A problem with water... erm :(

[Shmee150]

Hi guys,

I bought a new laptop under a month ago, a real treat; a Vaio TZ, and it's amazing....

BUT...

The other day a friend was sitting at my desk and unfortunately knocked a drink over which splashed on the computer a little. As far as I can tell there is only 1 thing that doesn't work, that's the left-click mouse button on the front edge.

So this is very inconvenient because it has to be fixed, I'm not settling for leaving it like this without a working button but unfortunately after my call to Sony it would appear that they charge a minimum fee of £142 + additional possible parts/labour, so yeah that's not to tempting just to fix 1 key. Does anybody know what I can do? Or any other possible ideas before I end up almost certainly with some super-heated arguement with my friend over who's paying

Cheers,

Tim

[SiM]

I see 2 other options:
a) Use an external mouse.

b) Don't mention the water, just say that it stopped working and then get it fixed for free under warranty.

In the future whenever you wet something, remove power asap and give it a few days to dry before reusing... There is a high chance it would still work if you do this...

[Shmee150]

I see 2 other options:
a) Use an external mouse.

b) Don't mention the water, just say that it stopped working and then get it fixed for free under warranty.

In the future whenever you wet something, remove power asap and give it a few days to dry before reusing... There is a high chance it would still work if you do this...

I'll go with b) for now I think. Unfortunately I was passed out at the time (this was in my study at uni) so didn't know about it until the next day

[Shmee150]

Although actually I've probably made a really big blunder. When I rang them I had to register and they assigned me a reference number presumably linked to my laptop's serial and I told them the truth before they quoted (probably really stupid but there we go what's done is done) and so they might be clever enough to work out that I'm cheating them a bit if I give them a different story, what do you think??? Will they know?

[acrobat]

I think they will probably know Usually when someone takes your details and makes a case number and stuff, they will enter your info into a database. Its probably like:

Name:
Shmee150

Laptop:
Model whatever

Problem:
Spilt water on it

So you might get away with it, but I doubt it. I'm not sure how much it would cost, but I know someone who spilled a lot of water and had to get an entire new motherboard in the laptop. I can't remember the exact cost, but I'm pretty sure it cost them over £300 (which made me think they would have been better to just buy a new laptop... cause it was an old one they spilled the water on).

I'd be wary of sending it to them, because its instantly £142, and then they could say you need a new motherboard in it, and charge something extortionate for it. And if you say no, you lost your £142 and still have a wonky button.

I think the first thing I'd do, is put it somewhere dry and warm for a couple of days like SiM said. It may be too late to do that now, but its possible it still could do something. Electronics are funny like that.

If that still didn't work, then I suppose your only option is the expensive repair, or use an external mouse. What the best option is, probably depends on what you want from it. If you use it a lot when you are on the go... then an external mouse might not be suitable. But if you only use it at your desk in college, or at your desk in your dorm, then you might get away with it.

Another alternative is that maybe you could buy an external trackpad. It would be like the one built into a laptop, but you'd have to keep it separate and plug it in (via USB or PS2 or whatever).

Not sure what else could be done Its very sad. The only thing I haven't mentioned is that heated discussion with your mate and getting them to pay for it. I'd dread the thought of that, but really, it would only be fair I think. Infact, if it was me, and I spilled something on somebody's whatever and broke it... I would offer to pay for the repair - no matter how much it was. They should have offered to pay for your repair, and if they haven't then they maybe aren't worthy of you worrying about their feelings. Only you can decide all that though I suppose. Good luck whatever happens.

[SiM]

I am not suggesting this, but its possible...
If you can make something else go wrong with your laptop, then get it fixed under warranty - and they might also fix the button, when they find it not working

Magnet to the hard drive comes to mind

[chrisg22]

I am not suggesting this, but its possible...
If you can make something else go wrong with your laptop, then get it fixed under warranty - and they might also fix the button, when they find it not working

Magnet to the hard drive comes to mind

Rubber hammer to the HDD. As long as you leave no marks on it!

[peterb]

If it was water, tit should be OK when it dries out - but you said in the post "A drink" so if it was tea, coffee or beer - esapecially with sugar in it) then the problem is more serious - sticcky drinks tend to cause mechanical problems in that buttons tend to stick, and leave a stick residue on contacts. It would probably be obvious when the machine is dismantled anyway.

Without knowing how the machine is put together, or how the buttons work, or your technical capability/manual dexterity it is difficult to offer a way forward. However many of these buttons use a conductive rubber pad, which when compressed changes resitance across a couple of contacts. (Some also use miniature switches). If it was mine, I would consider taking it apart to see if I could clean any residue away from the affected switch, which wouould probably fix the problem.

However - this would almost certainly void any warranty, especially if any tamper detect labels or other tamper detect mechanisms are removed. Secondly, laptops can be difficult to dismantle and how they come apart is not always obvious, and ther case can be damaged during the process - only a very careful viual inspection can determine that - and there is always the possibility that cleaning the residue may not fix the problem. I would probably have a go - you may not be comfortable doing that.

Do you have an insurance policy that covers accidental damage?

[Rishi]

Home Insurance?

[aidanjt]

USB Mouse?

[Mossy]

Send it back and charge your friend the charge I am sure they will pay it as it was due to their clumsy actions?

Edit : Plus this keeps it under sony warranty so if for any reason it breaks in the future you have a receipt to say it has been fixed under warranty and it becomes sony's problem. Any other fix will probably void your warranty

[freddie]

oh no!

if it's sticky and has left a residue try pressing the keys quite a lot, it might make whatever residue is left lose and fall away. do this with the keyboard upside down so stuff can fall away.

I've never tried but can you lift laptop keys like you can with desktop keyboards? If so you can give it a good clean.

£140 is alot for repair! do they have a tech centre where you can pop by and they can have a look at it?

good luck

[Shmee150]

Guys, cheers for all the opinions so far, especially Acrobat.

SiM - I don't think I'm going to do that - don't have it in me just in case they do discover because then I'll be even more down from it

chrisg - I think that goes for your option as well

peterb - thanks again for your helpful message. Unfortunately I do not think I have the ability to take it apart. Obviously I have had a look over it, but it's one of these really little laptops so everything is on such a small scale and the prospect of getting it back together really scares me. It was also a Gin & Tonic, so pretty sugary and initially the button was sticky and it has loosened up as I've been pressing it so now back to normal but I'd be almost certain it's died due to residue on the contacts as you suggested.

Rishi - For some reason my parents weren't too keen to claim on the home insurance policy, in any instance should it be on my policy or the other guys?

aidanjt - Not really an option, well it will probably have to be for now, but it's an "ultra-portable" laptop, like sub 1kg now so I don't want to lug a mouse around with it as well

Paulm - That is probably what I'm about to do

freddie - It's the mouse button, you can defo lift the keys but I don't think the mouse button, I've briefly poked at it but it doesn't look easy. To the best of my knowledge all you can do with Sony is the whole mail order process because they send it to somewhere in Belgium.

Anyway guys thanks for all the helpful replies!

Cheers,

Tim

[peterb]

One other thought - an aerosol can of IPA (Maplin) coms with a fl;exible nozzle. Spraying that into the button surround with the laptop upside down may (just may) wash the gunge away. IPA is a pretty safe solvent (in that it doesn't attack most common plastics), it shouldn't cause any damage.

[Bleek]

If it's still under warranty I'd unclip the TFT fascia and merely release the ribbon cable.

They'll turn up to fix the 'none working screen' and be obliged to replace the mouse button.

This way you do no damage to your laptop.