Spilled water on laptop and it will not work - Can I fix?

Hi Peeps,

Really hoping that someone can help me.

I have a brand new Dell Inspiron 630M laptop (bought end of Jan).

My little (lovely... hmmm) 2 year old boy threw his cup of water all over it the other day.

The water literally poured out.

We've left it to dry out (though not taken it apart - don't feel experienced enough to do that and also worried about invalidating any warranty).

I can turn it on and it is working to some degree - does make a few odd noises, which settle once turned on for a while.

But the main problem is the keys on the keyboard behave erratically. If I click into any text box, then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's just keep being typed by the invisible man.

Sometimes the mouse pad doesn't respond - sometimes it does.

I figure I'm going to have to bit the bullet and either send it back to Dell to be fixed - if I do this, is it going to be obvious that there has been water spilt that has caused the problems - is there anyway I can just get away with saying it just started playing up?

Other than that - is it possible to claim for this to be fixed under my contents insurance, under accidental damage.

Really don't know what to do for the best - but having just forked out for the laptop itself, really do need to sort this out as cheaply as possible - even, sorry to say it, if it means telling a few little white lies.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks,

Sue xx

If it's really hard water, it would probably leave calcium deposists that will tip off the tech support guys. Other than that, hit it with a hair dryer, call dell and say "It just started acting up!"

They are usually pretty good anyway.

First : Turn off your computer and donot try to run anymore.
second: Send your laptop to warranty shop Immediately to try fix it.
Dont do anything with your laptop if you are not sure!

Hi! I also have this kind of problem with my computer. Last Saturday I bought one of those liquids to clean the dvd lector because it wasn't reading dvd's very well. The thing is that I accidentally spilled some of that liquid over the keyboard (long story) and right after that the computer turned off immediately. I dried the keyboard right away and tried to turn on the computer, but I couldn't. So I freaked out and opened the computer to dry some of it's components off. After I did that I preferred to give the computer some time to dry itself. What's weird is that the next morning I was able to turn on the computer (I was so happy!) but then, after 10 minutes of being on, it turned off automatically. I turned it on again and the same happened. The same day in the afternoon I turned it on again and it turned off after 10 minutes again. The next day I wasn't able to turn it on at all and I haven't been until now. Also every time I push the start button it seems that the computer tries to start because the light of the battery turns on but then just blinks and the computer doesn't start at all. What could be the problem? Is there something I can do?

Call tech support and pray it's under warranty.

So it doesn't help if I clean it the way it was described earlier in other cases?

If you feel you have the technical abilities to do so and are comfortable opening a laptop and possibly voiding the warranty - go ahead.

I use a 70/30 mix of Ethanol and Deionized water to clean electrical components. If you cannot get that, than 91% isopropanol will suffice (make sure it’s at least 91%).

Don’t know if it will work for you though. Unless you live in the rain forest or Seattle, the water has most likely evaporated. Which means any of the shorts the water created caused permanent damage to the components. Unless you spilled Schuylkill brew (our tap water - well it contains some water, amongst other things) in which case than the massive amounts of minerals and contaminates could be causing the short circuits.

Alright I need to add my story to the ranks.

I have an Inspiron 6000. One day I woke up, went downstairs and found the ceiling splashing water on my laptop. I immediately shut it down, unplugged, drained and dried. It works, it turns on, but it can't detect any source of internet connecton be it wireless or ethernet cable. On top of that, there are five PCI devices that it can detect, bt it doesn't know what they are, and i'm pretty clueless as to what they can be too. I'm pretty sure that two of them are my built in wireless card and my network adapter. But the question is how do I reinstall these PCI devices and what should i do from here?

That could be because of the water damage. Those parts could be victims. You most likely need to have the laptop professionally repaired.

I'm sorry but I'm a little dense in the tech world. If the parts are defective, how can the compter still detect them? And why does it keep asking me to install the pci devices?

Either
A.) The drivers were never there to begin with.
B.) The water damaged them enough for windows to find "something," but the hardware is too shot to be identified correctly and work.

Either reinstall the drivers or have it fixed.

Good news, I just tried to reinstall the drivers and my network card is detectable anong other things. Now I still have one PCI device that doesn't work but since I have an internet connection, all that's left for me to do is find that device and fix my wireless card. Thanks for the help

Hi all.

Today, a fair amount of Coke got split on my dell laptop keyboard area (while on).
I lifted it up and pulled the battery out and then flipped it over so the coke landed on the floor. I stuck it in front of a fan pointing at its air vents for 4 hours. I then plugged it in to see if it worked (probably BIG MISTAKE). I think it is royally screwed.

I emailed tech support ask them how to get the onsite-warranty that am entitled to for the next month or so until it expires.

Is it going to be obvious that it is water damaged?
Any other advice?

With coke? Yep, they'll be able to tell.

They use coke syrup to clean blood off of Highways after bad traffic accidents.

I know, my mum was an admin who used to work with nurses and paramedics.

an update: I gave it one more try with my other battery and other adapter. I found out that It fried my Laptop power adapter, and my laptop works fine.

I booted up a game of f.e.a.r just to be sure.(note: fear is not a troubleshooter)

*crosses fingers and preys to Flying Spaghetti Monster it stays that way.*