Spilled lot of water on laptop... wont turn on... PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!

I spilled a great deal of water on my laptop 5 days ago (it was a 2L bottle filled with water and only 1/4 of the bottle was left after the spill) WHILE the laptop was on. The screen froze and had several horizontal bars across the it, and something inside the laptop made some drawn out beeping sounds. I immediately disconnected the power and removed the battery, aimed a hair dryer at the vents, and turned it upside down. Afterwards I made the mistake of turning it on and off and for awhile in the beginning. At first the laptop would turn on but the screen was black. Eventually the laptop stopped responding altogether and now seems completely dead.

(On the second day after the spill I was still able to turn the laptop on and open the CD tray, and I found it to still be wet. I did turn it upside down for a bit but that wasn't for very long either. I'm afraid the damage is now permanent and doing anything more like that won't be of much use.)

I am living in the UK right now, but I bought the laptop in Canada. It is still under warranty but obviously it doesnt cover physical or acciental damage. I found a Toshiba Service Center here in the UK that will provide warranty repairs for free but in their email to me they specified that if they find the damage to the laptop to be due to physical or liquid damage they will charge me and quote me for the repair. If I decide not to let them repair it IT WILL STILL COST ME 42 BRITISH POUNDS plus tax just to have them inspect my laptop. 42 pounds is 70 USD. I find this to be a complete rip-off but what choice do I have??

If I let them look at the laptop what is the likelihood they will be able to pinpoint the problem to liquid damage? (I have read cases where the water damage was never discovered by the manufacturer who simply replaced the motherboard and sent the laptop back to the customer... I was hoping this would be the case for me). Am I completely at their mercy? The way I see it they could quote me an inordinate price to replace the parts and repair the laptop and I would have no choice but to accept, or else I will have to pay the inspection fee.

I am new to this country and this is the absolute worst thing to happen to me right now as having use of a laptop is crucial to my survival here (used for job hunting, etc.)! Please, does anyone know what I CAN do?

Thanks in advance.

 

It sounds like you are going to have to pay the full repair fees because the chances of the manufacturer not finding the water damage if you send the laptop in are very slim.

 

STOP SCREWING AROUND WITH IT. STOP IT! I know you want to turn it on... DON"T!

Let it dry out COMPLETELY. You may very well have fried your computer, and if it ever happens again do this:

1) Turn off the computer. Do not shut down, just hold down the power button until the computer shuts off.
2) Unplug the computer
3) Remove the battery
4) Let it dry (find a spot inside your house that has a spot of sun warming it DO NOT DO THIS INSIDE A CAR)
5) Let it dry (put your computer on top of your dryer while it's running
6) Let it dry (put it on a heater or AC vent in your house)
7) You still with me?
8) Let it dry (cuddle it in bed... ok, maybe too much)
9) When you are SURE that it is dry put in the battery and turn it on.

While computer components are sensitive to liquid, it is not necessarily a death sentence.

 

I would recommend that you partly dismantle the computer (remove keyboard, HDD, battery, any covers on the bottom) to help with the drying process. It can take some time to remove the residual moisture.

However, if it was plain water then you have a much better chance that the computer will recover than if you had spilt any drink containing sugar or acid.

John

 

Well, is there anyway I could replace the motherboard itself? Could it be that the motherboard has been fried? I will try opening the laptop up just to let it dry for a bit but I am afriad to take it apart as I have no idea how.

Should I just have the Toshiba Service Center inspect my laptop and tell me what is wrong and I will find parts for it on my own?

 

Replacing a laptop motherboard is not an easy task. You need to have good attention for detail and if you are not confident going in to it I would advise against it. Do what John recommended and let it dry for a couple of days. If it still doesn't work then worry about calling Toshiba. You haven't even mentioned what type of laptop it is... I mean if we are talking about a Tecra M2 you might as well write the thing off...

 

My laptop is M800 Portege... what does this mean?

 

The your Portege should have a fluid RESISTANT keyboard (not designed for 1.5L of water though). Is your computer dry yet? If it is, have you tried starting it? If you have tried, what happens? Any noises, lights, does it POST?

If it still doesn't work then it's up to you. For the less than the price of a motherboard replacement you could probably buy a really cheap laptop and chock this up to experience... it just depends on how much you can afford to spend at this point.

 

If it is a spill-proof keyboard then you can try pleasing with Toshiba to fix it. A spill is a spill, not a splash.

And if you do start thinking of replacements, check the stock at Morgan. However, repair should be less expensive.

Do you think you have got it dry yet? If so, remove the battery and try starting it off the mains. If it doesn't show any life you can pull out the mains plug to remove all power.

John

 

Well, wet electronic devices should work again after full dry. Leave it outside, but not in direct sun light.

good luck

 

Yes! I did as you told me to, I removed the battery pack and powered it using the cord... I was able to start it up and access my desktop! However there seem to be some glitches. Some of the icons won't stop blinking/flashing, and when I click the start icon some invisible hand seems to be pressing "ddddddddddddd" into the search field. Also some of the normal functions don't seem to be working properly, like dragging and dropping objects into folders.

Does this also mean I will no longer be able to use the laptop with only the battery pack?

Could this mean the water isn't completely dried or it has done some permanent damage to my laptop?

 

It could be either. Luckily it sounds like the motherboard, screen, RAM, HDD (I'm not sure how long I would trust it though) made it through alright. The ddddd may be that the keyboard is still wet. You dumped so much water that it might have gotten past the water resistant part. Unfortunately being water resistant it may prevent water from leaving too easily too. If you are comfortable you can try removing the keyboard and leaving it someplace warm. I have gone as far as putting mine in the oven @ 150F to get it to dry all the way out. I am not advocating that you do this, or that it is without risk, but it might speed up the process a bit.

 

The last time I spilled water on my laptop, it damaged the keyboard only. If you thoroughly dried the computer inside, try connecting an external keyboard and see if it works.

 

OK as far as I can tell the laptop is fine and back to normal, except many of the keys still feel sticky, even though all I poured on it was water. I can't type as fast as I used to. What can I do?

 

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Maybe that can help? Look in Youtube for some Tips

 

Time for a new one, friend, water inside the machine while on (2Lit, r u kidding me) . how many months did u use it? if u heard that someone was able to get the MOBO changed and it stopped due to water spill then u can give it a shot and gamble if u r lucky u need not pay or spend 70 USD and get it repaired for free, instead of straight away goin for 700 USD for a new one. what was ur model?before u get to the ppl make sure u dry it off completely. all the best

 

Maybe there is still some residual moisture in the keyboard. If it doesn't improve with use then a replacement keyboard shouldn't be too hard to find. it's a lot less expensive than a replacement computer.

John