LCD damage by alcohol

I was ignarant enough to use alcohol to clean my laptops LCD. Now the screen is foggy and tyring to the eye. Its not very eyecatching but after a while you notice it. Is the a way to fix this? Also, will i be able to get it repaired by warranty or they would know its my fault?

 

Do you have a picture? Likely you'll need to buy a new LCD, and yes manufacturers will tell it has been damaged, unless you have some kind of accidental damage warranty, submitting it for RMA is fraud.

 

did you go towards the edge ? ... I've seen a phone to mess up its screen like that.

 

I use alcohol to clean all of mine and my friends LCD's and have never ever had a single issue. Make sure the power is disconnected from anything you clean, don't use too much and wait 5 - 10 minutes for any remaining alcohol to dry, it dries fast so if you're too impatient to wait 10 minutes then leave it dirty.

It sounds like you broke a cardinal rule by not only turning a system on ( or god I hope not cleaning it with a liquid WHILE it was running or had power going thru it ) while there was potential liquids in it but you made matters worse by continued use instead of noticing the problem, immediatly removing all power ( Adapters and batteries ), disassembling the machine and letting it dry completely for 24 - 48 hours or leaving it assembled and waiting a week.

Continued use of the system while it had liquids in it likely left you with a damaged part so at this point the only thing you will probably be able to do is learn from this and grabbing any book that has to do with fixing anything electronic and reading the first couple pages that tell you not to work or use liquids on anything that has power going to it, including batteries and to allow any and all fluid spills to dry before even connecting a power source back up.

Oh, you can forget about warranty unless the system has accidental coverage because they will be able to figure that one out. There are ways to find out when a system has been damaged by liquids.

Seriously, this kind of thing would never happen if common sense was actually common. I'm sorry but I find it hard not to give people a hard time for stupid mistakes. Cmon man, you have that grey stuff in your cranium, use it.

 

Counts on where the grey film is. Of course always turn off power before cleaning. Rubbing alcohol will leave a film, especially cheaper 70%. Now if the film is just on the outside of the panel then Windex or other streak free cleaner will be fine. If it is leftover inside the panel then you have a bad issue.

In that case the only thing that may work is to disassemble and clean the panel. You may end up having to rinse parts and let them dry out FULLY! This also has to be done with the proper chemicals.............

 

I would not recommend alcohol or any other household cleaners for your laptop's screen. Alcohol will melt soft plastics, deteriorate rubber and possibly remove paint from plastics like the surrounding bezel. Use an approved LCD cleaner which is free of alcohol, ammonia, sodium lauryl and sulfates.

It is NOT recommended to spray even the LCD approved cleaner directly onto the screen. You spray a fair amount on the corner of a micro-fiber cleaning cloth then you wipe the screen using straight lines, not circular motions.

You don't let anything dry onto the screen because it's not supposed to get wet, no liquid of any kind sprayed directly onto the screen.

Is your screen glossy and it became a bit matte after cleaning it or was it matte originally?

 

How can i tell if it is on the outside of the panel? And what kind o chemicals would i need? Now for the most sad part. Yes, i used cheap 70% alcohol while the machine was powered on. Someone beat me with a stick.

Its an LED Backlit i dont think its glossy. The notebook is Asus G73SW. Also i think my eyes hurt when i look at it and i constantly have the feeling that my glasses are dirty even if i cant notice the foggyness on the screen.

Since the laptop is now out of warranty im willing to do what i can to reduce the problem.

 

I only use Zeis Wipes on my screen.

Anyway.. you may just have a small film of Alcohol trapped under the screen. Try taking a hair dryer and putting it on warm and gently run it over the screen to try to evaporate it.

You don't want to get it HOT, but enough to atomize the Alcohol.

Worst case scenario, it ate away the finish on the anti-glare.. then you will likely have to replace it.. Can you send some pix?

 

I have had bad-luck with Windex on electronics before. And never use any that has ammonia in it!!

 

I'm guessing it was not exactly glossy and the screen had a fine texture to it, very close to matte but the alcohol smudged or dissolved the texture. Try cleaning it one more time, do it right this time and examine the screen at an angle in plain daylight. If there was a plastic damage to it then it may need to be buffed somehow to remove the extra material accumulated on one side that was smudged around while the screen was covered in alcohol. I'm not familiar with this procedure, I'm sorry.

 

If all else fails, you could try wiping it with a damp denim cloth - I used to remove small scratches from CDs and phone displays (or rather, the plastic cover) back in the day... It works like a micro-abrasive - if your display was glossy and now is foggy, it might help...

 

Yes the screen is glossy afterall. To be quite honest i think the problem is not as bad as i first noticed it to i will try all your suggestions. Here Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting is a bad photo. Dont look at the color quality that is the cameras problem but the differences it has in different areas where it appears foggy. The problem is more viewable at an angle in real life.

 

Well i never applied any alcohol or detergent or household cleaner ever. The best way to clean your laptop screen which i have tested after reading from many sources is that take a cotton cloth, apply water to it, and then twist it until the cloth is wet and no water is dripping. Then slowly apply that cloth on your screen and let the wetness dry. Make sure to clean it in one similar fashion, for example horizontal or vertical movement only. You will see that your screen will look like totally new.

 

I use Windex all the time on the screen ONLY, slightly dampened cloth. For everything else lens cleaner for Electronic DSLR camera's works well. It is expensive though.

 

I only use Klear Screen. It's non-toxic and while a bit pricey, a little goes a long way. I have a small bottle that has lasted over a year.

 

I use this stuff- PixelClean LCD Screen Cleaning Products, Laptop Cleaning Wipes
It's pretty good and is cheap enough to use on your TV too.

 

I have repaired a number of dull/hazed screens with Meguiars Gold Class Quik Wax. I simply put some on a clean terry cloth, and with a swirling motion I spread it over the screen, and simply buff with a microfibre cloth. Sure your finger prints show a little more, but it really does work.

As mentioned, rubbing alcohol can partially dissolve certain plastics, so consider yourself lucky you used 70% and not 99% pure rubbing alcohol. There is no use in pointing the finger, there are fixes, and one is to apply car wax to the screen. It helps build up a layer of protection which the rubbing alcohol helped to dissolve.

Chris

 

Wouldn't have though of the wax. Good idea but did he damage the plastic or is it just the normal film left over from 70%. I know I used it once and learned that lesson quickly. Windex cleaned it for me though but it took several times as that film seemed to almost have imbeded itself. This was on a glare screen not matte.............

 

You have two options to clean a screen:

1) A micro fibre cloth.
2) A mildly moist cloth for more stubborn marks.

Anything else is silly.