e1705 wont turn on

Earlier today i was outside and it started pouring rain... Apparently the rain soaked through my backpack and got into my laptop? I didnt realize this could have happened, but I turned on the laptop a few minutes ago, The power led came on for 2-3 seconds, then the laptop shut off by itself, nothing else came on except the led i think.

So i took it apart and used a hairdryer on the mobo for a minute or two, and it still does the same thing, is there a short or something due to the excess moisture that will fix itself by evaporating? Am I screwed? Thanks

 

Either motherboard is shot or the powersupply is.

 

If the green light on the power supply lights up, the power supply is most likely working. You can try powering the laptop without the battery; if you still get some sort of response, it means you are getting some sort of power from the PSU.

At any rate, I've never actually encountered rain hard enough to damage laptops inside of backpacks, but if you really did get water in that machine, it's probably hosed. I mean, if you can take the thing apart, try re-seating everything and trying to run the motherboard with the bare minimum number of components... if it still doesn't run you probably need a new one.

 

Let the system thoroughly dry before you go to power it up again. Try again in the morning, and see what that gets you.
If the water damaged a part of your system it is going to be the motherboard. A full tear down of the laptop can give you a better idea of what the water effected.

K-TRON

 

well, i turned it on again, havent had the chance to do a tear-down yet, but the laptop seemed to stay on a few seconds longer than the first time, and as soon as the media buttons flashed, the power led shutoff...

 

You could always tear it down and dunk the motherboard in 90-100% isopropyl alcohol. It'll displace the minerals the rainwater got in your laptop and hopefully cure the short.

See, the water itself isn't really the problem, it's what's dissolved IN the water. Reverse-osmosis/de-ionized filtered water is perfectly safe for electronics (it has absolutely no minerals in it - which is why it's NOT recommended to drink, it won't rehydrate you); I made calls on my cell phone using bluetooth while it was submerged in a bowl filled with RO/DI water.

 

Thanks for the info raduque I never new that, but wouldnt the water short the phone?

Anyways, my father called dell (he ordered me the 1705 for college) and somehow it has accident coverage and it will be replaced, but what would they replace it with since they stopped making e1705's sometime last year?

 

That's the point he was making...reverse osmosis de-ionized water is completely non-conductive. Water itself does not conduct electricity at all; it's the minerals commonly found in water that do that. And the fact that 99% of the time, water contains these minerals is what gives it the reputation as being an electrical conductor. 100% pure de-ionized mineral-free water will not conduct electricity at all.

Glad to hear you've got the accidental coverage warranty. Replacement laptops are refurbished, so assuming Dell still has some refurbed E1705's left, they'll probably just send you another one of those. If they're completely out, I would guess they'll send you a comparably built Inspiron 1720 or something.