Close call involving a G73jh and a coffee spill - Advice requested as to what to do with the keyboard

Hello all.

So it happened. I managed to flip a cup of coffee over my G73jh. And this is what happened next:

The coffee fell mostly over the touchpad and the lower rows of keys. The notebook shut down almost instantly. I screamed NOOO! and made my cat panic with all the noise.

First thing I did was unplugging the notebook and taking away the battery. Then I placed it over a towel on a stool with the keyboard facing down in such a way that some coffee could drip out of the keyboard by gravity.

At this point I was thinking the worst so I started to disassemble it to see how bad was the damage and if could do anything about it.

First thing I noticed upon opening the case is some coffee drops slipped through the bottom and managed to stain one of the hard drives covers but not the hard rive itself. I took the hard drives away.

When I got to the keyboard it was soaking wet. I took it away. I removed the top cover and noticed the motherboard and the rest of the internals seemed quite dry, save for a few negligible spots, which gave me some hope. I finished disassembling everything and waited for a while.

Since everything else looked so dry I decided to give it a go and plug it in while it was still taken apart. I plugged it and pressed the power button...

...and it turned on! Turned on and went straight to the BIOS as it had no keyboard or hard drives! I couldn't believe my luck!

So I unplugged it again and used a hair dryer on everything, specially on the keyboard. I took the keyboard apart so it had a better chance to dry. Once I felt it was all dry I plugged they keyboard back in and turned it on again. Sure enough it turned on and I could use the keyboard to move around the BIOS but then the keyboard started acting up, sending all kind of wrong signals so I truned the notebook off.

But I though it was funny so I turned it on again with they keyboard still connected. It ran for a few seconds than a big green spark came out from somewhere between the keyboard and the left side of the notebook internals. The notebook shut down again and I thought this was it, motherboard damage. It wouldn't turn on again.

But I kept trying. I removed the keyboard and I noticed the AC adapter LED was off so I tried plugging it in somewhere else. After a few attempts the LED came back on and I the notebook turned on on again!

So I decided to try with an external keyboard and it went well, I could use it on the BIOS. Then I tried with the hard drives and Windows booted without problems so I decided to reassemble everything but the keyboard and touchpad and that's how I am writing this post: with an external keyboard and mouse.

Questions (help please):

Now I need to ask you a couple of questions about what to do next. Basically I got so freightened by that green spark that I don't want to ever plug that keyboard in again, but knowing myself I think I will try maybe tomorrow when it's dried up some more. Do you think that's stupid? Should I just throw it all away and get a new one?

Also, I didin't plug the TP back in as I am not even using it, but I will try tomorrow. Should I get a new one too without trying?

Lastly, I ended up with a leftover screw >D someone tell me where it goes please.

Suggestions for anyone reaching this thread because they have the same problem:

1. Act quickly, unplug and remove the battery NOW!!!
2. Place it in a position that allows the liquids to drip out of the internals.
3. Then you can take matters on your own hands and do as I did or take it to a service shop.
4. You might get lucky. Leave it to dry for a couple of days, longer if possible and it may just work again.

Trivia:

This is the second notebook I spill coffee on. Both survived. I can tell you the story of the first one another day.

Thanks!

 

Laptops usually survive spills if you're quick. The only thing i saw kill a notebook by spill was milk, was it the milk or bad luck, dunno. I saw some survive water and beer.

Just get a new kb for your G73 they aren't expensive. As for the TP, try pluging it in, i doubt much coffee got into the TP.

The evil leftover screw eh. First is it a silver screw, small one or regular. small screws are for under the battery and ODD. The silver ones are either fans or LCD. For the regular ones, check if you have all 10 in the main body and after that work your way from there using the BTOtech video.

 

Thank you!

The screw is neither one of the smaller or the largest ones. I think I'll just put it up for auction on eBay XD

So you reckon is not worth it or too risky to try to plug in the old keyboard again?

 

does one of you know where i can get a second hard drive bracket perhaps? I have a g37sw-xr1..

 

Not worth it for the kb, given what you said it's in all probability toast and i wouldn't risk plugging it again. Definitely find where that screw goes, could be important so err on the side of caution. Since it's a normal one, i can see it for HDD (2 per HDD), under HDD (1 per bay), under kb (4), 2 on each side of the RAM modules, one close to the wi-fi or one of the three holding the mobo together. Oh and there's one to hold the ODD in place too. There are normal screws for the LCD hinges as well (1 per side i think).

See here for a list of the screws that you remove if you follow the disassembly video to repaste: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...um/527654-newbs-guide-repasting-your-g73.html.

@Reaper there are threads about that already, just google G73 bracket notebookreview or it might as well be in the asus gaming section stickies.

 

You can rinse the keyboard with some distilled water to try and clear it up - otherwise just get a new keyboard.

The real risk is damage to the motherboard. You can clean those too with distilled water but you have to be very careful. After rinsing you would need to wait at least 24hrs for it to dry.

Using a hair dryer is not a good idea, just for future reference. It can cause really bad static electricity and electromagnetic interference from the motor that can damage components. If you spill something on your computer you need to rip the battery out ASAP and forget about a clean shutdown. In your case it definitely shorted since it turned itself off. If you're still within a year you are covered with the accidental warranty if your model came with it.