If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't!
I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. I have tried to remove the case to inspect for fluid, but there must be some of those hidden plastic close once, never open, catches. I know from experience that you have to prize them with a screwdriver, chewing the case in the process, to open the case, so I have just wiped clean the outside of the laptop and hair-dryered the keyboard and intend to leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days before I go near it with power. 1. Yes I feel silly, but these things happen 2. Does anyone know if the keyboard is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? 3. Does anyone know if the mousepad is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? 4. Does anyone know how to open the back (bottom) of an Inspiron 6400? 5. Does anyone know if the Inspiron 6400 has a liquid sensor and shuts off immediately (I hope so)? 6. Anyone have any other advice to maximise the posibility of my getting it to work again? TIA, GT |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 14:45:08 -0000, "GT"
wrote: I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. I have tried to remove the case to inspect for fluid, but there must be some of those hidden plastic close once, never open, catches. I know from experience that you have to prize them with a screwdriver, chewing the case in the process, to open the case, so I have just wiped clean the outside of the laptop and hair-dryered the keyboard and intend to leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days before I go near it with power. Don't power it up yet. Was it monster strength tea or just garden variety weak stuff? Tea (+lemon) is variably acidic, can etch metal into solution which should be completely rinsed out. It would probably corrode the contacts and keyboard first so all these should be unplugged while rinsing what can be rinsed. 1. Yes I feel silly, but these things happen 2. Does anyone know if the keyboard is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? Even if the keyboard were sealed, it's not going to keep the liquid from leaking around it onto the other areas. That is, unless you have a unit specifically advertised as water-resistant (nearly water-proof). Obviously it made it's way past the keyboard or it would have kept running and you might've just had a keyboard malfunction. I don't know what the melting point is of the plastic film ribbon connectors but they might be suceptible to the heat. The whole laptop needs disassembled and rinsed out, then either forced-air or heat dried for quite a while (when it looks dry there would still tend to be water wicked under BGA/etc chips so it's better to give it an extra day next to a fan than to rush it. 3. Does anyone know if the mousepad is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? On that model, I don't know. In general, no, very little if anything on a laptop has the gaskets and design needed to repel water to this extent unless it was specifically designed (marketed) for this. At most some areas might have a fiberous dust gasket like on an optical drive door area but this will soak up the tea and be another thing that needs a more thorough cleaning (just rinsing should be enough, though in this cleaning process I would use a bit of detergent, not soap, before the final rinse cycle. An artist's paintbrush is a good tool to agitate the tea and other misc particules into solution before rinsing. 4. Does anyone know how to open the back (bottom) of an Inspiron 6400? You should check Dell's website, and if all else fails get some little pieces of plastic film, like a credit card cut into slits, so when you start prying around the edges with a knife made of the softest material you have, you can slip the pieces of plastic in to keep the shell parts cracked open. Sometimes using masking tape to keep these plastic pieces in place can help. 5. Does anyone know if the Inspiron 6400 has a liquid sensor and shuts off immediately (I hope so)? I've never heard of a non-waterproof laptop having a sensor like this, and doubt it could be a comprehensive protection since there would have to be such sensors scattered everywhere just to cover all potential liquid entry points, in order to shut it off before liquid reached some other area first. I suspect it's more likely the liquid shorted out a power supply rail in one way or other and the unit shut off when it couldn't regulate the power properly anymore. The remaining question would be if there was another short to something more sensitive. You may have some kind of failure, but it may not be a total loss. 6. Anyone have any other advice to maximise the posibility of my getting it to work again? Complete methodical disassembly and cleaning... but you probably suspected as much already. As with other combinations of questionable parts, you should try it with only the bare minimum parts connected, for example leaving HDD and optical, card reader/etc disconnected. That is the ideal but since it could be a PITA to keep stripping laptop down and reassembling it, you might instead make 