Juice + Laptop - part two!

Hey guys,

some of you might remember that I spilt apple mango juice on my keyboard about 2 weeks ago. At the beginning nothing really happened, and the computer is still fully functioning, but now half the keyboard is sticky as hell! And by sticky I dont mean the surface of the keys, I mean the feedback from the keys, due to juice being underneath there

Now I've never opened a laptop in my life, so I'd like some detailed explanation of what to do please... (pretend that I'm an extremely stupid person )

As far as I understand I need to:

Turn off laptop, take battery out, hold the power button for 20 secs

Disassemble my laptop (there is a video on how to do that with the m15x) from the top, so that the keyboard has been taken off

Put a bit of alcohol on a cloth, so that its damp

Wipe off all the dried apple mango juice (mmmm...)

put back together

and voila!

Anything else that I need to know? e.g. something with static electricity, or some part of the keyboard I SHOULDNt be touching etc

 

Get a new keyboard. The chances of getting yours back in working order by "wiping it off" are as close to zero as it gets. Other than getting a new keyboard, your only chance would be to soak and/or rinse the old one in water (very thoroughly), then let it dry for a day or so, and see if it works.

 

Pay for a new keyboard, and perhaps your warranty is still in tact. You should be able to go onto Dell's website and download a service manual for it.

 

I just want to clear up that my keyboard does work, its just the key feedback is a bit off... Sure that it won't work by just wiping it with alcohol? :/

 

If the problem is mechanical in nature (i.e. the semi-dry remains of the juice are physically making your keys sticky), then wiping it off will fix it. If the problem is electrical, then you need a new keyboard.

As far as opening up the laptop, there is nothing special beyond what you said. The most important thing is to disconnect all power. Also, try to touch as little as possible.

 

I can't know for sure, but since there is nothing wrong that I can detect except that it takes abit more effort to press the keys and the "feedback" is off, as if there is some obstruction there, I think its mechanical.
Just a few questions:

Which cloth should I use?
Does it have to be pure alcohol/ethanol, or will vodka/whisky do?

 

Use isopropyl alcohol. You don't want to make the stickiness even worse.

 

Just take out the keyboard and wash in *distilled* water. Wash as in soak and shake.
Let it dry completely.

 

You need clean water, not alcohol, and, no, you cannot "wipe off" anything, since the sugary residue is inside the tiny mechanical parts of the keystroke mechanism. See my earlier post. Been there, done that. Like I said, your best bet is to get a new keyboard. They're not very expensive.

Exactly.

 

OK pirx, will soak in water. How clean does it have to be? is tap water good enough? And if it doesnt work I will probably get a new keyboard, I just want to give it a shot before I spend money

 

Distilled would be better, but tap water is worth a try. You may find that the keyboard will work fine for a while after the wash, but some keys getting sticky again after some time. But it's worth a shot. Just make sure it's really dry before you reassemble the machine.

 

I would not recommend tap water.

The problem is salts and minerals in water --- they will corrode electronics at some point. Better be sure and only use distilled water. Buy a couple of gallons of distilled water jugs.

 

I have never seen distilled water for sale

where would I be able to buy it?

 

Walgreens/CVS should have it; perhaps also supermarkets.

 

Personally, I would first soak and then scrub the keyboard in a bowl or warm water with some washing up liquid. Only once there has been the best possible attempt to shift all the juice residue then the matter of cleaning in clean water becomes an issue.

John

 

I was also thinking whether to first clean in normal water... but the presence of salts in normal water makes me apprehensive

 

Not to mention the salt in washing-up liquid! The important thing is to rinse and dry very thoroughly in pure water afterwards.

I have heard of people doing the initial clean in a dishwasher.... Or is that an urban myth?

 

I just think that if you just put it in distilled water the juice wont come off? as in its dried now, so maybe wash with normal water and soap and then put in clean water?

 

The idea is to use detergent first to remove the sticky sugar and then to soak/rinse in pure/distilled water to wash away the impurities in the 'clean' tap water. If you use anything but distilled/pure water there will be a residue of slats left which will probably cause the keyboard to fail sooner or later.

 

I think I read the same page as you
This was for washing the motherboard right?

 

Fluids spilt on a laptop don't just wipe off. They seep in through the tiniest openings. Unless your laptop motherboard is edge-sealed and coated (very doubtful), that juice has started to creep into the motherboard layers starting corrosion of the circuit leads.

