Spilled wine on my Sony VGN-Z690 :-(

It was a cold, wintery day. Outside, the wind was howling. Inside, the fireplace was shimmering. I sat on the couch with a fine glass of wine (2008 Pinot Noir), when there came a tapping, tapping at my kitchen door.

I got up, and the glass of wine poured onto my laptop, right where the plug inserts into the laptop. I heard a crisp snapping "zzz" sound, and all went blank.

I quickly opened up the laptop, and dabbed as much wine up as possible. Unfortunately, I saw the liquid swish around the CPU / Fan and about the motherboard. After drying out the motherboard as much as possible, I plugged it back in, and hit the power button.

At first, the laptop turned on! (thank god) Then the green power light on the hinge started to blink, and the laptop hibernated, and turned on again... repeatedly. I turned the computer off... and that was its last breath of life (i hate you god).

Since then, I have not been able to turn it on. Does this spell the end? Is this a massive short in the motherboard? Is it even worth repairing? I called Sony and 'Water damage' repair costs at the minimum, $700.

... at least my laptop smells good

 

ah dude, that sucks. yeah very likely the mobo would have to be replaced

 

Sorry to hear your fate. But your mistake was just letting the wine dry in there. Instead it needed to be removed. By allowing it to dry, in all likelihood it has now provided a conductive surface across various components. A surface that has now probably fried the machine.

Gary

 

don't drink and surf its dangerous , honestly sorry to hear this.

 

The best remedy when spilling something into a computer is water. Detach all batteries and cords, and don't get water into the HD, but otherwise a liberal use of distilled water is the best way to salvage it. Even now, after the fact, a good rinse might be the best chance you have. You just have to make sure that it dries well before turning it back on again.

That said, it's almost impossible to find pure water. Even water sold as pure distilled water almost always has been acidified, because people prefer the taste. But your local chemists (US: drugstore) should have it, and pet stores too, for aquarium use.

 

Another thing, don't turn it on when its still wet. Then it will definitely short out.

Sorry, that really stinks.

 

First thing to do with a spill is to remove the battery.

 

That depends -- not all liquids conduct electricity well. Pure distilled water, for example, is a pretty good insulator.

Wine, on the other hand, will contain lots of salts and can almost certainly cause shorts.

 

True, but pretty much ANY household liquid that might come into contact would be a conductor or should be considered to be one.

Gary

 

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Here is some steps I usually do when I have liquid spilled laptop.
What you need:
- Compressed Air
- Strong brush like tooth brush
- Just regular water
1. Open the case and looking for any corrossion or sign of liquid on the motherboard or any PCB board.
2. Put them under flowing hot water. Use the brush to clean any corrossion or liquid residue thoroughly. Especially with BGA components. Let water flow under them.
3. Make sure the board is clean. Use compressed air to blow the water as most as you can, under BGA components.
4. Place them vertically for at least 24 hours to dry. If you have sun shine, it would be better.
5. After 24h, blow compressed air again to make there is no more water.
6. Put everything back together and fire it up.
If your laptop does not have physical damage, it will be fine.

 

Thanks for all of your care and concern.

Good news - after disassemblying the ENTIRE laptop (was like brain surgery), and washing out all the wine with isopropyl alcohol 70%, the computer started back up and worked!

Bad news - i snapped the ribbon going to the Stamina / Speed mode. now, i'm always in the stamina mode :-( A few keys shorted out. Bluetooth doesn't work anymore.

At least all was not lost.

 

It has to be DEIONIZED water (I work in a lab and have a very expensive machine that makes it)...distilled could be ionized, so be careful

 

Regular water will damage it further bc our water is infused with ions like chlorine and fluoride, which conduct electricity. You need deionized water

 

I hope that was not RUBBING alcohol. It will leave a residue behind that will collect dust over time. Not a good thing. You should use the 90% stuff. If you did use rubbing alcohol, I would take it apart again and reclean it with the right stuff.

Gary