T41 - spilled water, no visible damage to mobo, but random standby - Help, please!

[wisdomkeeper]

I gave my IBM T41 to my brother about year ago. Yesterday he spilled water on the laptop. There is no visible damage to the mobo, I did complete dissasembly, practically no water on the mobo. Cleaned all the residue. And I assembled it again. The laptop passes POST, but after that it goes to standby almost immediately(beeps and the standby indicator(moon) lights up) I can wake it, but in about 1-2 seconds it happens again.
Please help me, is there something I have missed?

[TPFanatic]

Perhaps something wrong in the keyboard connector - reseat it or clean it, or perhaps you need to replace the keyboard?

[wisdomkeeper]

When I turn on the laptop and immediately remove the keyboard, the laptop again goes to standby. When I wake it with external USB keyboard, again the same problem. It's not a keyboard connector problem, neither is the LVDS connector(LID switch) With no keyboard and no LCD the laptop does it again. The laptop passes all the POST tests.
Should I try to wash the motherboard with distilled water?

[ajkula66]

.
Should I try to wash the motherboard with distilled water?

No. Dump the board in a bag of rice and let it sit for a few days.

Good luck.

[wisdomkeeper]

...in a bag of rice and...

Rice is a myth. I think that I need to wash the board, because I don't know what else to do. 99% alcohol or distilled, deionized water? Or neither? What may cause this problem?

[ajkula66]

...in a bag of rice and...

Rice is a myth.

Rice has reportedly worked for some members here. Can you offer a better solution?

I'm always willing to learn and am certain that others around here are as well.

So?

[wisdomkeeper]

Rice has reportedly worked for some members here. Can you offer a better solution?

Dear friend, do you really believe that the rice will clear all the mineral residue, left after the evaporation of the water? The problem is that there was almost no water on the mobo, I sucked up all the remaining moisture and then dried the motherboard with blow heater. That was yesterday. So, if there is a problem, caused by water spill, it has to be due to the mineral residue left. But I am not really sure that the water is the main reason responsible for the malfunction.
This is why I am asking what could be the reason for this behavior and if it's due to minerals - what action to take? Is 95% alcohol better than distilled water or distilled water is better in getting the job done?

[ajkula66]

Rice has reportedly worked for some members here. Can you offer a better solution?

Dear friend, do you really believe that the rice will clear all the mineral residue, left after the evaporation of the water?

While I'll admit to never attempting "the rice approach" myself, I'd venture a guess that moisture - and not mineral residue - was like to cause the initial damage.

The problem is that there was almost no water on the mobo, I sucked up all the remaining moisture and then dried the motherboard with blow heater. That was yesterday.

I'm sure that I wouldn't have attempted to use the blow heater, but to each their own.

If the residue is your concern, a 90% or stronger isopropyl alcohol would be the way to go, IMO.

Good luck.

[wisdomkeeper]

If the residue is your concern, a 90% or stronger isopropyl alcohol would be the way to go, IMO.

Will the distilled water do the trick, because the isopropyl is not very popular here(hard to find). Also, it's very expensive and I want to soak the whole motherboard. The other alternative is ethanol 95%.
About the moisture - you can soak the whole TV set in transformer oil. It's the minerals that make the water electrically conductive. I read that the clean water is very poor conductor(more isolator than conductor).

[thinkpadcollection]

I would hate to say this, alcohol is important to "dry" out the board but that takes time to evaporate. As some suggested, grab some bag of rice and large enough container or a bag put rice in there and computer to "dry out" for awhile like few days.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

[ajkula66]

The other alternative is ethanol 95%.

Go for it. Presuming that you're not referring to one of the locally brewed brandies...

[wisdomkeeper]

Presuming that you're not referring to one of the locally brewed brandies...

I understood...you are very thirsty? So, I cannot use one of these?

[ajkula66]

I understood...you are very thirsty? So, I cannot use one of these?

Why waste the good stuff on a T4x board? And yes, the picture did make me thirsty...

[wisdomkeeper]

I received an offer for the whole down side of the laptop(cooler, cpu, chassis) - 20$(35lv) Is it worth to attempt repairs on this mobo? Any final thoughts about the potential problem with this mobo? Has someone ever seen such a problem? Have someone ever attempted to make component level repairs?

[MrMaguire]

Check the lid switch. The one that tells the laptop to standby. It may still have moisture in it, shorting the contacts.

[wisdomkeeper]

And yes, the picture did make me thirsty...

After alcohol bath the laptop is working properly again. Seems that the laptop was just as thirsty as you, and even more