2ill4brasil

What's up guys.. my laptop has some water damage and I've been trying to get it back to normal for ages..... no luck so I'm lookin for some help, I wanna diagnose where the damage is so I can either replace that part, or just scrap it and re-use sell the rest b4 it's too late

I spilled some water on it a year ago. It died for 3 days, dried up, started working.
But the battery died within those 3 days, so it would ONLY work if it was plugged into the power outlet.
It worked for a few months more and slowly started dying. The following things started happening:
-At some point it just started freezing after about 24 hrs of being on (Windows XP Pro, never froze on me b4, my system was pretty clean).
-After turning it off I couldn't turn it on immediately after, I'd have to wait for about an hour of it plugged into the wall before it would restart (the fan would go on if I tried and everything, but after like 3 seconds it would just die).

Eventually I started having to wait up to a day of my laptop being plugged in before I could turn it on. And once it was on it would freeze after about 2 hrs. The situation worsened and now it doesn't turn on (I'm not about to wait for a week), and if it did it would crash in like 5 minutes.

It's an HP, it's like 5 lbs and I customized it online, Pentium M 1.3 Ghz, 1 GB ram, 60 GB HD, it's still good!! I still have hope!!

What do you guys think is wrong? What are my alternatives? Have it fixed (bestbuy would do it for $400, helll no)? Replace certain parts? Give up and sell what's left?

Thanks guys

techpro5238

Hi and Welcome To TSF

Well in my training you were supposed to dry it up for about a year ago. You should go online and look up the manual to your system and open it up. At this point I say salvage whatever parts you can and sell them (make sure you format your hard drive!!). Then you can use that money to buy a new laptop

Terrister

You could check on Ebay for parts. From what you have said, I think the motherboard is damaged. If you replace the motherboard, you still find other problems. Not sure it is worth repairing. But if you wish to, we will help you all we can.

2ill4brasil

Yea I've been doing some research and everything points to a messed up motherboard, I guess I lagged a little bit on the repair haha

After checking ebay I realized the laptop is only worth like $400 bucks so it's not entirely worth it to replace the motherboard, I guess I'll just sell the HD
Anyone want a 60GB Fujitsu laptop HD? haha


Actually I wanted to know if there is a way to test the laptop hard drive using a regular PC running AMD Athlon? After opening up my computer the IDE cable from the PC is too big so I can't plug it in directly.

Thanks for the help guys

techpro5238

Actually Laptop HD's can't connect into hard drives. You should look online if there is a way because up to this point I really don't know if you can do that.

Terrister

This device http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...1517&CatId=470 will let you plug your laptop drive into a working computer.

I use this device. It is great.

DonaldG

General Advice for water (liquid) spillage into ANY electronic kit. This info is given in good faith BUT acting on it is at your own risk.

1) Immediately remove the power/battery. This is essential, not just for the safety factor if using mains power; BUT if the unit has survived the wetting and has not done any 'electronic' damage... Leaving any power will cause or assist with 'electrolosis' and slowly etch away the copper tracks of of the Printed Circuit Board.

2) If the water (liquid) is not salt water, then once all power/battery is removed, place the unit in a warm DRY place such as an airing cupboard for at least 48 hours or more. Try to open the unit up to allow air circulation.
(If the liquid is salty (sea) or acid, do the following ONLY IF YOU FEEL IT IS APPLICABLE! Extra emergency action may be necessary: depending on the amount of contamination and the value of the item, a rinsing/or immersion in fresh water *may* be needed. In some instances total & constant immersion in distilled water could be required until a specialist dealer/manufaturer is consulted.)

Note: usually the hard drive will not have water ingress into the inside of it because it is a hermetically sealed unit - even if the main machine is shot to hell, the HD should be readable in another machine & often the data is valued many times more than the machine, especially if the machine is used for commercial activities! (Hint: Backup). The exception to this is if the water ingress interupted a set or writing to the HD...

Anecdote: I used to run a Radio Communications repair workshop. On occasions we would get a 2-way radio the has had coffee, Pepsi etc spilled into it which dried into a sticky goo. We would remove the PCB and actually wash it in warm water and detergent 'scrubbing' it with a soft half inch paint brush. Rince thoroughly and shake off as much as possible. Then leave in a warm drying cupboard for two days. In 10 years, we did not loose a single unit! sometimes we had to repair etched track though!)

A couple of years ago, I survived a games consul accessory that a youngster had dropped own the toilet pan (I didn't ask if the was dropped before or after the pan had been used!)

I hope this information gives food for thought.

DonaldG

STOP - Do not sell the HD until you have given serious consideration to the security implications...

A HD. even reformatted, will still hold enough data for someone to gain access to it. That can lead to ID Theft or access to other 'sensitive' details such as Bank account info, eVBay/Paypal details etc.

I know that there are 'Military/DoD' grade HD scrubbers out there that purport to be able to totally 'clean' a HD. However, I would generally suggest that you 'mentally' write it off and give the hd the good news with a hammer. The only way of being totally sure that no one can gain access to its content AND to have total peace of mind is to physically destroy it.

Anecdote: Last month, a buddy in Tennassee had a 'dead' HD - he sent it to me. All I had to do was swap the dead driver board with a spare one in my junk box. I recovered several Gb of personal data for him. INCLUDING IRS details going back to year 2000 for several people, including bank details. (His wife does IRS stuff for many friends/family)

He was going to 'throw' the HD away as 'stuffed'! I hate to think what damage, financially, would have been done if that drive fell into the wrong hands.

Finally, if you are so inclined, take the HD apart. You will find therein 2 of the most powerful magnets that most people will ever see... Take the platters out and use 'em for coasters!