Spilled water on my laptop

ok im a buffoon. Was searching for the water on my desk last night and completely knocked it over on my inspiron 1520 (was still on). I immediately disconnected all the power and air dried it with a fan. Now it won't boot when I turn it on and I noticed that the fan doesn't turn on either.

 

Usually I have seen people recommend *drying* it as much as possible.... not just with a fan.... Like literally dry the he.ll out of it..... leave it open for a few hours....

*some one some where even recommended using a hair dryer, but it was supposed to be done not very close and not for long... like short bursts or something like that*

You might want to take it apart as much as possible so that water everywhere can dry off... including any trace of moisture or condensation or whatever..... and leave it for a long time....

 

Yes take it apart and leave it for a few days if not a week or two. Maybe a hair dryer will speed up the process alittle but give it some time.

 

Too late now. If there was water in there, and he tried to boot it up, he may have shorted out some critical parts.

Waiting just until the morning wasn't long enough, it would have needed to sit for 3 or so days to dry out fully.

Hopefully you have an accidental damage plan?

 

Wait a couple days and keep drying it. A LOT! My dad spilled water on his sony TZ twice and it still works(this is after he has always yelled at me for eating/drinking at my PC.)

 

****. I don't have the accidental warranty. I looked up my service tag on dell support and it said i can upgrade warranties. If I buy a warranty now, can it be sent in and fixed? Will there be no additional costs? or should I just do the hassle-free depot repair which is $200 and does not cover mobo damages?

 

That's borderline fraud, and Dell would be mighty suspicious wouldn't they? I mean, you buy the warranty and then use it for something that happened before the laptop was covered?

This thread stops here if discussion continues along that line.

Anyway, seriously...let it dry out for a few more days.

 

They will come and check out your laptop prior to giving you the extra warranty. And as greg said, that is fraud and illegal.

 

They actually send a person to check the computer out even if its under normal warranty? I know hp you can purchase it anytime its under warranty no questions.

 

If you put an iPod into a bowl of rice, it takes out all the moisture(my teacher was advised by a student to do this when I was in high school, and she said it worked).

Maybe you can do the same thing with a laptop?

I just wouldn't want rice inside my laptop.

 

man that greg guy was all intense. jeez. the dude's asking a question you don't have to go ape-**** official on him.

 

I added complete care to my 1420 about 5 months after i got it. Just went to the Dell site and it was a done deal. $119 for 3 years and I never heard from any one from Dell.

 

The warranties are so pricy, its like you are paying for parts in advance anyway. Just the same, who knows what you might have blown if there was still current in the notebook when that happened. You may be SOL. Sorry man.

 

I heard that too but i doubt it can work with a laptop. I just think you should wait and hope for the best.

 

For anyone else reading this who dumped water in their notebook--resist the temptation to turn it on for AT LEAST 3 days, better a week.

Water and electricity do NOT play nice. Turning it on when it's wet can destroy the mobo.

 

i think dell allows you to upgrade the warranty even if its already spoilt. i spilled beer on my inspiron 8600 and they suggested i either upgrade the warranty or pay for spare parts. the dell guy on the phone then calculated and told me upgrading the warranty would be cheaper.

it cant be fraud if dell suggests it right? I've been suggested this by dell malaysia twice, for different units with accidental damage, different reps....

 

The Reps and the Call Center probably get more for selling a warranty than they would with a repair.

 

You can take a CC warranty now, wait for a couple of weeks and then report to Dell, Dont call them now and inform them about the problem as this will be recorded in Dell 's Internal records.

I have to tell you though, its very unethical, Complete care warranty covers only accidental damage after the warranty is taken.

Also, going for an Out of Warranty repair(OWR) is prohibitively expensive. The first thing they will do is replace the motherboad which costs a hell of a lot, and you get only 3 Months warranty for it. The accidental damage plan will get things fixed for a fraction of a cost and insure you against future damages for a whole year.

Your call....

 

CC by the way, is Complete Care, the accidental damage plan

 

I hate to be the dissenting voice of reason but there's is no way in hell what the OP want's to do is fraud or illegal, sorry no way Jose. If Dell computers is willing to sell him a warranty and he has a failure he has every right to file a service request. It's on Dell to inspect the computer prior to offering an extended warranty contract. If both parties agree to the extended warranty then the individual has every right to request service and Dell has the obligation to deny service if they feel it's outside of their contract obligations.

What would be illegal or fraud is for the OP to buy a service contract from Dell for his primary computer and the OP decided to file a claim for a friend or relative's similar computer. That's fraud and that's illegal because the contract was sold to an individual service tag and the OP tried to get service for another computer.

I say to the OP try and get an extended warranty and file a claim for service.

 

He said it's unethical and I agree it is. However it's also unethical how much they charge you for out of warranty repairs. My HP stopped working once and they tried to charge me 800 dollars to repair it. I asked them what was wrong and they said the mobo and the CPU or one of the two. In total and if you consider time to repair it that costs at best 300 dollars (cost me 200 to replace both). But I mean it's your money and none of us knows your situation better than yourself. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. ethics aside, I think im just going to go for the upgraded warranty.

 

I agree with tential, Out of Warranty repairs are nothing but daylight robbery by Dell, I am not sure about Studio but the the old Inspiron's mobo could set you back by nearly 200 $ plus shipping. In venom's case, it could be more than the motherboard, he might paying enough for a 3 year complete care warranty just to get this one time problem fixed and that too the warranty they provide after the Out of warranty repair is just for 3 months and you have to pay extra for the 1 year warranty.

Overall, it makes more sense to invest in a new laptop or go for a local service center rather than going for Out of Warranty repairs.