100% sure it's dry before trying it and leaving the battery out so if it doesn't work or really, starts smoking, you can pull the power cord. While you have it open, inspect certain areas like fuses (probably surface mount type)(but actually, inspect all areas regardless of fuses and ensure all residue except perhaps some meant-to-be permanent, no-clean solder flux (if present) is removed). It is likely to have fuse(s) and might have blown one or more. You might need to use a multimeter to check continuity across them. Since it may be difficult to get into the back areas the keyboard you might need to soak in detergent solution and aggressively agitate it while wiggling the keys. At least this was unsweatened tea, since parts like the optical drive in particular shouldn't be water-cleaned and so there is a better chance it survived/working without a sticky residue remaining. I would also be hesitant to get the top half, LCD panel wet unless it later seems to be a problem or had obviously gotten tea wicked up into it. I would probably try the touchpad without rinsing it out yet... unless it was obviously full of tea residue, in which case getting it wet then dry again but with the residue removed and fully dried should be at least better than it was before. The other alternative is to drop it off at a laptop repair center, but you never know what they're going to tell you, some places tend to replace a whole board instead of finding a blown fuse or other simple discrete repair... though if you isolated a blown fuse and didn't feel you had the skill to source and replace it, indicating what is needed with the circuit board out could reduce the cost of repair at a general electronics repair shop... probably little more than minimal bench fee if you were fortunate enough that a failure was only a fuse, which it could be and there's not much diagnostics you can do to a laptop board until you spot a problem or fix the blown fuse so the rest gets power. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
"kony" wrote in message
... On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 14:45:08 -0000, "GT" wrote: I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. I have tried to remove the case to inspect for fluid, but there must be some of those hidden plastic close once, never open, catches. I know from experience that you have to prize them with a screwdriver, chewing the case in the process, to open the case, so I have just wiped clean the outside of the laptop and hair-dryered the keyboard and intend to leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days before I go near it with power. Don't power it up yet. Was it monster strength tea or just garden variety weak stuff? Tea (+lemon) is variably acidic, can etch metal into solution which should be completely rinsed out. It would probably corrode the contacts and keyboard first so all these should be unplugged while rinsing what can be rinsed. 1. Yes I feel silly, but these things happen 2. Does anyone know if the keyboard is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? Even if the keyboard were sealed, it's not going to keep the liquid from leaking around it onto the other areas. That is, unless you have a unit specifically advertised as water-resistant (nearly water-proof). Obviously it made it's way past the keyboard or it would have kept running and you might've just had a keyboard malfunction. I don't know what the melting point is of the plastic film ribbon connectors but they might be suceptible to the heat. The whole laptop needs disassembled and rinsed out, then either forced-air or heat dried for quite a while (when it looks dry there would still tend to be water wicked under BGA/etc chips so it's better to give it an extra day next to a fan than to rush it. 3. Does anyone know if the mousepad is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? On that model, I don't know. In general, no, very little if anything on a laptop has the gaskets and design needed to repel water to this extent unless it was specifically designed (marketed) for this. At most some areas might have a fiberous dust gasket like on an optical drive door area but this will soak up the tea and be another thing that needs a more thorough cleaning (just rinsing should be enough, though in this cleaning process I would use a bit of detergent, not soap, before the final rinse cycle. An artist's paintbrush is a good tool to agitate the tea and other misc particules into solution before rinsing. 