Water spilled!

I accidentally spilled a bit of water on my T61p while it was running. It ran fine, but I shut if off as quickly as I could. Wiped off as much as I could, and I even removed the palmrest and keyboard (although there didn't seem to be any moisture inside the computer). However, when I turn the computer on, the screen stays black. I can tell that the backlight turns on though. The lights do their normal blinking, but then only the "Z", battery, and the plug light stay lit.
So someone please tell me that all I need to do is wait a little bit until the computer dries.

 

The T61p should be alright with that. That's unusual. Maybe you accidentally loosened something by taking it apart?

 

Actually, it exhibited the same behavior before I took it apart.

 

Open the laptop back up and check to see if you re connected everything correctly.

 

Let it dry just in case something went to the power section.

 

There is an old trick for electonics. Sun dry it. remove the palmrest and keyboard, cover the screen with a towel and let it dry in the sun for five or six hours.

 

Good thing it was a Thinkpad.

 

It's weird, because a ThinkPad should be able to handle that no sweat.

 

Let it dry for a while. A LONG while. Even if it seems dry, there might be tiny water molecules in the circuits that will cause major damage.

 

Had some beer spilled on my t61 two weeks ago...
i was able to shut down the computer, open it and dried everything i could.
It powered on fine and used it for an hour.
The next day it didn't power back on..
Called IBM, sent my T61 to repair and had to pay 800$ to change the motherboard. Impossible to get it thru the warranty ...
and on top of this some key's on my keyboard have a crunchy sound now and are less responsive.

Hope you have better luck than me.

 

Would it be alright with R61?

 

well, it's the morning after, and it still exhibits the same problem. It's unusual that the computer isn't dead. It powers on, but doesn't boot. Does that tell me anything useful?
EDIT: okay, nvm, it's a new problem now. When I plug it in, the "plug in" and "battery" lights come on, but then when I push the power button, they blank out.

 

Probably still some residue shorting it out.

 

Well it was water (Poland Spring, if it matters). Is there anything that I can still do? Are there any parts I can check for residue?

 

Did you try drying out all the parts by taking them appart ? If it were a PC I'd try drying out the parts ( with a blowdryer at a safe distance to avoid static ) and doing a cold-boot setup by booting the machine outside the case with as little component as possible hooked to the mobo. I don't really know if that translates well to a laptop as I'm pretty new in that field.

 

So I called tech support, and they asked me what the symptoms were, but never asked for the cause. So naturally, I didn't tell them it was a spill. What are the chances that they'll just fix whatever they need to fix without finding out it was a spill and charging me for it?

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Do you have the accident protection plan?

 

I work as an automotive tech for BMW. We deal with this situation...really on a weekly basis mostly in our 5-Series. Customers will spill bottled water or have a styrofoam cooler that "sprung a leak" in their trunks. Underneath the spare tire is a pack of control modules that control various things. The car behaves incorrectly (like your laptop) and the customer comes to me. Most of the time the water is still in the bottom of the trunk but sometimes there is very little moisture at all. Here is the trick. You can tell if water has been present. Electricity promotes corrosion. I would leave it off and have the battery disconnected. Take as much of the lower section of the Thinkpad apart and let it dry out completely. Someone said something about sun drying, that's great. Be careful when you take it apart. My dad replaced his screen on his T41 a few months back and used a schematic to tape all the screws to as he took them out. Pay attention to detail. Laptops are very elaborate and can be tricky to get every little last screw in exactly the right place. Only do what your comfortable with. Technicians can easily notice if something has been apart before if not put back together correctly. That will make them suspect something is up. If you don't see greenish corrosion (like a really old penny) send it in and try your luck. What else do you have to lose...Right? They will have to get consent to fix anything. Worst case...you get stuck with an estimate to fix it and a check out charge (probably no more that $100). Best case...They fix it free. Let us know what you do.

 

So I sent my laptop in for repairs, and no, I don't have accident protection, just the normal warranty. The weird thing is, they said that they couldn't replicate the problem. I think that means that it booted just fine when they got their hands on it. I took my hard drive out when I shipped it to them, but I know this is not the problem, because even without a hard drive, the computer should still display the splash screen and let me go to the bios. Oh, and they didn't mention anything about discovering a spill.

 

good hopefully it had completely dried out before they got their hands on it. You might want to try and boot without the HD in it to see if you can enter the bios. Your HD might be internally shorted from the spill and causing your Thinkpad not to work correctly.