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    Spilled Water

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Oww, Jan 15, 2012.

  1. Oww

    Oww Notebook Enthusiast

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    Alright so i spilled water on the keyboard. I soaked it up and turned it upside down to get the water on. I blew it with a blow dryer. Anymore steps I should take? It's been 2 days almost. When should I turn on? (I have warranty but not the accidental damage coverage.)
     
    Oww, Jan 15, 2012
    #1
  2. ThatOldGuy

    ThatOldGuy Notebook Virtuoso

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    You should unplug it, open it up, unplug the battery, remove the RAM and check the pins on the RAM for oxidization (white substance) and clean it off, disconnect the HDD and check those pins as well, do the same with the wireless card (the thing in the mPCIE slot with two antennae attached). Then hold the power button for 10 seconds, put the RAM, HDD, and wireless card back in, reattach the battery and hope for the best when you turn it on.

    Good Luck
     
    ThatOldGuy, Jan 15, 2012
    #2
  3. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    When this happened to me I did not have any canned air or cleaner and had to wait a day. Drip drying can "work" but there will likely be residue left behind. One common place, but hard to clean, is in the USB ports and video connections

    I went ahead and picked up some canned air and circuit cleaner (electronics spray). Thee was still moisture in it! I had only done a partial tear down though. Used the air, then the cleaner, then the air again. The white powdery stuff as mentioned above was already forming.

    This worked well until the system dropped BUT ONE RAM SLOT WAS BAD. bleh. That was an E1705

    Short answer: take the thing apart and clean it. THEN power it on.
     
    GNandGS, Jan 15, 2012
    #3
  4. Geekz

    Geekz Notebook Deity

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    would be good as well to put it in a bag of rice to remove moisture maybe for 24 hours.

    (or those packets they put in new bags/shoes that absorbs moisture as well).
     
    Geekz, Jan 15, 2012
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  5. mikecalva

    mikecalva Notebook Enthusiast

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    We just resurrected a Dell Mini 10. Half a glass of water spilled on the keyboard WHILE IT WAS ON. In the process of turning it upside down the system shut down (due to water).

    1) Took off the battery
    2) completely submerged the whole thing (battery too) in rice for 2 full days by the fire (we live in Turkey... nearest dell service 10 hours by bus and probably not reliable even then).

    After the rice was cleaned out (which took a bit) - everything worked just fine.

    BTW The same procedure has been used a few times for phones as well.
     
    mikecalva, Jan 16, 2012
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  6. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    In a pinch but nothing beats proper tear down if you can. Electronics surface cleaner. Evaporates without residue! Rice or dececant bag absorbs well but doesn't clean
     
    GNandGS, Jan 16, 2012
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  7. Oww

    Oww Notebook Enthusiast

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    Alright. It is going in the rice tonight. I see zero oxidation. But what does the rice do to the battery? It'll have been 4 days after 2 days in rice safe enough? I'll try to get electronics surface cleaner.
     
    Oww, Jan 16, 2012
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  8. ThatOldGuy

    ThatOldGuy Notebook Virtuoso

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    Rice is a huge moisture absorber. Better even than the silicone packets you get in some items.
     
    ThatOldGuy, Jan 16, 2012
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  9. bobcool

    bobcool Notebook Enthusiast

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    Happened to me not too long ago, I spilled a large amount of water on my m11x while it was on, took it apart and let it air dry. 2 days later it didnt start, figured it might be broken. However to my surprise, I tried again after 5 days booted up like nothing happened. Maybe I got lucky but give it awhile to dry and see what happens
     
    bobcool, Jan 17, 2012
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  10. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    I suggest taking it apart and putting it in rice.
     
    Nick, Jan 17, 2012
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  11. thehelios

    thehelios Notebook Enthusiast

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    Water spilling directly on the keyboard isn't such a huge problem with the m11x compared to other laptops. If you've taken apart an m11x before and removed the keyboard, you'd see that it is an isolated unit and isn't like a normal keyboard where you can see the motherboard.

    If you only dropped water on the keyboard and nothing else, the most damage that would happen is to the keyboard itself.
     
    thehelios, Jan 18, 2012
    #11