kbjustin

Yesterday i spilled some water on my friends laptop (its a dell dont remember the model number but i dont think its relevant) and it got on the trackpad a little and the surrounding area(nothing on keyboard on the plain area around the trackpad). I had to move his laptop to clean it and when i closed the monitor it went to standby. I was able to get it back on no problems. About three hours later he came to me saying his laptop wouldnt turn on anymore. When u try to turn it on the power light comes on for about 5 seconds and then shuts off. I was able to get it further once but it shutoff. I looked at the bottom and i saw the memory area was wet. It had a very little water but there was some, i cleaned it all up and its dry now but still the same problem. Two questions could water that only got on top of the laptop trickle down to the memory area? And is it defintely the memory causing this or could the timing be a coincidence(he hadnt taken good care of it in the past

Snoopdogie187

well it can be the same water, there may be a way through the laptop like that, espeically over that long of a time and with tilting it and carrying it.
As far as it being the water that damage it, yes it is very possible. I would suggest letting it completely dry (days to weeks depending the case) and trying again. If you dont want to wait, open the laptop and use a hair dyer (just making sure it doesnt get it too hot).
My mom dropped her cell phone in the water and it worked a few days later. I did open it and dried it nicly but before that she put the battery back in it while it was wet and I think it shorted out (you see burn marks on it).

It can be abuse or just the dell laptop but I do think it was the water. So just try to let it dry (without any power to it - battiers out and unplugged).

kbjustin

ok, i cleaned the water right away and barely moved it at all i guess ill just let it dry. Also since i know water got in the memory area should i have the laptop lay upside down or just leave it as normal

Snoopdogie187

The orenttion to leave it can be hard to pick if it went through to the bottom. I would think just leave it upright at this point. Also leave the screen open so more air can get to it.
It may also not work now, or not without some fixing. Like my moms cell, the memory card reader no longer works and I think I would have to clean and solder the burned area for it to work ever again.
I can't say what is not going to work, some people have luck and everything works, others nothing works.

How much water was spilled onto it? At most I have only got little drops of water on my laptop (wet hands) and cleaned it up and never had a problem.

kbjustin

it was more than drops but it wasnt too much, i have spilled about the same amount on my laptop in a similar area and never had problems hopefully it just needs time to dry

Snoopdogie187

It could be that this tme the water just hit he right spot. I think dells are sensitive about their power anyway, a lot have power problems over times. but yea let it dry first and see. (also if its under warrenty, try that and see if it can work)

Kage_61

What warrenty does he have? It can probably be covered under accidental damage

Snoopdogie187

If he has accidental then it should be covered (I'm only assuming otherwise that warrenty isn't too good), if he has something else that can be tricky or just not possible. Usually dells have a service number or tag or something like that on them and you can go to www.dell.com and enter that number to find what warrenty there is.