Spilling water on a laptop

Hi folks!

My friend has a Acer Travelmate 4050 and a while ago she accidently spilt some tea on her keyboard. She turned it off and flipped it upsidedown over night and next morning it worked fine. The only problem she had was that the keyboard wasn't working right. I've had a look around on the net for other people who had a similar problem, but all of them complain of some keys or all the keys not working. The problem she has is that the keys do work, only they display strange symbols instead of the correct ones.

So basically my question is, will this problem be solved by getting a replacement keyboard? Or is this problem deeper down? Thanks in advanced. Oh and if I posted this in the wrong area, just tell me and I'll delete and repost.

 

I'd ask a repair shop and see what they say... After all, they'd be the ones responsible for fixing it.

All I know is, I spilled coffee on my keyboard, now my battery doesn't charge (only discharges), and the only way to fix it is a $550 systemboard replacement

Malia

 

Well, first of all I am not positive but that sounds like a BIOS thing. I think that keys are mapped through the BIOS and the water may have shorted out something on the motherboard and caused the BIOS to go a little funky. If the laptop works fine but the keyboard settings are all screwed up then I would check the BIOS...if that doesn't work and you need a new mobo then you can always try and use an external keyboard so long as she doesn't mind turning it into a desktop replacement heh.

Like I said, I do not know these things for sure, just an idea.

 

Take the keyboard out and use a brush and, per exapmle, cleaning alcohol to clean it out.

 

i believe replacement kbs are cheap (around $20?) so just pick one up and test it.

 

i've seen a problem like that before... replacing the keyboard will replace it.

 

I guess there is some tea that didn't evaporate yet, if there was too much sugar in the tea, then it might make the contacts of the keyboard sticky and alter the sensitivity of press!
If I were you I would remove the kayboard and rinse it with water and waiti till it dries before installing it!
if the problem persist, just like Aivyn said... it could be the bios!
Maybe flushing the bios (not with water lol) with fresh data might fix the problem!
Look for a bios update...

good luck~

 

What happens is when the liquid gets in there, it shorts out some of the connections between the keys, so sometimes you press one key and get an output of multiple characters or something completely unrelated. The damage is done. A new keyboard will fix the problem and shouldn't run you more the $35.

 

Firstly you need to know what is the problem so:
Try using an external USB keyboard, if the characters come out funny as well:
Flush the BIOS
if not:
Replace the keyboard.
Straight forward.

 

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone

I might try and get a new keyboard and see how it goes from there since she is using a usb keyboard at the moment and it seems fine. Does anyone know where I could get a replacement keyboard for cheap? Because I was told that it would cost around AU$100 or more for one.. I'm from Australia btw.

 

Any repair center should be able to order you one... otherwise, try googling for it.

 

I*ave a similar problem wit* coffee so 'h' doesn't register unless I use an external keyboard or screen keyboard. After talking to Acer support and a repair s*op I t*ink it's too muc* to replace a w*ole keyboard just for one key, so I'll try and clean it myself.

Are t*ere any 'Travelmate 354tev' owners w*o can tell me *ow to remove t*e keyboard and clean a single key.

I've already removed t*e top of t*e h-key and t*e narrow panel above t*e function keys and cleaned under t*ose. T*anks.

 

I would also advise you remove the keyboard first and give it a deep clean. Dry it out completely for a couple of days and then try again. You have to remove the keyboard anyway to replace it so no harm in trying all you can before splashing money.

You can buy it from here:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Acer-TravelM...ryZ31568QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem