m11x r2 battery problem

TL;DR - Battery holds charge, AC adapter works. Interallly all connections secure yet computer will not power up if not plugged in.

details

A month or so ago I spilled some juice on my m11x. I shut it off immediately, let it dry. and its been working just fine, however the keyboard was too sticky to use. Naturally, I bought an external USB keyboard and have been getting along just fine. However just a week or so ago I started researching the process required to remove and clean the keyboard and I did. so successfully, its not perfectly smoothe but it is marginally better and still works. Just this morning however, I used the button on the bottom to check the status of the battery.. as I had fallen asleep with it unplugged last night. sure enough it had a practically full charge however when I had fallen asleep I did not recall turning it off, and it was powered down. so I plugged the power cord in, and the green light around the power button lit up, and it turned on right away. However shortly afterwards I wanted to move it, so I unplugged it and it powered down. I opened it up again, all the connections look secure. The battery is holding a charge, the ac adapter clearly works.. What could the problem be?

 

Wait. So the liquid was never removed?

 

As stated I immediately shut it off and let it dry. Turned it upside down and let it sit for a day or so

 

You might have a completely unrelated issue but even water can take many dayS to dry and potentially leave crud behind when it does. Juice - especially if sugar added - may promote corrosion and cause problems

What does your battery wear say? From your post I gather it boots and works but only when plugged in?

 

Indeed. if I remove the plug from the back of the laptop it powrs down immediately. What do you mean by the battery wear?
And its been almost a month since the spill.. but only about a week since I decided to open it up

 

You should've removed the battery as soon as you spilled juice on system. Buy a new battery, using the current one might damage your system further

 

Honestly thats not an option. Im wondering just how certain you are in regards to this.. a google search regarding the issue has a lot of people saying it could be with the batteries connection to the motherboard? Im not an expert, but I'd think that if the liquid was going to destroy the battery,it would have done so within a couple days, not 5-6 weeks time. The simple fact that the battery will in fact hold a charge is the reason I feel like a simple new battery wouldnt solve the problem. Its as if the computer stops recognizing that there is a battery when it is unplugged.. the LED indicator is still showing a full charge (but then again it has to stay plugged in)\

 

You might have a good batt. In any case you need to do a good inspection for juice residue. Hopefully it didn't short anything. It is possible to read the % of wear for batt in windows so I asked. Can't rule out coincidence for an old batt failing

While apart put a meter on the batt. If it doesn't read proper voltage then no point looking at LEDs

Finally, with batt out and unplugged press power button on Lappy for a bit before assembly

If you see any dried juice inside it WILL need cleaned up. If for no other reason than keeping ants at bay

 

Well ive taken it apart multiple times. If I get my hands on a volt reader what range of voltage should It read? Also, Ive taken it apart many times.. The only place ive seen juice residue was underneath the keybord.. I did my best to clean it up where I could.. it mostly seemed to be on the plastic, it didnt look like much if any at all got on the motherboard. Thanks fo rthe input

 

14.8v on the packaging. Check power supply while your at it just for fun.

If you do not know how to use a meter get some help so you don't choose the wrong scale etc.

As for the juice... its either yes or no. If you have ANY LIQUID THAT REACHED THE BOARD and then dried there you may be asking for trouble. Did you have any spill on the board or connectors? There is no spec'd tolerance for the amount of acceptable liquid, juice or otherwise, that the MB can take. A tiny bit in the wrong place at the right moment can kill it.

How likely? Hell if I know I didn't see it happen and its a crap shoot. What I DO know is until you can report back that there is no liquids on the board and that no (assumed) sugary substance left I'm going to keep nagging you about it or maybe stop trying.

You either had some bad luck and the battery died, bad luck the mb died, or maybe you have shorted the system with a spill killing parts (or preventing proper function). You need to eliminate variables I leave it to you to choose the order.

Inspect the batt connection very very closely while doing your testing

 

Well, I've checked the battery connection a couple times and it seems secure, and there seems to be nothing abnormal with it.. its not sticky, no residue.. Im going to have to find a guide to dismantling this thing.. Ive gotten as far as removing the harddrive, keyboard, and battery... but ive never gotten to the point that I an see the motherboard entirely... and its the only reason I'm hesitant to start cleaning.

 

well i took it apart but could not figure out how toaccess the mobo entirely. im just going totake itand get a $40 diagnostic at a local computeer repair shop. if its gonna be an expensive fix i plan on just upgrading my dell warrantee to an accidental damage coverage

 

I hate to revive a dead thread, but theres been an update in my situation. I called Dell, got them to send me a replacement battery for free. However This did not fix this istuation.. does that leave the motherboard as the only possible culprit?

 

Pretty much. If works on AC then the charger is working and the battery has now been replaced.

If you extended your warranty you might try your luck there otherwise MB is probably on your next purchase list.

OR

Just use it as is without the batt. Its no promise that more problems will or will not happen but your budget will help you choose

 

Alright, thanks again for the advice

 

also one thing to note. water its self is not conductive. its the impurities that make it conductive. with that in mind after the water evaporated out of the juice mixture you spilled, it may have left some if not all of the conductive proprieties behind.

just something to consider when searching for dried juice residue. ive personally cleaned a few laptops that have had spills.

i took the mobo out and used distilled water on q-tips to remove anything i could find. 9/10 laptops survive after all the junk is cleaned off.