Spilled hot chinese soup on keyboard of Z13 :(

This is quite unfortunate... i spilled hot chinese soup on my Z13's which mostly hit the keyboard (all the way from the trackpad to the top by the speakers), and some lashed up on the screen and went in the bezel.

(((

It was working for like 3-5 seconds while i frantically tried to switch off the unit, i pulled the plug first then held down the power button so it went off in less than 10 seconds..


i am out of warranty by about 11 months, and spill isn't covered so i hear.

anyway i opened it up to clean out that sticky, oily, greesy saucy liquid before it corrodes anything, so i cleaned it out as good as i can without digging up into too much.
so once i assembled it back up i realised that most of my keys don't work anymore including important ones like ENTER, DELETE, ESC, fn.

Very few of the keys actually do work. SPACEBAR doesn't.

he fingerprint reader, backlight, indicator lights and stamina/speed switch works though.

So this morning i opened up the Z again and went further into unravelling the entire palmrest part.... loosing some screws like houdini somehow. so i don't have enough screws to
put it back together 100%... i even seem to have lost the latch that comes down and locks the ribbon cable connecting the palmrest to the motherboard but that part still works
because of the way it clamps down, but might come loose with heavy movement.


Any idea why the keys wont work? and what should I replace? Can that possibly be a motherboard issue now or do you think the palmrest needs replacement? (by palmrest i mean the entire keyboard detachable part that you lift to get inside the Z, as document in the VPC-Z1 repair manual).

I am also going to need like a bag of the kind of screws in the Z, i have only managed to missplace the smallest size (i have all my mediums and longs).


So in summary... i'm probably going to need to buy a new palmrest part...
and a bag of small screws that will work in the VPC-Z13 .

i've gotten into windows and went online so i think everything else works, because not much liquid was there. the ssd drives had a bit of gunk on them but i cleaned it out quick and they look clean,
some of the frontmost circuitry did take some wetting too but not much. the keyboard was greased though. i detached that part completely and ran it under warm water then rinsed with distilled and blow-dryed it, but
the keys still give problems. i used blow cans to force air into all the connectors concerning but still no go. i am thinking something shorted out here i dont know......


please advise me as soon as possible what i could do.

 

Gross!!

AFAIK the palmrest is the raised portion on either side of the touchpad, where you rest your palms while typing.

Anyway, if the soup hasn't gotten anywhere else, you can buy a new keyboard and be done with it. See the service manual on ComputerCowboy's site for the part number.

Best guess is that the gunk got into the spaces between the key tops and the frame, and is making the keys stick. Find out about ordering a new keyboard (line up the source where you'll get it from) and then, when you've got nothing to lose, attack the keyboard with liquid soap and water (disconnect the keyboard completely, wash it well - use the spray nozzle in the kitchen sink, rinse thoroughly, and then dry out completely over a couple of days before putting it back).

 

Ok man. now i don't even see the backlight keyboard up, and ome of the speakers dont work, do you suspect that that little board that connects it all just under the synaptics touchpad may have taken a hit?

That one is cheap to replace like $46 bux......

 

I think you ended up damaging some more stuff while opening the laptop up. What you're supposed to do when you spill liquids on a laptop is to turn off the laptop immediately and clean up as much as you can on the outside. Remove the battery.

Then you either let it sit and dry out for the next couple of days and DON'T turn it back on while it is still wet, or else you run into risk of shorting out more components. If you're tech savvy, you can remove some parts to let it dry out quicker, but never ever turn it on unless it is completely dry.

You just have to be patient. I've had this happen to laptops from friends and this method always works if you just let it dry out and stop turning it on while still wet. You probably ended up costing yourself a lot more for repairs (and now missing screws.)

 

Since you might not clean the whole palm rest thoroughly, it will get worse when you turn the laptop on and corrosion was happening.
Again, remove palm rest, take all parts apart (if possible). Let hot water running over them thoroughly, then let them dry for couple hours or put them in an oven or toaster at 250F for 10minutes. Check all board for any damage.

 

Alright, here are some pictures. After i downloaded and printed the manual and ran back through everything, it appears I don't think i am missing any screws. what happened was i put them in the wrong place, and thought i was missing screws because they are meant to be left open and locked down by from the outside (long screws)... sorry about that. but i'll order some spares just incase. [Does anybody know if those Screw replacement parts are PER screw or do I get a kit? And if you could recommend me a site where I could order them in bulk....for cheaper if that's the case (single screws) ]

I definately am missing the retention clip for the keyboard circuitrly under the fp reader though, so I have to get that part...

