PCA Forums

So, my smart older brother, decided to spill some water, about a tablespoon on his laptop. He used it for a little while, then it started acting "funny", and he shut it off and left for a while. Now it won't do anything when he goes to power it on. He says the power light comes on when he starts it, then shuts off and it does nothing. It is a dell c610, and i was wondering what could be possibly wrong with it, or if he is just pretty much screwed.

Screwed. IF you had immediately disconnected the battery pack and the power supply, turned it upside down and let it dry out thoroughly you would have been fine.

You can try that now anyway - worth a shot, but the damage is probably already done.

The problem is that electricity in contact with water immediately starts a chemical process similar to electroplating that causes accelerated corrosion. Even with the power turned off, if there's any energized circuits (and there are plenty in a laptop when the power is off) that get wet, the process will continue.

If you ever get ANYTHING wet (radio, computer, camcorder, whatever) - immediately disconnect all power and batteries, shake it out and let it thoroughly dry and you'll be fine.

Even full immersion in salt water is survivable if you IMMEDIATELY disconnect all power & batteries and rinse the device in FRESH water (to get the salt out) and let it thoroughly dry.

Oh, and tell your "smart" older brother that he's not too smart...

reminds me of once when i had a laptop in the not-so watertight trunk of my car. when i went to pull it out of there, the bottom was dripping and i started freaking out.

i pulled the battery and anything else removable like the drives, CMOS battery and RAM and turned it on its side at a 45 degree angle on the floor in front of a wndow fan. i think i left it like that for 2 days or so, put it back together and it was ok.

you might try looking around for someone selling a c610 for parts.

Next time, get a Panosonic Tough book. Sure, they cost about $5K BUT they can be soaked in water, dropped two stories, thrown on the ground and STILL work.