Dishwasher soap is horribly corrosive. Hand and 'sink soaps' have loads of salts in their formula.

Now that you've waited weeks before taking any action, you've doomed your machine to a slow death.

The only correct action **at the time you spilt the juice** would have been to strip down the machine, clean everything off with distilled water, air dry, reassemble, and pray. I believe that several people here advised you of this.

Weeks later, well....... Procrastination is its' own reward.

It is likely that your sticky keyboard is just the first problem you are going to see.

 

Wouldnt it have evaporated before it started seeping into the motherboard?

 

You spilt half a glass, so I dont know...

Why dont you get the keyboard replaced via dell? You have completecare right?

 

I have a one year warranty, dunno what that means...

 

Enter your service tage number on
Warranty Information

And see what warranty you have, whether it includes completecare or not.

Does dell UK have completecare?

 

Warranty is not an option if you spelled mango juice, unless you have a special type of 'warranty'. But Let's say it is going to be fine. I did the same thing with cola, my laptop is still working I have, not only one but on two of my laptops...

 

Yeah, dell offers a special warranty upgrade for accidents like this....

 

Ah, you might me lucky then. I have personally never used Dell/ailienware as I never heard anything positive about 'em..

 

Spill half a glass worth of juice on the counter and tell us how long it takes to dry.

 

You should definitely check and see if your keyboard is the type with holes in it or not. If it is then no the juice did not evaporate before going through to the motherboard unless there is another layer of plastic or metal.

I believe you may be able to soak the keyboard in rubbing alcohol. Thats probably the only way to really get it working (mechanically)

 

The longer you put this off the worse this gets. Strip your laptop down and check to see if it's seeped past the keyboard to other parts. If it has, you're done. Pay for the repairs.

If it hasn't then take the keyboard off, throw it in a clean bowl with distilled water and shake it around. Let it sit for a while.

Pull it out. See if there's anything visibly still there. Replace the keyboard and see if it's working better. If not you can try rinsing it some more.

 

I appreciate all the advice guys.

What I dont appreciate is that its contradictive

I think we can all agree that I need to strip my laptop down. But do I rinse it in alcohol or water?

 

water,
drink the alcohol

 

LMAO
10. Char.

 

rubbing alcohol lol or methanol whatever they call it

most people agree on alcohol over water right? it evaporates REALLY quickly. Water can stay trapped in things forever.

 

Sigh... NO!

He needs to get rid of the sugar, for which water will work much, much better than alcohol.

 

Ok.....

Tell us why!

Alcohol is the standard for cleaning a lot of other electronics messes

 

In this particular case, since the object is to dissolve sugars, water is better because sugar is more soluble in water than in (especially) isopropyl alcohol. Basically, in this case, it would take less water to dissolve the sugar than it would take alcohol. The main reason to use alcohol is that it's a better solvent for many other things, and due to the fact that it's more volatile than water, it's more likely to evaporate and not leave traces (of itself) than water.

 

Ahh, see that makes a lot of sense. Thanks, good to know.

 

See here for a detailed answer.

 

OK funny story;

So yesterday about a third of my keys barely had any response at all and were extremely "sticky"

today I wake up, turn on my laptop and keys working perfectly! I'll probably go through cleaning anyway, but all seems good... Its been over 2 weeks since the juice spilled and no scary things happening...

As I said, a cleaning is still warranted, but I'm feeling reasonably optimistic

 

Thats good to hear! I just have a question to ask for all those who are active on this thread; his keyboard being an alienware, is backlight, wouldnt it have a reverse affect if soaked or submerged in water or alcohol? wouldnt the LEDS short-circuit or something?
and
@Audiophil92 I send you a PM, dunno if you received it or not

 

Ah yeah, I forgot about that PM sent!

Dunno about the keyboard and LED thing...

I'm not sure but I think that the keyboard and the LED's are separate.. The keys are semi transparent, and let the light through from beneath.. Hopefully the LED part isnt attached to the keyboard, else idd maybe soaking it in water will mess somethign up :S

 

AFAIK, things will be fine if no current is passing through.
After soaking/washing, the keyboard needs to be *THOROUGHLY* dried, and then only connected to the laptop.
Then, when current passes, no liquid/salt to short circuit.

 

I have no idea for Alienware but I know that the Toshiba's 'backlighted' keyboards is not seperate.