W520: Spilled acetone all over wrist rest area and keyboard.

Yup I'm an idiot, but good thing I have TPP for this. They accepted the machine for the depot repair, however im worried they will probably send it back in the same condition.

According to the site:
Lenovo - Tablet Services - US

TPP covers spills but not cosmetic damage. Most of the damage from the acetone is that the plastic melted.

Anyone have experiance with this think that they would or would not replace the plastic pieces (keyboard, top layer of plastic while the laptop is open)?

 

Depends on how bad it is. If it's just a little bit of cosmetic damage to the surfaces, they likely won't replace it. If there's significant "melting" on the surfaces, they'll probably swap them out. Not much you can do except wait and see, though.

 

Yeah that's what i'm worried about. Its mostly surface damage cause i tried to wipe it off quickly, and the right hand side is a bit worse with slight deformation. I posted a picture just for the hell of it. Think they would just send it back or ask if i wanted to pay to replace the pieces?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/imag0015ro.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/imag0016qe.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/imag0017jkx.jpg

 

I'm also actually wondering what others would do in this situation. They did accept for depot, but the machine and everything is still operational.

Would you send it in and lose a laptop for up to 6 weeks in hopes they would fix it?

 

Well, that'll learn ya. That's pretty discolored. If they wont cover it you may have to purchase a new palmrest yourself. I take it you're in the US?

 

Yup in the US Not even sure how easilly replaceable the palmrest is, Ideally the keyboard, palmrest and touchpad get replaced, but eh.

 

The hardware maintenance manual can be found here. Now looking at the manual on page 114, you need parts 2 and 23, which are FRU numbers 04W1365 (if you have no fingerprint reader), and 45N2101 possibly, for the keyboard.

You can purchase IBM replacement parts here.
According to that link, the palmrest will cost you $68. I currently cannot find the keyboard there however. But hopefully that will get you set in the right direction.

 

Thanks Roger, that helps if they don't replace it. Though, weirdly enough I cant find the part for the palmrest with Fingerprint reader and Color Sensor and no Smart Card Reader in there, and the keyboard parts don't show up as valid according to IBM's website. Maybe i'll call them if depot decides not to replace.

 

By the way, just to inform others, something weird happened with my first call to Lenovo Support:

I called Lenovo directly after the accident and a lady fowarded me to another department to discuss warrenty status. The guy that was on the phone explained to me right away that I was not covered for spills (even though I have TPP, which covers spills) and that I would have to put down a $2000 dollar credit card hold and get a tech to drive onsight to quote the charges for fixing the damage while also paying for traveling fees for the tech. I was overwhelmed by that response so I asked if I could get ahold of the parts group to get a quote on the palmrest, keyboard and touchpad parts instead of putting down a credit card hold. He pointed to a number and sent me on my way and when I called, it was a XXX hotline... Something did not add here so I called them back and got a proper response.

 

What number is it they gave you?

I doubt you will have to replace the parts yourself. If you did it wouldn't take more than 30 minutes even if you never touched a screwdriver before.

Brad

 

The depot would do a quote for the repair needed (well in Australia this is how it is done), and they will send it to IBM service for approval, and once the cost is approved. The depot will do the repair for you.

But i doubt you would have do the repair yourself under the TPP.

Acetone really ate into the PC/ABS casing, they will most likely replace it.

And i guess using Acetone for cleaning ThinkPad casing is out of the question now.

P.S. If you still get stuck with the warranty claim, just post this on the Lenovo official forum and let the staffs there lend a hand to help you resolve the problem.

 

Not sure the number anymore. I had it in an instance of notepad but it's now closed.

I could probably replace them myself without an issue, problem is I can't find the parts I need. Palmrest with color sensor and fingerprint reader, a touchpad, and a US English keyboard. I tried Rogers suggestion, but the palmrest in question isn't listed, the Keyboard FRU's don't work on IBM's lookup website, and neither does the touchpad. If anyone knows anymore about this let me know!

My current strategy I guess is to send in the laptop to see if its covered as spill and not cosmetic unless I find out where to get the parts myself. I'll repost here once my dilema is solved

Thanks to everyone for help!

Thanks lead, very helpful info, ill follow up soon

 

Just as a final update:

Laptop came back today. I am acutally suprised how good of a job Lenovo did. Sent the thing about monday night, got it back this afternoon.

They replaced the palmrest, keyboard and even the motherboard. I was worried for some time there after all the dicussion of Lenovo support, but after this I will truely buy and support Lenovo as long as I need a laptop.

Awesome service... Thanks everyone who replied for the help.