4. Does anyone know how to open the back (bottom) of an Inspiron 6400? You should check Dell's website, and if all else fails get some little pieces of plastic film, like a credit card cut into slits, so when you start prying around the edges with a knife made of the softest material you have, you can slip the pieces of plastic in to keep the shell parts cracked open. Sometimes using masking tape to keep these plastic pieces in place can help. 5. Does anyone know if the Inspiron 6400 has a liquid sensor and shuts off immediately (I hope so)? I've never heard of a non-waterproof laptop having a sensor like this, and doubt it could be a comprehensive protection since there would have to be such sensors scattered everywhere just to cover all potential liquid entry points, in order to shut it off before liquid reached some other area first. I suspect it's more likely the liquid shorted out a power supply rail in one way or other and the unit shut off when it couldn't regulate the power properly anymore. The remaining question would be if there was another short to something more sensitive. You may have some kind of failure, but it may not be a total loss. 6. Anyone have any other advice to maximise the posibility of my getting it to work again? Complete methodical disassembly and cleaning... but you probably suspected as much already. As with other combinations of questionable parts, you should try it with only the bare minimum parts connected, for example leaving HDD and optical, card reader/etc disconnected. That is the ideal but since it could be a PITA to keep stripping laptop down and reassembling it, you might instead make 100% sure it's dry before trying it and leaving the battery out so if it doesn't work or really, starts smoking, you can pull the power cord. While you have it open, inspect certain areas like fuses (probably surface mount type)(but actually, inspect all areas regardless of fuses and ensure all residue except perhaps some meant-to-be permanent, no-clean solder flux (if present) is removed). It is likely to have fuse(s) and might have blown one or more. You might need to use a multimeter to check continuity across them. Since it may be difficult to get into the back areas the keyboard you might need to soak in detergent solution and aggressively agitate it while wiggling the keys. At least this was unsweatened tea, since parts like the optical drive in particular shouldn't be water-cleaned and so there is a better chance it survived/working without a sticky residue remaining. I would also be hesitant to get the top half, LCD panel wet unless it later seems to be a problem or had obviously gotten tea wicked up into it. I would probably try the touchpad without rinsing it out yet... unless it was obviously full of tea residue, in which case getting it wet then dry again but with the residue removed and fully dried should be at least better than it was before. The other alternative is to drop it off at a laptop repair center, but you never know what they're going to tell you, some places tend to replace a whole board instead of finding a blown fuse or other simple discrete repair... though if you isolated a blown fuse and didn't feel you had the skill to source and replace it, indicating what is needed with the circuit board out could reduce the cost of repair at a general electronics repair shop... probably little more than minimal bench fee if you were fortunate enough that a failure was only a fuse, which it could be and there's not much diagnostics you can do to a laptop board until you spot a problem or fix the blown fuse so the rest gets power. Thanks buddy. One day, someone here will ask a question that you can't answer! I'll attack it with a screwdriver tonight and see if I can prise the case off. I have spent many a happy hour inside desktop PCs, but never dismantled a laptop base unit - I've only fixed hinges and broken plastic in screens/lids. Looking at a few pictures online, it would appear that the keyboard can be removed, providing access to most of the innards, without opening the bottom of the case - any hints or tips here? |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
"GT" wrote in message
... "kony" wrote in message ... On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 14:45:08 -0000, "GT" wrote: I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. I have tried to remove the case to inspect for fluid, but there must be some of those hidden plastic close once, never open, catches. I know from experience that you have to prize them with a screwdriver, chewing the case in the process, to open the case, so I have just wiped clean the outside of the laptop and hair-dryered the keyboard and intend to leave it in the airing cupboard for a few days before I go near it with power. Don't power it up yet. Was it monster strength tea or just garden variety weak stuff? Tea (+lemon) is variably acidic, can etch metal into solution which should be completely rinsed out. It would probably corrode the contacts and keyboard first so all these should be unplugged while rinsing what can be rinsed. 