Spilled a drink on my Eurocom p750zm

Ended up spilling a drink all over the keyboard. Took it apart last night, let it dry, did my best to dry it out but it's still not working. Has anyone had experience sending a laptop back to the manufacturer for repair? Or am I pretty much SOL?

 

Ouch, that's some seriously bad luck, sorry to hear it!

Is the entire machine dead?

 

bad thing about this: even if the machine still works after the spill, the internal components will slowly but surely deteriorate due to corrosion. ive had this happen to my previous machine, it died on me only after about 1-1.5 years had passed after i spilled OJ on it ever since, ive kept all kinds of liquids faaaar away from my beloved dark knight...

 

I know, I think a piece of my soul died . It looks like it's getting power, when plugged in the battery light is green and the charging light is orange. When I hit the power button the charging light turns green, then orange then green and back to a solid orange.

 

Do the fans kick on or anything? That would be a pretty good indicator. Generally 24 hours is not long enough to let something dry when its exposed to moisture either but the damage is already done if you've powered it on since the spill. You could luck out with a motherboard replacement (around 400 bucks) if its at least showing signs of life.

 

Yeah, in retrospect I should've pulled the battery and taken it apart immediately and not tried powering it on for quite a while. No fans kick on, nothing. The battery light/charging light are the only signs of life.

 

Sounds like a dead motherboard at the least. Hopefully that's all. I would contact them and just be honest about what happened. Accidents happen, they might work something out with you.

 

That's what I plan on doing. Fingers crossed lol

 

Well, here's some free advertising for that company that offers after-sales accidental damage protection warranty.

How long have you had it? Some credit card companies offer free accidental damage protection for 3-4 months when you buy your machine on the card. My Visa card, for example, offers 90 days accidental damage protection. Handy to have.

How did you pay for it?

 

I bought it in Feb 2015 and paid with my checking account. No luck there :/

 

I would send it to your reseller, many places offer free labour still and they can test further parts if it's not just the motherboard that has been damaged.

 

I created a ticket with Eurocom a few days ago now, but no word from them yet.

 

If the manafactor cant save it, It might help to take alcohol and a toothbrush and take your laptop apart and clean all of them separately. Leave to dry before reassembling them. You don't want the liquid to dry in between contact points because they can corrode and when you take them apart they will break apart. If your thorough, and clean out your hardware as soon as you can you might be able to save it. Also do not try to provide power to your components until your sure it's all dry. Im a electronics repair technician by job and that's how I've been able to fix countless phones and laptops. Just be aware that after water damage electronics have a low change to be saved due to the unpredictable nature of water damage. I don't want to be responsible for any damage you do to your device in the process but if it's not working at all, hand cleaning is the last resort, aside from sonic cleaning.. You said you tried to turn it on after it was dry, if the chance there was still liquid in the laptop what happens alot is the battery will be depleted very quickly and will not be able to power on completely. Best of luck man. I guess this may be too late or not recommended but it's last resort...

 

That's pretty good advice. I'd agree to let it dry longer to make sure it is 100% dry. Back when I used to sell phones, usually that was the trend I saw. People who let it dry longer had a better chance of survival on their electronics.

 

If you're comfortable with opening your machine, you can clean the motherboard with some alcohol. With some luck, there may be some residue of the drink making a short on your motherboard (it depends on the drink ). I spilled orange juice with pulp on my laptop (see profile pic). It worked after a thorough cleaning of the motherboard with alcohol and ear picks.

 

Was a vodka/sour. I doubt that's good for it lol. I'm going to take it all apart tonight and clean it thoroughly.

On a side note: It is impossible to find someone that actually works on electronics and components.

 

These days, that's true. There used to be decent money to be made as a techy-guy/gal who could actually fix electronics.

But when you can buy a brand-new 50" HD TV for under $500, or a decent, entry-level gaming laptop for under $1000, there's not much point. Demand dries up when the cost of repairing an item represents a substantial chunk of the cost of a new machine.

Back in the good old days, electronics and home appliances were so expensive than spending $150 to have them repaired made sense. Not any more.

 

Yes, when transistos cost dollars each then the entire product was worth saving.

 

You'd have a better chance of saving it from a vodka sour than straight up water or worse, soda, might be worth going in with some rubbing alcohol and cleaning up everything.

 

Good news! I stripped her down and cleaned it last night and found the CMOS had fried and leaked acid on the motherboard. After cleaning it now boots and is working normally. For now lol, hopefully it's saved.

 

Did you clean everything else too? Either way that's great news!

 

wow that is some serious luck right there....

but yeah, make sure uve cleaned EVERYTHING thoroughly, meaning take out thr entire mobo and clean it out. u dont want any residues left there to slowly corrode ur machine. once it gives out and u send it in for an rma theyll find those residues and refrain from a warranty repair = expensive!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Yah, no kidding. I completely cleaned every inch of it with denatured alcohol. I still have to replace the CMOS, but tonight all good so far. 2 hours of Fallout 4, no hiccups, temps are normal.

 

That's awesome. Glad to hear that you got it working, and didn't have to send it out anywhere.

 

That's incredibly lucky nothing else was taken out at the same time, congrats on that

 

Sometimes drinking alcoholic beverages has its perks... lol

 

Lol really?

 

Alcohol doesn't conduct electricity. So yes.

 

Sadly, the rest of it does.

Pure water does not conduct either, it just has a habit of picking up ions from anything it touches ^-^

 

Okay mister technical. Lol. I didn't want to go into the chemistry haha

 

I get it from my wife, she's a pedantic chemist

 

quite the combo, u two

 

An interesting life you must lead sir lol

 

Do you two solve crimes?