Laptop spillage

[htid]

My girlfriend accidentally dropped peach juice into her laptop, and it automatically turned itself off pretty much straight away. She dried as much of it up as she could and left it a few hours, then when she tried to turn it back on it doesn't respond. She's going to take it to someone so they can fix it, but I just wanted to know how much she should look to spend (we live in London). I know it can be very variable, but just any advice about price (or the problem itself) will be much appreciated!

[filbert]

As you don't say what make and model the laptop is, I'll have a guess that the motherboard's gone and it'll cost more than it's worth.

[htid]

As you don't say what make and model the laptop is, I'll have a guess that the motherboard's gone and it'll cost more than it's worth.

Sorry, I typed it in a hurry, didn't think of that It's an Asus M51V and was bought for €900 about a year ago - does what you said still stand?

[GoNz0]

it will be a few hundred pounds, are you insured ?

[smargh]

My sister spilled red wine on her Samsung NC10 netbook. Apparently it was quite a waterfall.

Disassembled a day later, cleaned off residue from motherboard, keyboard, battery. Battery had some buildup of charred residue, so it had obviously shorted. However, cleaned it up, put back together, still stank of fruity wine, it booted up but the keyboard didn't work properly.

Removed keyboard, dried it on a radiator for a few days, still didn't work properly & still stank.

Bought new replacement UK keyboard for £35 from ebay, it worked fine and stopped stinking of old plastic fruityness.

Short version: needs disassembling, cleaning, checking carefully. Use wooden toothpicks and isopropyl alcohol (often CD/lens cleaner liquid) to remove any residue. Check both genders of the battery contacts. Keyboard replacement may be required. After all that, you still might end up with a broken laptop.

[killie99]

If you feel up to it then disassemble as smargh says. I'm guessing there is a small board that has the on/off power switch and a few other functions on it, take it to bits, clean with a small brush and isoprop, same with the motherboard but remove the cmos battery first. HAd a quick look for a service manual for it on the asus website but I can't find one so no idea how tricky a teardown would be. To get someone else to clean it up I think you'll be looking at least £100 and if it needs a new motherboard you'll be looking at several hundred pounds. Try to find a reliable local pc repair guy rather than PCWorld, he'll do a better job and at a better price - PCWorld will just quote you for a new motherboard and won't attempt to clean the one that's in it. Also, if you have data on the hard drive that you need I suggest you remove the hard drive and copy the important data off it before getting anyone to look at it just incase they wipe all your data - a good local PC guy would save your data as a matter of course if you gave him the machine to fix (well that's what I do before I attempt to fix any pc's/laptops). Pity I don't live anywhere near you or I'd have had a look at it for you. If you want to courier it to me I'm happy to help. PM me if you want more info.

[htid]

Thanks everyone - she's taken it into somewhere near her uni as they offer to look at it free and give an assessment - just hope they don't rip her off.

GoNz0, she's not :/

killie99 - thanks for the offer but she's already taken it somewhere now

[OilSheikh]

As you mention 'a year ago ' Is it still under warranty?

[GoNz0]

they dont warranty against peach juice

[htid]

they dont warranty against peach juice

Yeah we already tried that route (knowing it wasn't really going to get her anywhere)

[dave87]

Has she got home insurance she can claim on? I know you mentioned she's not insured, is that just specifically on the laptop?

[htid]

Has she got home insurance she can claim on? I know you mentioned she's not insured, is that just specifically on the laptop?

Actually no...but would it even cover accidental damage? Anyway she's had it fixed at the place she took it to, £95 and they say if it doesn't work after that, the work is free. Not too bad, but we'll see tomorrow.

[scaryjim]

Actually no...but would it even cover accidental damage?

Most do - that's one of the main reasons to pay for home insurance! Some have bizarre restrictions though - I got caught by Endsleigh once because my policy didn't cover accidental damage in the home - so drop my computer on the pavement carrying it the car, I'm covered: drop it in someone else's house (e.g. at a LAN party, maybe?), I'm covered: drop it in the living room carrying it back into my house, I wasn't.

[Elkie]

Most do - that's one of the main reasons to pay for home insurance! Some have bizarre restrictions though - I got caught by Endsleigh once because my policy didn't cover accidental damage in the home - so drop my computer on the pavement carrying it the car, I'm covered: drop it in someone else's house (e.g. at a LAN party, maybe?), I'm covered: drop it in the living room carrying it back into my house, I wasn't.

wait what? surely thats not home insurance then?

[DaemonLee]

wait what? surely thats not home insurance then?

It actually still is. Sometimes, Home Insurance only covers the things -in- your home, that you can take -out- of your home. Additional riders could also be purchased to cover things specifically or increase value in a specific area of your home. It all depends on the level of coverage.