Oh. I tested everything else last night..... Bluetooth, WiFi, everything else seems to be running perfectly.
I am seeing a increase in temperature though. It's actually throttling quite fast, so I might have to remove the mainboard to check under there now, but everywhere else is dry and clean from what you could see in the pictures.....
There's definately can't be any liquid under there because I would have seen where it would leak, and it was mostly the front only (close to palmrest)... so yeah. no errors or blue screens or anything.


One thing I noticed just now....... you see the picture with the Wifi card and the pink tape untop?? Is it supposed to have a thin plastic untop of the pink tape??
The other two sticky thermal pads don't have it (for the Video Ram chips is it?)....
Did a engineer forget to peel out one side of the pad?

 

I recently bought a new keyboard from aliexpress and installed it. This is because I broke one of the base of the keys off.
It was only $115 with 3 day DHL shipping with no import or duties.
If you have any more problems look at aliexpress.

 

Sorry about all this confusing . but i found back the little brown flap that locks down the ribbon. so i installed it. backlight works again. but still most keys dont work so i am goign to definately ORDER in the parts.

New keyboard part $115
New kybd/bl/spk board $52

that's all i seem to need..

and finally. could anybody point me to some site where I could get a Silicone cover for the Z11-13 ?? US layout (rectangular key)..... and probably one that is purple.
i know there's quite alot on the web but i wanted someone who knows about this stuff to point me in the general right direction first.

thanks

 

Im going to trick out the thermal performance now, ordering some 1.5mm tapes and 0.5mm......they got some really high performance of 17 mK (mega kinkies?) of thermal conductivity according to FrozenCPU!

 

Found this: laptop keyboard for SONY VPC Z11 Z12 Z13 Series Keyboard-in Other Computer Products from Computer & Networking on Aliexpress.com

Even cheaper than what I purchased. No DHL option though. I couldn't find the seller that I purchased it from, but I think there are some on Ebay.
GL

 

I've never seen a wifi card with a thermal pad, but I guess they do get pretty warm. As far as I know the pads come with plastic on them that is supposed to be removed when the pad is installed so I would remove the plastic. Does the top of the pad actually come in contact with anything?

 

Yeah. Actually, now that i've scrapped down the entire thing, i've noticed both the WWAN and Wifi card's have those little thin spacer materials (both with plastic attached). I guess they didn't remove the film because it's probably not necessary like on a CPU or RAM chip. I've left it as is, as i've never had problems with either card in question.

 

Ok. Well since my CPU was throttling like crazy when it's loaded I decided to take the plunge and just open up everything. So I completely opened it up.. so there's a thin thermalpad thing over the GPU and the normal heatpad over the CPU which was totally dried to the sh-its. I removed that cr-ap with some ArtiClean 1 & 2, and applied some ArticCooling MX-2 I had on handy. Cleaned those two dies like a champ and they were mirrors, then Put two approximate dabs of thermal paste and flatted it naturally when I reattached the fan assembly. My CPU now doesn't just jot up to 100c like it was doing..... now it takes time to reach high temperatures, not even crossing 90c now. Ambient 26c. It's just like I had it when i got it now I think.... but this time it's using MX-2 paste. i'm now wondering if my Z is even on, the idle temps probably dropped by 10c also. I remember seeing 70-71c idle temps now it's down to 58c. and now the core temps are actually matching the CPU case? temps more or less, where before the cores typically went ahead by 5-10c . (Still stuggles with maintaining good temps in the 2.8 (3.2ghz turbo) config like mine when under full FPU benchmark in Aida64, but that's as good as it was when i got it brand new anyway)
No shim used. I did not change the GPU's solution as that don't get hot enough by itself at full load....and i don't play games on this machine anymore.

Tested every single card/feature on the laptop again and everything is working except most of my keys on the keyboard. So that's definately the part to replace come soon.


Pics:









And there she is... all assembled and running (via external keyboard =|).....and external mouse (although both my touchpad and fpreader/mouse buttons work flawless now as well).

 

Are you sure that's the right thing man? Am i seeing blue text on that keyboard? the ribbon looks spraypainted too, or the image has been colour-adjusted i guess?

 

Before ordering a new keyboard I would try cleaning and thoroughly drying the current one.

