said above, if this ever happens, DON'T try repeatedly powering up the laptop.
Thu Apr 18, 2013, 10:17 AM
Apr 2013

Turn it off immediately, and don't power it up again until you've had a chance to investigate or take it to someone who knows what they're doing.

Depending on the amount of liquid spilled, unless you're lucky, the only reliable way of getting rid of fluid inside the laptop is to dismantle it and clean and dry it manually - there are usually a number of places inside where liquids, especially more viscous ones like coffee, can be trapped (on one of my old laptops, it was fried after initially not being terminally damaged because liquid got into the narrow gap between the motherboard and the video card, and there's no way it was going anywhere fast). In the process of trying various methods to dry it out, there's a chance you'll move that liquid around, so even if there's no damage to start with, it could end up somewhere critical and short something out.

For most laptops, you can find dismantling instructions online (Dell, for instance, are very good about this), and you usually just need some fine precision screwdrivers, perhaps a flat plastic blade, and a methodical approach so you don't lose track of where everything goes (drawing diagrams or taking photos as you work isn't a bad idea).

First thing to do in any case, even if you don't do anything else at this stage, is to unplug it from the mains and remove the battery.

The hard drive you should be able to remove without dismantling the rest - it's probably just a matter of undoing a couple of screws and sliding it gently out. The same will apply to DVD-rom drives. You can also remove the RAM in a similar way (observe anti-static precautions). With those items out of the way, at least anything else you do isn't going to cause more damage, and if all else fails and they've not been damaged, they can be reused or sold.

Unfortunately getting at the innards isn't usually a question of dismantling from the back - you have to go in from the keyboard side. Usually it's a question of popping the bezel between the keyboard and the screen, carefully unplugging and removing the screen, then tackling removing the keyboard, which will give you more access to the innards to continue from there.

I wouldn't do any of this except removing the drives and RAM unless you've been able to find a dismantling guide - there are often ribbon connectors etc. that you need to be aware of and treat gently or they'll be damaged.

From the symptoms (you'd need to look up the beep codes, and even then they may be too vague to be of great help), there's a chance that critical components on the motherboard (a.k.a. mainboard) are fried. If that's the case, there are places that will offer to repair them, but as you've discovered, they aren't cheap. It's very hard to find used replacement motherboards - most of the laptops trashed seem to have had accidents like yours - and new motherboards are usually too expensive to make replacement worthwhile. On the other hand, if it's not a recent model, you may find that somewhere like eBay has a complete used laptop of the same model for sale at quite a reasonable price, certainly less than $400. If your screen hasn't been damaged, you might be able to find a cheaper one with a damaged screen, for instance, in which case you can combine the parts to end up with a working laptop. Or if you can figure out what components haven't been damaged, if all else fails, at least they may have some resale value.

Whatever, good luck!

hobbit709

(41,694 posts)
6. Any time liquid gets spilled, turn OFF power immediately
Thu Apr 18, 2013, 10:33 AM
Apr 2013

The best thing to do is leave it off for several days and hope it's dried out. A new computer will come with Windows 8, which is a whole new headache. If you can find a used one somewhere, get it. If you can find one that's the same model as yours you might be able to swap out the hard drive from your old one and it should boot right up, if not the data can be read and saved from the old drive.

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
7. It's probably dead, Jim
Fri Apr 19, 2013, 09:53 AM
Apr 2013

Spills on laptop keyboards are usually a kiss of death - the electronics are packed pretty tightly behind there, so any liquid is going to go straight to the tender center.

Your best bet at this point is to completely disassemble the laptop - you can probably find detailed instructions online - and wash the circuit boards (but NOT the hard drive or battery!) with distilled water, then let them air-dry for several days.

Buy refurbished laptops here.

Response to Maraya1969 (Original post)

hobbit709

(41,694 posts)
10. 1 post troll spammer
Fri Nov 22, 2013, 11:19 PM
Nov 2013

They'll hit a 6 month old thread trying to up their post count to sneak past MIRT

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