fixing laptop

hi all

I am a newbie here. I wanna explain my situations here. i just had a freak accident where i spilled my drink onto my laptop. the laptop could still boot fine, but i am having problems with the touchpad mouse (the pad and the 2 buttons) and a portion of my keyboard. Apparently, the spilled drink (which is an ice lemon tea) are affecting my mouse (i can move my pointer around, but not do any right and left clicks). the bottom portion of my keyboard (the 2 rows that usually hav the shift and control buttons) is also affected (its hard for me to type naturally as i hav to use more pressure when i wanna press on the keys).

is there any way i can fix my problem? my laptop is about 2.5 years old and its an IBM thinkpad. It has served me very well and since the problems are with the keyboard/mouse, i wanna try my best to fix it as I think the laptop still has at least 1~2 years of good life for me.

I dont know if this thread should be in this section of the forum. Mods, please move them if its necessary.

Thanks in advance.

Regards
cococrust

 

whenever you spill liquid on a laptop, you should...

1. immediately power down
2. remove the keyboard
3. try to get as much of the liquid out as possible
4. let it dry for 24 hours
5. after 24 hours, put it back together
6. power on

 

you might look at ibm's website and see if they have spare parts for your pc. Replacing keyboard and touchpad should be fairly easy. If you can get the parts numbers, alot of online vendors like pricewatch or even ebay would most likely have them.

Another option is to get an external mouse, and just replace the keyboard.

 

Unfortunately, I didnt do any of those actions you listed above. Now the keyboard are getting worse and worse. They are getting more cranky (dont know whats the word to use) and more and more keys are affected. After much consideration, this is what I might do. I actually looked up a keyboard part on the web for $40. I might try and replace the keyboard (though from the manual, it really involves a lot of things that need to be done). The mouse ain't too important as I use a external mouse most of the time (beside I think the liquid really got into it and thats why the mouse was the first to go bad). Does anyone know if there is a place where I can send the laptop in to fix for cheap (less than $200). I am not a nimble person and laptops are more fragile than desktops (actually I had broken 2-3 pc parts over the years).

All comes to worse, this laptop will probably end up as my secondary desktop pc that will sit on my desk all the time (use a wireless keyboard+mouse combo and maybe put into use my old CRT). If thats what it ends up as, I might look for a new laptop (or wait till I get one from my prospective employee). I am graduating in 6 months.

Thank you for all the responses.

On a side note, with a $1500 budget (preferably with more than 1 year warranty included), what are the best models I can get now (a sub 6-8 lbs preferred).

 

I was just looking info on how to clean a laptop keyboard because I have an old one I want to refurb, and I came across this website:

http://www.computing.net/howto/simple/keyboard/

Plus, Dell laptop keyboards are usually really easy to remove, and new one costs ~$40-50, I think. I would take it out to clean it if it has that much spillage on it. The are instructions in the service manual for your system on the Dell support website (search for your system name and "service manual" if you can't figure out how to get there). If cleaning doesn't fix it, order a new one and replace it.

 

Cococrust,

Just curious what model of IBM is this? For notebook keyboards, it's usually not fixable after a liquid spill. A water spill is not that bad, but because it was Iced Tea, it has sugar in it and that's what causes corrosion and all the problems. Most IBM keyboards come off really quickly, and the mouse clickers are attached to the keyboard. Usually it's a couple screws on the underside, pop the battery out and there should be a small hole to allow you to push the keyboard up. Pull the keyboard out and pop off the connector from the systemboard and you're done. Pop the new one in, in reverse order, and you're set.

Also, for $1500, there are a lot of models available for that price range. It just depends on the features you want that dictates the price. Warranties are not a problem, most consumer models will have 1 year, but you can get an extended warranty from the manufacturer for cheap these days.

-Vb-

 

Hi VB. Mine is a Thinkpad T30. I have already downloaded the manual and I think I will venture out into fixing the keyboard. But I think there is also something wrong with my mouse (touchpad works, but the right and left click button doesnt). Now, I dont know if its worth it for me to fix it myself (the keyboard replacement part will go for ~40+) as I dont consider myself a nimble person and I dont wanna break something else in the process. I have seen thinkpads being sold for parts on ebay and I was wondering if thats commandable? (I seen some going for as high as 450-500). Practically all my components are in good condition, except for the mouse and keyboard.