I previously spilt beer on my old laptop, and several keys stopped working. I disassembled, and removed the keyboard, then washed it in warm soapy water(completely submerged, but kept the connecting wires out).

I then dryed it with paper towel and left out in front of a fan for about 24 hours. Reinstalled and several keys still didn't work. So I then removed it again, and left it in front of the fan for a further 48 hours, reinstalled, and everything worked perfectly.

 

They did NOT.
There is 2 pretty long thermal pad which are stick on a piece of palm rest.
Each piece covers 2 ram chips.

 

Okay. Anybody know's what size they are precisely (thickness)? I wanted to try and replace them with high performance ones for whatever it's worth. And did your MCP or whatever it is... the piece directly untop of the CPU with the shrouded metal imprinted AL have any Heatpad on it? That one seems to connect "barely" with the underside of the keyboard for heat dispersion as the keyboard gets warm during use and that piece of metal gets HOT as hell if I don't have the keyboard/top half of the vaio firmly connected.

Thinking i could drop a thin piece of thermal pad there not sure. put some MX-2 on it and lifted back the keyboard but noticed it did not smudge a bit, so i'm guessing it's pretty thick of a gap somehow?

Oh... i lifted my entire keyboard out again and even seperated it from the backlight portion and i saw all the matrix of traces connecting it.... there is no goo of any sort and it's immaculate under there... so i'm at a loss to realise just what went wrong and why my keys aren't working. the ribbon seems intact too, no circuit is broken. shorted-out? maybe.


keyboard test:

123457890=+rup[{zxcvbnm,.<>/?!@#$%&*()+


that's all the basic keys i could type right now including Some control keys (eg only left shift works). Esc, Entre, Fn, Alt, Spacebar not working. Windows key, menu key working eg.

 

Keyboard is a matrix circuit.
If you get any liquid in it, 99.9% it's gone

Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk 2

 

Ok. Just got my new keyboard replacement from Ebay for $114 USD.
Now the first thing i noticed is that the SPACEBAR has a different TEXTURE than the one currently on my Z. It's not smooth and flat, but rather it has a kind of textured surface this time. See close up picture for details.
I got it with the speaker parts dented too, but that was a quick fix to straighten out with a pliers. The down arrow key has a 'click' or 'nip' sound to it too. And the back looks dirty. But it smells like new. I don't know if it's a
used or refurbished product that was sprayed with 'make new' perfume or what. But the keys look new. and also there's no dust or anything on it really. The keys go down firm and level.

I'm going offline to install it. Just want to know if anyone of you who has a Z has that textured spacebar. Please see pic.

 

Ok. Installed the new keyboard (which happens to be an older model, that's why it looks like that), confirming from the model number (the one that came with the Z was a -8 and the one i just got from ebay was a -7).
this older one lacks the glossy key look with the metalic sparkles, and the spacebar is kind of see-through (i can see the light leaking through it). this older keyboard also, has a more matte feel than slippery feel of the -8.
Also, if you look closely, the images on the keys are of thicker lines in the -8. (bolder fonts).

however. i think im liking this keyboard better. because it isn't slippery! but it definately doesn't look as sexy as the newer one!.



so yeah confirming, with that water spill, the keyboard was what blew up.

thanks again, you brilliant folks you.

 

Nice to hear that it was only the keyboard (it was the most likely scenario), as it's pretty easy to get a new one and not that expensive either.

Now be careful when eating near the computer, you may want to consider a keyboard silicone protector so that the spillage doesn't leak inside the computer. The safest solution is of course never eating near the computer, but it should bring some extra safety

 

Next time eat properly and not near a laptop.

 

Haha yeah. I hear ya. Well, I already ordered a silicone protector, so it can cover the keyboard. Even though alot of liquid got into the trackpad and so on, nothing else ceased to work. so the keyboard is like the most vulnerable part of the thing.



I contacted the seller on ebay, he told me that the reason why the keyboard is different is that sony outsorces other people to make the keyboard different manufacturers. it has a squeek on the space bar and click on the page down but otherwisse its working good so im not complaining. just kicking myself for being clumbsy.

think i managed to fix my touchpad too. from skipping around like that so crazy. all i did was take off the metal ground? clip underneat it and bend it so that it connects more firmly with the gold strip and now it works really well. this is a problem alot of people have.

 

Just an FYI, the keyboard I purchased from Aliexpress did not have different textures like yours or clicks or whatever.
Strange that yours is like that.
Anyways, congrats on fixing your computer.