Water and laptops don't mix! Dead - advice?

Soldato
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Hello my daughter has a Dell Inspiron 6000 and a 2-year old.

The 2 year old is going strong, the Dell had a glass of water spilled over the keyboard by 2 year old - it made beeps etc. and is now dead (LAPTOP!). Removed battery, keyboard, HDD, DVD memory boards etc and dried all signs of water. Put is airing cupboard for 3 days.

Switch on - HDD spins - shuts down in 2-3 seconds.

Any ideas - how do I get base off.

Will buy a "a 2.5 inch hard drive in to a 3.5 inch bay on a standard PC" adaptor tomorrow to test HDD.

After that ???????????????????????????????????????
Mel P :eek: :(
 
is the screen damaged??? if so your going to struggle getting a replacement as the inverters with the 6000 are very particular
if your not able to get it running after drying it out id be weary about keep using it mate.. laptops are prone to corrosion which could lead to electrical faults etc.
 
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There seems to be a lot of forum members with stories of spilling liquid (usually water) into the laptop...

If I were you, take the thing apart as much as you can, place each component on a soft towel in the airing cupboard for about 2 weeks (3 weeks if you have time).
Regarding the Hard Drive, it should work using an adapter, as I remember the drive is fairly well covered in the 6000. I would make sure it's completely dry before you put it anywhere near another computer.
 
water is a killer for laptops if they are turned on when the accident happens, if its dead its dead very unlikely it can be brought back to life.

Dont drink and surf!
 
Tried HDD in a USB box with a 2.5" to 3.5" adaptor - drive is OK but laptop still comes on / shuts down. Will leave longer to dry!

Mel
 
I wouldn't hold much hope on getting the thing back again....sounds like something is borked or there is some residue across some circuit board tracks to make it short out after a few seconds :(

House insurance claim in the making?
 
Done that!
HDD works in caddy.
No joy with laptop after 5 days - took apart - several areas of white deposit on motherboard - cleaned with ispropanol. nbg. still shuts down after 3 seconds - DUFF! but can retrieve data, so not 100% loss.
 
woopee! took it all apart - processor / video card / heat sinks / etc - cleaned it all - CAME BACK TO LIFE. Now tying to reload windows on to a HDD. Watch this space!
 
water is a killer for laptops if they are turned on when the accident happens, if its dead its dead very unlikely it can be brought back to life.

Dont drink and surf!

yup

pc's are generally fine if they have no power going through them when they get wet, a week or three in the airing cupboard fixes most problems

chances are the hard drive will be fine

every laptop i've been given with 'liquid damage' has had a totally fine hard drive, where i've given the customer their data back and either bought a hdcaddy for them or sold the drive on
 
yup

pc's are generally fine if they have no power going through them when they get wet, a week or three in the airing cupboard fixes most problems

chances are the hard drive will be fine

It was on / mains supply when little lad poured water into it - it made lots of beeping as it "died". Parts of board had dried out residue!

BUT it survived - still OK.
 
glad you managed to sort it out.

i once spilt an entire glass of coke on my laptop when it was on! :eek:
i hit the power button so fast that i got it to power-off before it did it itself.

i'm just so glad that laptop has a "spill-Resistant" keyboard design, where the liquid is caught in the keyboard.

i love that laptop.
 
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