 

Cococrust,

The T30's shouldn't be too hard to fix. These should have both the TrackPoint & GlidePad. The trackpoint buttons are attached to the keyboard and the glidepad buttons are attached to the palmrest.

Which set of buttons are messed up, the ones for the trackpoint (buttons above glidepad) or the glidepad buttons (below glidepad)?

If it's the one's above, they're attached to the keyboard, so you need to swap the keyboard no way to repair a keyboard (IBM wants replaced keyboards to be junked, they don't even want them back). Just take 3-4 screws out from the underside (should be labeled with a small picture of the keyboard (should be type 4 screws). To get the keyboard out it's a bit trickier as there's no hole on the under side to push up on. You need to either slide the keyboard backwards a bit and then lift the front (where the buttins are located), or you need to also unscrew the palmrest, this'll release the KB. Pop the ribbon cable from the systemboard and you're done. Just reverse the instructions to replace.

If it's the glidepad buttons, then you need to remove the entire palmrest. This can be done by unscrewing 4-6 screws from the underside (should have 4 screws covered by some stickies, just carefully pop them off), plus the 3-4 for the keyboard. Lift the palm rest off carefully as there's a ribbon cable that is attached to the systemboard (under the keyboard). Pop that off and turn the palmrest upside down. You should now have access to the glidepad parts, just clean or swap as needed. Reverse the steps to re-install.

This should be the basic steps to repair the T30 keyboard/glidepad. Just be careful and don't force anything. Some things may require a but if finesse, but if you don't think it's gonna pop off with a bit of force, don't try any harder. Just check to make sure you didn't miss any screws.

Hope this helps, but mainly, I hope I didn't just give you instructions to break your notebook. Let me know how it turns out. If you have any other questions, just drop me a line.

Good Luck!

-Vb-

 

thanks. yeah my keyboard is on order and i hope it will reach next week. my warranty is already over, so I m not going through them. actualy, both set of buttons are bad. glidepad/pointing stick are fine as i can move around my pointer. i am not really putting too much hope on fixing it 100% non-error. I have already backupped all important data and set aside a budget to maybe get a replacement notebook. I have also been researching to sell the laptop as parts on ebay (i see some getting close to 350-400).

Thanks there VB

 

I am kinda considering either Asus, Acer or Fujitsu as the replacement brand. But with a budget of 1500, including tax, the Asus/Fujitsu seems to be a bit over that.

 

You're welcome.

If both sets of buttons are messed up, it's possible the systemboard could be damaged or it can be an OS issue, but I guess you'll find out soon enough.

Regarding brands, you may want to take a look at the HP Compaq Business notebooks. You get a standard 3yr global warranty and a solid notebook. I have their nx8220 (small business, nc series for larger corps) and I think it's built like a rock. Solid feel, excellent construction and all the features I want. You can get an HP Compaq nc6230 (US Model, 14.1" LCD) starting at $1399 or even the new nx6125 (AMD Turion CPU, 15" LCD) starting at $999.

I think you'll have an easier time getting things repaired with HP than you would with Acer or Asus. Not sure how Fujitsu is, but others have said their support is great. HP has service centers all over the world, so it's easy to drop it off to a local HP repair shop rather than having it shipped in for repairs.

Good luck on the KB, hope it fixes your clicker problem. Let me know what happens.

-Vb-

 

The part is on order and should be here on Wed/Thu. Anyway, if I find out that under the keyboard is dirty/sticky (from the spill), how do I clean it? Can i use a slightly moist paper towel??

 

Q-tips with rubbing alcohol. It'll allow you to clean up the mess and it evaporates really quickly so no additional damage will occur. If you do decide to use water, make sure you have a can of compressed air to blow the excess water off and to dry the parts.

-Vb-

 

Hmmm, rubbing alcohol? Is this the regular ones that I can get from the pharmacy stores?? The part just arrived and I will probably work on replacing it later after work. Will post updates as well. Thanks for all the inputs so far.

 

Yeah, the ones from the local pharmacy should do fine. Just don't over saturate the qtip as this may cause it to drip. Just enough to make it damp should do.

Good Luck!

-Vb-