Any laptop advice?

[AUFred]

My daughter dumped a glass of soft drink in hers. It won't turn on.

 

[Siphorous]

Hmm. My first advice would have been to not turn it on but leave it in an airing cupboard - a warm place for a few days to let things dry - even if sticky.

That being said - is it a relatively new one? Not under any accidental damage schemes?

Some have removable/replaceable keyboards - depending upon the model, it may be possible to remove the keyboard element exposing the innards which could then be left to dry if not already shorted on something.

 

[AUFred]

Thanks. I will tell her.

 

[Tim]

Completely dissemble, clean as much of the soda up as possible, use a damp rag if needed. And let thoroughly dry. Most keyboards can be washed in warm soapy water one unplugged from the mainboard.
But if it was soda and it doesn't get cleaned out, the sticky residue will continue to short out the board even if dry. You need to remove as much as possible.

 

[AUFred]

Completely dissemble, clean as much of the soda up as possible, use a damp rag if needed. And let thoroughly dry. Most keyboards can be washed in warm soapy water one unplugged from the mainboard.
But if it was soda and it doesn't get cleaned out, the sticky residue will continue to short out the board even if dry. You need to remove as much as possible.

This is a Dell that is over three years old. I have no idea how to dissassemble it. I just took a bunch of screws out and loosened nothing. We have a good computer repair service here. They have worked on it previously. I think she will take it back to them. I told her before investing a ton in this one a new computer might be a better choice.

 

[Siphorous]

If you're going down the cleaning route Fred (or rather, your daughter) - use a lint free cloth and distilled water or preferably rubbing alcohol which will dry very quickly.

edit: Never mind Fred - saw your message about taking it back

 

[Zorak]

Wet circuits only have one natural cure as Tim said, natural light and heat. A 40w bulb can substitute well though.

If the circuits have shorted however, that is a different story.

 

[Tim]

Take the model number and search you-tube. You will find a video on how to disassemble it. Laptops are not very hard to take apart and it will save you a lot of money doing it yourself. There is no reason that you can't do this if you are handy with a screw driver

 

[Tim]

post the model number here and I'll find you a video on how to disassemble it

 

[Guyzerr]

Um........ how come nobody told him to take the battery out before he tried to rip it apart?

 

[Tim]

Um........ how come nobody told him to take the battery out before he tried to rip it apart?

Um... because that's always the first step. And I would hope that if anyone spilled a liquid into their laptop, the very first thing you do is unplug it and take the battery out.
I didn't want to insult his intelligence by reminding him of the very basic

 

[AUFred]

Model number is PP25L

 

[AUFred]

Um... because that's always the first step. And I would hope that if anyone spilled a liquid into their laptop, the very first thing you do is unplug it and take the battery out.
I didn't want to insult his intelligence by reminding him of the very basic

My daughter had been trying to turn it on and dry it with a blowdryer before I was aware of an issue.

 

[Tim]

Model number is PP25L

http://ahwee.com/how-to-disassemble-laptop-dell-xps-m1330

 

[Tim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1yT5SUQ_HE

 

[Guyzerr]

Um... because that's always the first step. And I would hope that if anyone spilled a liquid into their laptop, the very first thing you do is unplug it and take the battery out.
I didn't want to insult his intelligence by reminding him of the very basic

I thought of that when I posted but I couldn't resist. Ya never know.

 

[Haus]

I spilled 2 glasses of apple juice in my laptop and it shut off. pulled the plug and battery

I took it apart piece by piece. Soaked everything in distilled water to get rid of the stickiness and let dry for 24 hours. reassembled and it turned on. :thumbup

 

[AUFred]

Thanks Tim. I partially disassembled it. I found soft drink everywhere I went. I re-assembled it. I am going to let her and the computer dude decide what action to take. I don't think her taking it to him in a shoe box because Dad could not get it back together is the best option.

 

[AUFred]

I thought of that when I posted but I couldn't resist. Ya never know.

I have never attempted to disassemble a laptop so no advice was too ignorant for me.

 

[AUFred]

She dropped it off yesterday. They said they would disassemble it clean out the soft drink & re-assemble for $75. If that doesn't fix it she will probably purchase another and they can pull her hard drive for files she needs.