[TriLUG] OT - cleaning laptop after coffee spill

[Aaron S. Joyner]

Mike Norwood wrote:

>My wife called me at work to say that she was ambushed by our cat causing 
>her to spill coffee into her laptop.  Has anyone had any luck (either good 
>or bad) in trying to clean liquid from a laptop?  Just looking for any 
>hints anyone can offer.  In searching online I have seen mention of 
>something called Contact Cleaner which may be available at Radio Shack 
>that some people say they have had luck with.  
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Mike Norwood
>
>  
>
My wife soaked her laptop in an inch and a half of Coca Cola for 45 mins 
during a class in grad school.  Being a hardware-type guy, I stripped 
the thing entirely to the chassis, pulled every motherboard component 
off, pulled the screen out, cleaned every screw and crevice, etc.  All 
of this was futile, because the first thing she had done when she lifted 
it from her waterproof backpack (note: holds coke in as well as water 
out), was turn it on to see if it was okay.  Other than that, I don't 
think the screen would have made it, but I think everything else would 
have survived.  As she was a student, her laptop was covered under a 
nice warranty, which for a $250 deductible, pretty much replaced the 
entire laptop.

So I suppose my advice is, if she hasn't turned it on yet, let it dry.  
Once it's been a few days, if you feel comfortable disassembling it, 
give that a try.  Clean what you can with alcohol or a light detergent 
(something like a drop or two of dish washing liquid in a big bowl of 
water).  Depending on how much liquid was involved in the spill, you 
might not even have to worry too much -- but if, as is likely, the 
computer was on and running during the spill... if it wasn't turned off 
pretty-much immediately, you might be out of luck.

If you want to provide more info on the current state of the laptop, 
perhaps we can provide more advice.

Aaron S. Joyner