1. Yes I feel silly, but these things happen 2. Does anyone know if the keyboard is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? Even if the keyboard were sealed, it's not going to keep the liquid from leaking around it onto the other areas. That is, unless you have a unit specifically advertised as water-resistant (nearly water-proof). Obviously it made it's way past the keyboard or it would have kept running and you might've just had a keyboard malfunction. I don't know what the melting point is of the plastic film ribbon connectors but they might be suceptible to the heat. The whole laptop needs disassembled and rinsed out, then either forced-air or heat dried for quite a while (when it looks dry there would still tend to be water wicked under BGA/etc chips so it's better to give it an extra day next to a fan than to rush it. 3. Does anyone know if the mousepad is a sealed unit (isolated from the main board area)? On that model, I don't know. In general, no, very little if anything on a laptop has the gaskets and design needed to repel water to this extent unless it was specifically designed (marketed) for this. At most some areas might have a fiberous dust gasket like on an optical drive door area but this will soak up the tea and be another thing that needs a more thorough cleaning (just rinsing should be enough, though in this cleaning process I would use a bit of detergent, not soap, before the final rinse cycle. An artist's paintbrush is a good tool to agitate the tea and other misc particules into solution before rinsing. 4. Does anyone know how to open the back (bottom) of an Inspiron 6400? You should check Dell's website, and if all else fails get some little pieces of plastic film, like a credit card cut into slits, so when you start prying around the edges with a knife made of the softest material you have, you can slip the pieces of plastic in to keep the shell parts cracked open. Sometimes using masking tape to keep these plastic pieces in place can help. 5. Does anyone know if the Inspiron 6400 has a liquid sensor and shuts off immediately (I hope so)? I've never heard of a non-waterproof laptop having a sensor like this, and doubt it could be a comprehensive protection since there would have to be such sensors scattered everywhere just to cover all potential liquid entry points, in order to shut it off before liquid reached some other area first. I suspect it's more likely the liquid shorted out a power supply rail in one way or other and the unit shut off when it couldn't regulate the power properly anymore. The remaining question would be if there was another short to something more sensitive. You may have some kind of failure, but it may not be a total loss. 6. Anyone have any other advice to maximise the posibility of my getting it to work again? Complete methodical disassembly and cleaning... but you probably suspected as much already. As with other combinations of questionable parts, you should try it with only the bare minimum parts connected, for example leaving HDD and optical, card reader/etc disconnected. That is the ideal but since it could be a PITA to keep stripping laptop down and reassembling it, you might instead make 100% sure it's dry before trying it and leaving the battery out so if it doesn't work or really, starts smoking, you can pull the power cord. While you have it open, inspect certain areas like fuses (probably surface mount type)(but actually, inspect all areas regardless of fuses and ensure all residue except perhaps some meant-to-be permanent, no-clean solder flux (if present) is removed). It is likely to have fuse(s) and might have blown one or more. You might need to use a multimeter to check continuity across them. Since it may be difficult to get into the back areas the keyboard you might need to soak in detergent solution and aggressively agitate it while wiggling the keys. At least this was unsweatened tea, since parts like the optical drive in particular shouldn't be water-cleaned and so there is a better chance it survived/working without a sticky residue remaining. I would also be hesitant to get the top half, LCD panel wet unless it later seems to be a problem or had obviously gotten tea wicked up into it. I would probably try the touchpad without rinsing it out yet... unless it was obviously full of tea residue, in which case getting it wet then dry again but with the residue removed and fully dried should be at least better than it was before. The other alternative is to drop it off at a laptop repair center, but you never know what they're going to tell you, some places tend to replace a whole board instead of finding a blown fuse or other simple discrete repair... though if you isolated a blown fuse and didn't feel you had the skill to source and replace it, indicating what is needed with the circuit board out could reduce the cost of repair at a general electronics repair shop... probably little more than minimal bench fee if you were fortunate enough that a failure was only a fuse, which it could be and there's not much diagnostics you can do to a laptop board until you spot a problem or fix the blown fuse so the rest gets power. Thanks buddy. One day, someone here will ask a question that you can't answer! I'll attack it with a screwdriver tonight and see if I can prise the case off. I have spent many a happy hour inside desktop PCs, but never dismantled a laptop base unit - I've only fixed hinges and broken plastic in screens/lids. Looking at a few pictures online, it would appear that the keyboard can be removed, providing access to most of the innards, without opening the bottom of the case - any hints or tips here? Found Dell support manuals detailing how to remove everything. I should be fine with this info: http://tinyurl.com/39f7lz |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 16:53:20 -0000, "GT"
