HELP: Spilled Water on my XPS 1330

My cat just knocked over a glass of water all over my new XPS 1330 keyboard. As soon as the water hit the keyboard, the system shut itself down. Right after that, I turned it over to drain as much water out as possible. It turned on after that, but the keyboard didn't work. I immediately shut it back off and used a cool hair dryer to dry it out as much as I could.

Based off the advice in another thread, I am not turning it back on for a day or two. But, is there anything else that I can do? I have Dell's accidental damage warranty, so I am afraid of dismantling anything and voiding it.

Should I just call them and ship it out ASAP? Or, give it a day or two?

I am freaked - it was a gift from my parents and it is just a week old!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Let it dry for a day or two and try to turn it on. If it doesn't work, call Dell and let them deal with it if you have the warrany. Don't do anything (opening it up) if it will void it.

 

Also, flip it over and let the water fall out

 

Thanks. So far, all I have done was take out the battery (read that on another thread). I also have it turned over on the keyboard hoping that will help. But, before doing that, it sat for about 30 minutes.

Do you know if this is a serious problem...or easily fixable?

I can't believe I was dumb enough to put a glass of water near my new toy!!! :-(

 

Thanks so much for helping to calm me down. I was freaking out! I will keep it off and turned over....and, cross my fingers that it will be okay. If it doesn't work in a couple days, I'll call Dell and let them know what happened.

I am just glad I got the 3 year extended warranty. I never buy those things, so I don't know what made me this time.

 

I made the mistake sitting a can of coke next to my 9300 a year ago and knocked it onto the keyboard area. At least half of the can poured in.

I killed the power via the power button in under a second otherwise it probably would have ruined a few components. Basically I dismantled the entire laptop and gently washed everything either with a cloth or in the sink. I dried everything thoroughly and let all of the components air dry for a few days before putting it back together. Apparently that's all it took because i'm typing on it right now.

It really depends on what areas got wet like someone said. However, the fact that yours was on and shut itself down isn't a good sign. If the water maid a bridge between points on a board there's a good chance it's toast.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

Crap....that is not a good thing to hear. Do you think I should just go ahead and call Dell now, rather than wait?

I was able to turn it back on after it happened. But, turned it back off within a minute or two.

 

sorry to hear this.
Best of luck to you.

 

I'd go ahead and call Dell. It'd kill me to wait at all!!

 

Although it turning on again after you spilled your water is a good sign that your mobo or anything else isn't hopefully fried.

 

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the help. I still have it turned over to leak any additional water out, and haven't turned it on again.

I think I will just call Dell and see what they say. ***Fingers crossed*** that it is an easy fix and that it is covered. It makes me sick to my stomach just to think about it :-( Wish me luck!

 

Btw, did you happen to get the accidental coverage on your XPS?

 

I did - thank goodness. I usually never get the extra stuff, but for some reason I did this time. I am so glad that I did.

Do you have it...and, have you had to use it? If so, how are they with things like this?

 

Thats good news. I have it on my Inspiron 9300. I'm usually babysitting 6 kids from my sisters and that was one of the main reasons I got it. I've never had to use it yet *knock on wood*, but I've come close to spills and random objects flying to the laptop out of nowhere.

I recently purchased a Vostro 1500 and I decided not to get Complete Care with it. However, I'm glad your XPS is finally working out for you . Its a great machine and would suck to have it down even for a day.

 

If you have Complete care then no need to worry.

But next time, if you accidentally spill water on an electronic item (or drop something in water), DO NOT TURN IT ON until you are absolutely sure that it is dry! Which usually takes more than a day. If you turn on a device with water still inside, that will short circuit electronic components causing permanent damage.

 

If you have the accidental coverage just go ahead and call Dell. Spilling something on a laptop is probably just behind dropping a laptop as far as accidental damage claims go.

Heh, funny story... I dropped my cell phone in a lake a few years ago and I had the accidental damage coverage. Turns out one of the requirements for getting a new(refurbished of course) phone was to send them the old phone. That was kind of hard to do considering it was at the bottom of a not so shallow lake.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

If you have Complete Care, call Dell right away, that's what it's for.

 

+++===UPDATE===+++

I decided to leave the computer turned over on its keyboard overnight to let it dry out some more. I had a feeling Dell would ask me to turn it on, and based on what you all said, I wanted to give it more time to dry out. (If this happens again, I will definitely not turn it on....thank you for the advice on that!)

Anyway, I called Dell just a few minutes ago and explained what happened -- I don't think he believed that it was my cat, but whatever

He had me turn it on, and it worked!!! It booted up normally and the keyboard works fine. Phew....what a relief!!!

The guy I spoke to created a file for me so it shows I called them in case something happens because of this down the road. I have to say - Thumbs up to Dell's technical support. And, thumbs up to all of you for your help...you got me through a scary night

I am going to leave the laptop off the next day, just in case. But, it seems like a dodged a bullet here. And...no more liquid (or cats) near the laptop, ever!

Thanks again, everyone!

 

I just tried my xps again (after giving it more time to dry) and it still seems to be working normally. Thanks again for your great advice. I am certain it prevented some major damage to my laptop.

By the way, when I called Dell's tech support and told him that I followed the advice on this message board, he said I did the right thing

 

Yep, Just gotta wait it out and let it dry for 2-4 days then try to turn it back on. You got really lucky there. I remember my cousin dropped orange juice on my brand new first computer's keyboard....

If you suspect that the keyboard is acting up, call Dell and tell them the keys are ****ed up, they'll send you another keyboard, it's fairly easy to reinstall.

 

Thanks. I'll definitely call if the keyboard acts up. I'll probably also let it dry out for a couple more days before using it for a long time.