E6520 Spill

So I recently spilled a lot of water on my E6520. And water where I'm from is hard...

I turned the laptop upside down right away, wiped some water off, disconnected everything, and two hours later it's up and running. Any other suggestions? It spent 2 hours upside down on a bed of rice already.

I've got the 5 year warranty, and seeing as Dell claims the E6520 has a spill-proof keyboard, I feel justified in getting it replaced if it were to explode because of this. Anyone know if Dell will honor warranty due to a spill, or how to handle it?

Right now I'm running off battery, and am in the process of backing up most of my important files.

Advice?

 

nevermind. it exploded. any watermarks in it or should i just request regulr warranty service?

 

What you mean it exploded?
Best thing to do in such cases is to power it off and disconnect battery and psu and let dry for a day or two. If you need access to your data just pull the HD out.

 

I did just that Chris, after it broke I opened it up, let everything drain, repasted (some of the GPU paste got watery and now it seems OK..

 

It's been good all day now, although my keyboard is a SLIGHTLY bit wonky...seems to be getting better as the day goes on....

YAY I guess?

 

I would be surprised if Dell would decline a warranty repair due to water damage as long as it is entirely dry before you send it in.

 

Cool. If someone could confirm this I'd feel pretty good.

 

There are no water damage indicators inside, but I don't think the warranty will specifically cover water damage (I suppose you could argue that with a supervisor because the keyboard is supposed to be spill-proof, but that would only cover small amounts of liquid).

If there are any more problems, initiate the warranty claim based on the new problem, not the liquid damage, and you should be fine.

 

Cool. It's been running fine for 2 days now. All my keys are working fine, and my CPU temps are normal.

I repasted with a good paste, but I worried I didn't use enough. It's still in the 55*C-ish range like it was before, without any burn-in.

If USB ports or things like that fail, I will initiate a warranty claim.

Thanks!

 

If your keyboard starts having any problems or it doesn't "feel" right, it is simple to replace. DELL considers the keyboard a "user replaceable" part, so they ship it to you and you install it yourself. That way you won't have to worry about whether or not they will discover the spill and if it will affect your warranty coverage.

For future reference, here are a few CRITICAL tips for dealing with a spill-

You stated that you "turned it upside down, wiped some of the water off and turned everything off.."; all very good things to do! BUT the order in which you do things and how quickly you do each of them can make all the difference. Some spill-resistant keyboards are better than others and two seconds may mean the difference between LIFE and DEATH! What kind of liquid you spill can also factor into the equation- milk may take a few more seconds than water to leak beyond the keyboard, buying you a few critical seconds. But you will definitely need to replace the keyboard after a milk spill, while after a water spill you may not..

REACTION TIME is EVERYTHING!!! – Rip the power cord loose and yank the battery out as quickly as humanly possible! Killing the two power sources instantly shuts down the machine. If the spilled liquid goes beyond the keyboard, and makes contact with the motherboard while it still has power- you’re screwed!

It’s like the time I was driving in left lane of the freeway at 80mph and the oil pressure light suddenly came on! Instinctively, I bumped the gear shifter into Neutral (dropping engine speed from 3500rpm down to around 800rpm—idle speed). Then I barely glanced over my shoulder to determine what was in the four lanes I need to cross to get to the right shoulder. I swerved across all four lanes and immediately killed the ignition because I could manage to stop and move to the shoulder without power brakes or steering at that point. I had it towed to the nearest Honda dealership and learned that the cam seal had blown and the engine lost over 3.5 of its 4quarts of oil! Even running another 5-10 seconds longer than it did could have done major damage!

I was not a happy camper considering that my Accord was just over two years old with 42k miles on it. But it turned out to be GREAT PRACTICE for when it happened again at 98k miles and a third time at 119k miles!!! All in less than four years! I convinced Honda to cover it under warranty each time, even though the warranty had expired at 36k. I also told them that if it happened a 4th time I would be creating a DRIVE-THRU in the middle of the dealership!!! But just two days after that last repair, it was totaled in a freakish single-car accident. I was driving at night and swerved to miss a goat, er...dog, or maybe a deer...and I ran off the road and into an embankment...the freakish thing is that the car apparently backed up and slammed into the embankment three more times before the airbag popped and disabled the vehicle....I tried to remember but my mind's a blank....but I digress....


After you cut the power, FLIP the system over and shake as much out of it as you can, While still holding it upside down, blot the keyboard with dry paper towels and repeat until the towels aren’t absorbing anything.

DISASSEMBLE- Gently lay the laptop down in the upside down position on a soft towel (with the keyboard and display face down on the towel. DO NOT sit the laptop back in the upright position because any liquid that made it past the keyboard could seep further into the system and you want to avoid that. This is very important for Damage Control – whether that means preventing further damage or preventing any visible clues that could hinder that “warranty” claim.

If you don’t know how remove your keyboard, figure it out now! And remove it while keeping the system in the face down position. If you have another computer or way to access the internet, use it to find the service manual for your laptop and follow the instructions to remove the keyboard.

When you have the keyboard removed, put it aside and take a look inside the laptop. Do you see any signs of liquid where the keyboard was just removed? Take a dry Q-tip and double check areas you can’t see well and corners by running it over them, then checking it for moisture.

If all appears dry, STILL leave the laptop face down on the towel and don’t touch it for at least 12 hours….24 hours is even better! Yes, this is annoying and a real pain in the , BUT you should use this time to repeatedly thunk yourself in the forehead and calling yourself a , followed up by some time spent reflecting on what you did, how stupid it was, how embarrassed you would be if your friends found out AND, most importantly, how you’ll handle it the next time it happens (because it will happen again at some point)…we are creatures of habit above all else.

By the way, I’ve spilled water, milk, beer and even a Bloody Mary on my trusty old Latitude E6400….and it has survived them all. It will be three years old in about two weeks and still going strong….but I have replaced the keyboard six or seven times….I buy them in bulk and keep one or two on hand all the time, just in case.

Cheers!