wrote: I'll attack it with a screwdriver tonight and see if I can prise the case off. I have spent many a happy hour inside desktop PCs, but never dismantled a laptop base unit - I've only fixed hinges and broken plastic in screens/lids. Looking at a few pictures online, it would appear that the keyboard can be removed, providing access to most of the innards, without opening the bottom of the case - any hints or tips here? Found Dell support manuals detailing how to remove everything. I should be fine with this info: http://tinyurl.com/39f7lz Take your time and use a good screwdriver of proper size as some of the screws may be in pretty tight with threadlock on them. It would be better to buy a new screwdriver if unsure than to strip a screw. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
"kony" wrote in message
... On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 16:53:20 -0000, "GT" wrote: I'll attack it with a screwdriver tonight and see if I can prise the case off. I have spent many a happy hour inside desktop PCs, but never dismantled a laptop base unit - I've only fixed hinges and broken plastic in screens/lids. Looking at a few pictures online, it would appear that the keyboard can be removed, providing access to most of the innards, without opening the bottom of the case - any hints or tips here? Found Dell support manuals detailing how to remove everything. I should be fine with this info: http://tinyurl.com/39f7lz Take your time and use a good screwdriver of proper size as some of the screws may be in pretty tight with threadlock on them. It would be better to buy a new screwdriver if unsure than to strip a screw. I have a new set of minature 1-3.5mm flat, cross and start screw drivers. Laptop is now in many pieces!. Its not as bad as I thought. Screen wasn't touched. Mainboard (rear 2/3 of casing) looks like nothing touched it anywhere - clean as a whistle. Looks like the touchpad mouse and the keyboard took most of the tea. The rest has poured forward through the 2 lid latch holes at the front and around the speakers and some round the battery casing and just touched the connections, which I assume caused the short and immediate power down. I think I may have inadvertantly saved the machine as almost before the cup had even landed, I picked up the laptop and tipped it forward and the tea all poured out through the speaker perforations/holes, which is the only part of the inside that has no electrics (of importance - just speaker wiring). I think this is also how it arrived in the battery compartment - also at the front. So, nothing inside looks like it needs a clean, which is good news. The battery works just fine - it has a test button. I have cleaned the casing and battery compartment, so the only parts that may be damaged are the keyboard and mousepad. I think the keyboard will be OK - cleaned up OK and none of the keys are sticky. However the mousepad has some residue on the underside, so may be shot, but I'll leave it overnight and see what happens tomorrow. For once, I can actually say that there is no data on the machine that isn't backed up, so its not the end of the world! I'll leave it all in the airing cupboard over night and put it together again in the morning. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the advice Kony. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
"GT" wrote in message
... I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. Completely overhauled the box, inspecting and drynig as I went. The only tea damaged parts are the keyboard, mousepad and battery compartment. Some liquid must have reached the battery connector as the power went off immediately following the tea incident. I have dried all the parts and left it all over night. No circuitry has been touched by the liquid, other than whatever is under the keyboard keys and under the mousepad and buttons. However, it is dead. Power from battery or mains gives nothing. No fan noise, no lights, nothing. I strongly suspect that damage was done when the tea hit the battery contacts, but don't know where to begin in diagnosing the problem. Will probably just phone Dell, explain and see what they recommend. Its only just over 1 year old (1 year warranty!), but a repair might be more costly than a new machine! |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
On Fri, 2 Nov 2007 14:24:34 -0000, "GT"
wrote: "GT" wrote in message . .. I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. Completely overhauled the box, inspecting and drynig as I went. The only tea damaged parts are the keyboard, mousepad and battery compartment. Some liquid must have reached the battery connector as the power went off immediately following the tea incident. I have dried all the parts and left it all over night. No circuitry has been touched by the liquid, other than whatever is under the keyboard keys and under the mousepad and buttons. However, it is dead. Power from battery or mains gives nothing. No fan noise, no lights, nothing. I strongly suspect that damage was done when the tea hit the battery contacts, but don't know where to begin in diagnosing the problem. Will probably just