Keyboard failure after water spill not helped by keyboard replacement

I spilt water the other day on my Compaq CQ62 pressario laptop. As to be expected, the keyboard stopped working. I purchased a cheap replacement laptop on E-bay but the new keyboard is not functioning. Around 5 keys do something although incorrectly (tab, and some backslashes), the rest don't register any input at all. On the other hand, if I connect a USB keyboard to the laptop and for hit caps-lock the light on the caps-lock key on the replacement laptop keyboard does light up - so there seems to be some communication that is working.

What is the more likely scenario here - Have I just bought a dud replacement keyboard, or has the water seriously damaged some of the internal keyboard circuitry (although I have opened up the laptop and cannot see any signs of water damage or corrosion).

Cheers

Gaby

 

Did you make sure the P/N on your old keyboard matched the replacement one? Also is that a use or new keyboard? And eBay should offer a refund or replace for that defective keyboard. Message the seller on eBay about your problem to have it resolved. Also another good test is get a USB keyboard and test to make sure you board is working and those invalid keys aren't because of a bad keyboard but a problem with the mortherboard since you spilled water on the keyboard.

 

There are two likely scenarios here:

1) You bought a dud replacement keyboard. Either the keyboard is defective, or the thin ribbon cable that connects to the motherboard is damaged. If you bought a used system with a used keyboard, it's likely that the keyboard is a dud, or that you damaged the ribbon cable when doing the installation.

2) Your computer's motherboard (most likely the keyboard connector) is damaged.

The bad news is that there really isn't a way to test either of these scenarios, until you have a known-good keyboard or known-good laptop. If that "replacement" laptop you bought on eBay is functioning, then you can use that as a known-good system to test if your old keyboard is defective, or if a known-good keyboard won't function on your laptop (indicating a problem with your motherboard). So if you don't have a known-good keyboard or known-good Compaq CQ62 laptop in your possession, you will either need to get your hands on a known-good device or start using this as an excuse to replace the laptop.

 

I think the real issue here is that your subconscious is telling you to buy a new system.


Seriously, try re-seating the ribbon cable (some are very hard to see if they're inserted correctly or not) and if you are positive that you are inserting and securing it properly, try something like DeoxIT fader lube (just a little) on the contact points.

See:
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-F5S-H6-CAIG-DeoxIT-Faderlube/dp/B00006LVF1