Soda Spilled on a Dell Desktop

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GotaPC

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Hello everyone ,

So a friend of mine dropped off a computer earlier today , his girlfriend dropped a soda can on it and the soda slipped into the computer through the fan vent on the side , according to him he cleaned everything and the computer is clean and dry from the inside .. this is where im having the problem , everytime i turn it on it gives me a yellow light for a split second and turns off , usually it gives out a blue light but after the soda spilled in it wont run ..

Any idea's on how i can fix it ?
Thanks
 
Lighter fluid and a match should do the trick.

Have you just stared at it and scratched your head or have you tried anything yet?
 
Damn , i honestly haven't even connected it yet , i have 4 other computers sitting on the bench that im working on , ill fire it up tomorrow and ill post back .
 
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LOL...when I read his first post, I was thinking the exact same thing....lol

When I hear that someone spills something on their laptop, I don't even bother turning it on to see if it boots up, chances are that it won't. I go right for the hard drive - take it out and try and see if I can retreive any data and then I would start disassembling the laptop and see where the spill is and where it spread to.

And since he asked a question but then said he didn't even connect it to troubleshoot because he has other machines, why post the question in the first place?

I'm sorry, I think I may be PMSing this morning.....need my raspberry coffee-:)-:)
 
skaterizme said:
LOL...when I read his first post, I was thinking the exact same thing....lol

When I hear that someone spills something on their laptop, I don't even bother turning it on to see if it boots up, chances are that it won't. I go right for the hard drive - take it out and try and see if I can retreive any data and then I would start disassembling the laptop and see where the spill is and where it spread to.

And since he asked a question but then said he didn't even connect it to troubleshoot because he has other machines, why post the question in the first place?

I'm sorry, I think I may be PMSing this morning.....need my raspberry coffee-:)-:)
Click to expand...

People , is it too much for you to put a comment ? if people wanna complain then keep your comments to yourself.

I posted the question before i even worked on it because i thought there was a way to fix it , i already came across computers like it and i know that the chances of fixing them are close to zero but i thought maybe someone on here knows how to fix one .
 
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GotaPC said:
*** people , is it too much for you to put a comment ? if people wanna complain then keep your comments to yourself.

I posted the question before i even worked on it because i thought there was a way to fix it , i already came across computers like it and i know that the chances of fixing them are close to zero but i thought maybe someone on here knows how to fix one .
Click to expand...

GotaPC, I think the point everyone here is trying to make is that you should be troubleshooting your customers computers first, then post here if you find yourself at a dead end, making sure to include details on what you have tried.

Posting here before even working on the computer makes it look like:

a) you have no idea what you are doing
b) you are too lazy to do your own work

P.S. - Please go easy on the language.
 
I have only had 1 instance where i was able to save a laptop due to a spill. The client spilled water on the laptop when it was off. They brought it in right away and i took it apart and let it sit for about 4 days. When i put it back together it worked just fine. I have seen other incidents where its a lost cause. Just pull the drive backup the data burn it to a disc or transfer to an external and sell them on a new system build. Good luck
 
GotaPC said:
People , is it too much for you to put a comment ? if people wanna complain then keep your comments to yourself.

I posted the question before i even worked on it because i thought there was a way to fix it , i already came across computers like it and i know that the chances of fixing them are close to zero but i thought maybe someone on here knows how to fix one .
Click to expand...

You answered your own question, "close to zero"!

Ask for help by all means but NOT before you've even tried anything please.

Personal or not it does make you look very amateurish.

Either way as said backup what you can then look for damage. If you power up or vtry to and it's toasted big time you run risk of damaging drive, you don't know where soda went, play save first then delve in!:)

Spellchecker needed on here!!
 
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You take out the board and put it in a tub of rubbing alcohol. Swish it all around well. Use a toothbrush to gently scrub the stickier parts. You should see a lot of brownish slime come off it. Lift it out and pour more alcohol all over it. Then set it aside to dry.

You might get lucky. By the way you don't want to get a flame near you when you do this....
 
I don't see where the original post was particularly unreasonable. It seems we're so anxious to whiz on new posters, that we jump to terrible conclusions.

The guy is asking for tips / advice on how to approach a laptop with a liquid spill. What's wrong with that?

It's sure more interesting than reading those exciting licensing threads which needlessly proliferate here!
 
GotaPC said:
People , is it too much for you to put a comment ? if people wanna complain then keep your comments to yourself.

I posted the question before i even worked on it because i thought there was a way to fix it , i already came across computers like it and i know that the chances of fixing them are close to zero but i thought maybe someone on here knows how to fix one .
Click to expand...

Whoa, I apologized for my comments and if you read my last sentence, I did add a few smiley faces to the end and I also made a suggestion of taking the hard drive out. I was suprised that you made a post about the spill but you didin't actually do anything else to troubleshoot before you asked - that's it.
 
stevenamills said:
I don't see where the original post was particularly unreasonable. It seems we're so anxious to whiz on new posters, that we jump to terrible conclusions.
Click to expand...

That's an understatement...most of the comments don't realize that we are talking about a DESKTOP, NOT A LAPTOP.

If soda goes into the side of a desktop, that's a little different than all over a laptop.

the alcohol suggetion is the best way to go about it. I don't know if I would "submerge" anything, but i would wet a toothbrush with alcohol and use a little common sense when doing it. Of course, common sense really isn't that common, is it? if you do decide to completely submerge the board, MAKE SURE TO REMOVE CMOS BATTERY!!!!!!!!!! Set whatever you brush in the sun for only a few minutes and make sure it has all evaporated. then try it out and see what happens. JUST DON"T FORGET TO BACK UP THE HARD DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...goss
 
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usacvlr said:
You take out the board and put it in a tub of rubbing alcohol. Swish it all around well. Use a toothbrush to gently scrub the stickier parts. You should see a lot of brownish slime come off it. Lift it out and pour more alcohol all over it. Then set it aside to dry.

You might get lucky. By the way you don't want to get a flame near you when you do this....
Click to expand...

Hmmmm... Do you think this might work on a MacBook Pro that was thrown up on? :eek:
I have one here that was brought in six months ago and the client has yet to come back for it or give me the go ahead to send it out.
I know that you are the resident laptop master technician so I value your opinion.
Thanks in advance
 
Graystar said:
Hmmmm... Do you think this might work on a MacBook Pro that was thrown up on? :eek:
I have one here that was brought in six months ago and the client has yet to come back for it or give me the go ahead to send it out.
I know that you are the resident laptop master technician so I value your opinion.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

maybe but the question is do you reeally want to scrub vomit off a laptop

but then again its a mac so rubbing alchol wont work i recomend jack danials



on a side note yaaay i reached 500 posts
 
To start things off i would like to apologize if i was a little bit rude , its just that i hate when people go off like its my fault or that i did something wrong , i was simply asking for tips or advices on how i can approach this problem . its all good tho i appreciate all the feedback that was posted!

This is what i did ,i took it all apart and cleaned it with a Q-Tip and some water , didn't use alcohol tho but it looks like the whole thing is a goner thats why i didn't even bother , i put everything back together and fired it up without the hard-drive and it doesn't work at all . called my customer which he already knew that the chances of it working again are pretty much low and he's gonna buy a new one , even tho i did recommend buying some of the parts and using some of the old ones like the hard drive , CD/DVD Drive and the Rams so he can save money but apparently his wife wants to spend more money .
 
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