water damage to x201 any ideas?

Hey,

Looking for some help here, while visiting family some water got spilt on my x201's keyboard while the system was turned on and running on battery.

It seemed that all the water was drained out from it and the system shut off before we could shut it off. I've taken the unit apart and i don't see any major water damage to circut boards or residue anywhere, but the system won't power on. The AC power light flashes as does the battery light like it was charging.

I've tried my second battery and a second power adapter with the system and no change. Also the system just (within 2 weeks) came off warranty (standard 1 year for canadians).

Just looking for any ideas that might get this up and running again as it would be great to have it working.

Thanks for any help.

 

Buy a new laptop.

Water damage can take as long as 1-2 years to see the effects. Give the cost of a OOW motherboard you may as well buy a new sytem.

 

How much water went into the unit!? Maybe try to dry it out and see what happens.

 

Take it apart once more.

Then use a hairdryer to dry out thoroughly the parts.

 

You should've left it disassembled for 48 hours before plugging in any source of power. =/ All you need is a little bit of moisture to form a pathway for a short-circuit.

 

You don't need much, but if you hit the right spot, that's it. You getting any beeps?

 

The amount was maybe 3 or 4 ounces, wasn't a whole lot of water.

Odd thing is this morning I woke up and the laptop was sitting at the windows login screen. Should I still take it apart again and use a blow dryer?

 

i wouldnt use a blow dryer.... i'd put it in a tightish box with a dehumidifier for a few days with the battery/power disconnected just to be safe

(you can get a dehumidifier at your local supermarket, people put them in cupboards to stop clothes getting mouldy)

 

Putting it in a sealed bag of dessicant (silica gel packets or some uncooked rice) also works.

If it now boots to the login screen, then I'd think you should consider yourself lucky.

 

Tried letting it sit all day and the thing won't boot at all now. I'll try the blow dryer when I get home from visiting.

 

I'd try the rice method. Take the machine apart, and pack the parts in rice. The rice will then absorb the moisture, and in a few days, put the machine back together. If she still doesn't work, THEN I'd consider it a total loss.

Also, as others have suggested, I wouldn't have tried turning the machine back on so soon after a water spill. I'd let it dry for at LEAST 2-3 days before I were to even consider putting the machine back together again.

Good luck, and please let us know the outcome !

 

Do the above method, place the laptop somewhere far away (even at a friend's house) and forget about it for the next couple of days. It's all worth it for a thousand-dollar machine.

 

the reason i suggested dehumidifier instead of rice is because rice tends to leave some residue (u know the powdery tiny bits of broken rice) and is probably easier to find than sillica gel in large quantity.

trying to switch it on repeatedly after such a short time is a terrible idea. even if it was saveable u might have killed it by doing so.

 

Rice is more readily available but I get what you're saying.

That is exactly what you might have done, R3d-. It sucks that many of us are so eager to use our water-damaged electronics without fully having them dry out.

I wouldn't blow dry the laptop myself as I would consider that a "quick" method to removing the water. And you know, quick + removing water in electronics = not a good combination. But that's just me.

 

Just combine the methods and hopefully you get good results.

blowdry + dehumidifier / rice method.