phone Dell, explain and see what they recommend. Its only just over 1 year old (1 year warranty!), but a repair might be more costly than a new machine! Do you have a mulltimeter? If not, now is a good excuse to get one. Even some cheap $20 generic is a very useful tool for many purposes, it need not be a $200 Fluke. Keep the battery out, plug the AC adapter in and trace the power from the onboard (or occasionally separate power board) section. Basically you would take meter probes and follow the power path, from input all the way to some chips. As I vaguely mentioned previously, I would check all fuses' continuity first. Unplug all hardware non-essential to post and then see if it runs. Essentially it has same troubleshooting as a desktop, just more integrated and more fiddly connectors. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
"kony" wrote in message
... On Fri, 2 Nov 2007 14:24:34 -0000, "GT" wrote: "GT" wrote in message .. . I would like to start this with "a friend of mine...", but I can't! I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. Completely overhauled the box, inspecting and drynig as I went. The only tea damaged parts are the keyboard, mousepad and battery compartment. Some liquid must have reached the battery connector as the power went off immediately following the tea incident. I have dried all the parts and left it all over night. No circuitry has been touched by the liquid, other than whatever is under the keyboard keys and under the mousepad and buttons. However, it is dead. Power from battery or mains gives nothing. No fan noise, no lights, nothing. I strongly suspect that damage was done when the tea hit the battery contacts, but don't know where to begin in diagnosing the problem. Will probably just phone Dell, explain and see what they recommend. Its only just over 1 year old (1 year warranty!), but a repair might be more costly than a new machine! Do you have a mulltimeter? If not, now is a good excuse to get one. Even some cheap $20 generic is a very useful tool for many purposes, it need not be a $200 Fluke. Keep the battery out, plug the AC adapter in and trace the power from the onboard (or occasionally separate power board) section. Basically you would take meter probes and follow the power path, from input all the way to some chips. As I vaguely mentioned previously, I would check all fuses' continuity first. Unplug all hardware non-essential to post and then see if it runs. Essentially it has same troubleshooting as a desktop, just more integrated and more fiddly connectors. I don't know if your model has a way of powering it back on with out using the keyboard but it might be worth a try of doing that with the keyboard totally removed from the unit. If it looks like it is trying to power up you might try flushing out the keyboard with 180% alcohol, or what you can get that is stronger than the cheap rubbing alcohol they sell at the grocery store, while it is still removed from the chassis. Then keeping the temp in mind either use a hair dryer to blow dry the alcohol or leave it on something warm, like a TV or other thing to air dry for a day or two. It might just get the keyboard working again. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Tea + Dell
I have a 1 year old Dell Inspiron 6400 and decided to pour a full cup
of fresh, just boiled tea over it. Sounds silly to mention it, but no milk or sugar, just a fresh slice of lemon. Before I could even whip the power cable out of the back, the machine turned itself off instantly. I pulled the battery after a moment to limit any further power related damage. The memory compartment underneath seems to be dry. The hard disk seems to be dry - removed that about 5 minutes after the event. You'll need to let it dry for SEVERAL days... If liquid got into any nooks and crannies it will take a while to dry. I'd open it up and pull the drive(s) out, keyboard, etc... Basically anything that isn't difficult to remove and might trap moisture. Once apart, point a fan blowing across it to speed drying. Leave it for several days. It might help to rinse in warm distilled water or possibly 90% isoproyl alcohol... but that would depend on how much tea got into the machine. A lack of sugar or milk is a very good thing... Shouldn't gum anything up. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Dell Inspiron 1100 with Non-Dell (regular) XP pro installed can't flash BIOS to upgrade | [email protected] | Dell Computers | 29 | March 6th 07 07:37 AM |
Dell Dimension 8200- Random Artifacts & characters on Dell splash screen?? | James | Homebuilt PC's | 4 | December 6th 04 06:46 PM |
Dell Dimension 8200- Random Artifacts & characters on Dell splash screen?? | James | Dell Computers | 5 | December 6th 04 06:46 PM |
FS: DELL DELL... keyboard for all of model laptop Dell Latitude CPi, CPx,...C600 C610, C640, 810,C840, ... Dell Inspiron 3700, 3800, 4000, 4100 , | www.pc4every.com | UK Computer Vendors | 0 | August 19th 04 11:48 PM |
Dell 8300 Desktops - Anyone getting a system battery voltage low warning ? Dell can't figure out what to do.... | [email protected] | Dell Computers | 6 | April 5th 04 02:55 AM |