(Completely) Disassembling Vaio

Spilled beer on my comp about a week ago, immediately got a blue warning screen telling me to contact my service provider. So I unplugged it and pulled the battery, drained what liquid I could out of it, and slowly started disassembling right down to the motherboard. I slowly spent the last week gently rubbing the crud off all the circuits with a soft toothbrush and some q-tips, everything appears to be gone. I did not check the CPU, hopefully that's fine. Anyway I put it mostly back together and tried to power it on, and nothing happened.

It is possible that the beer in fact killed it completely. However I would suspect that if that were the case then the unit will still receive power and show signs of life, but not actually boot. Another possibility is that I killed it myself while taking it apart. It is also possible that there is a short, or I forgot to hook everything up correctly, etc etc

From a troubleshooting standpoint I think my next move will be completely taking everything out (motherboard, cpu, everything) and starting from ground zero to make sure everything is clean and connected properly. Ie connecting the motherboard with power and seeing if it powers on, then add the cpu and see if it powers on, then add the memory, etc. I know the system won't boot without a cpu/mem, but it should still respond to the power input. Or at least it should, in theory

Ive done this a thousand times with desktop systems, but never for a laptop. My question: are there any failsafe devices which prevent the system from powering up unless they are connected? Has anyone ever done this successfully before?

Thanks

IHateMayonnaise

 

Just a suggestion from experience.

Be extra careful when re-assembling the notebook. It's very easy to accidentally pinch a ribbon or wire with chassis pieces. Even if the computer's components are fully functional this can cause the computer to not boot correctly; I believe they are very sensitive to voltage variations.

Good luck. My buddy's notebook was drenched with a full glass of wine. Fortunately he yanked the power cord and battery immediately and we were able to get it working again after we disassembled and cleaned it. For a lack of professional cleaning supplies we resorted to using rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, and and hair dryer (low heat). It was a royal pain but it the end it worked. If the wine had contacted a live circuit it probably would not have been recoverable.

 

A word of caution. NEVER, EVER use rubbing alcohol on electronics. Isopropyl alcohol is what you want. It is right on the same shelf as the rubbing alcohol at the drug store. Rubbing alcohol contains lubricants that leave behind a residue. Isopropyl will completely evaporate. Look at the bottle of Isopropyl, you want the one with the highest percentage of alcohol content, about 97% if I remember correctly.

Gary

 

It's labeled only as "91% alcohol" then it says "Isopropyl alcohol," I couldn't find anything more pure.

 

We used a generic brand that is labeled as 'Rubbing Alcohol'. I just double checked it to make sure; it's Isopropyl alchohol. Probably the most important thing is to get the highest percentage of alcohol content.

Any idea what the professional shops use?

 

That's it! 91% is what you want.

Gary

 

If it says "Rubbing" then it will, almost always, also have some sort of lubricant in it as well the isopropyl alcohol. The important thing is you do not want ANY lubricant in it when you are using it as a cleaning solution. And the higher the percentage of alcohol the better.

Gary

 

Just checked my rubbing alcohol from years ago. It is labeled isopropyl alcohol but only 70%. I have been using it to clean my cpu and HSF (for my desktop), and it has been ok. Next time when I re-seat my cpu I'll get the 91%.

 

When you buy a bottle that just says "Isopropyl alcohol", it can be 70% or 91%. The other % is water. When the label says "rubbing" on it, then lubricants are also present. These lubricants do not evaporate. Depending on what lubricant is used it, the residue may attract dust or even be slightly conductive. Neither trait is desirable, of course.

Gary

 

As I said, it s from long time ago (40 years). It says: Rogier Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol N.F. Then in finer prints, Isopropyl Alcohol 70%.

I have been using it to re-seat my cpu hfs. That explain my cpu temp is a bit higher than others.

 

...Does anyone have any advice on my original question?