water spillage

[ipark]

-Pictures at bottom-

During class I accidentally bumped my girlfriend, who happened to be holding a 6oz cup of water. Not all of the water spilled on to the laptop, I would say only about a third. As soon as the water spilled she flipped the notebook over and most of the water dripped out. I came home and took off the keyboard and noticed very very tiny spots on the fan and on what I assume is the processor chip. I've searched and read up on the "spill" entries and am now worried that if anything goes wrong with my tp, my warranty will be void. I have not tried to turn on the laptop and it has been sitting infront of a fan with the keyboard removed.

I know the chances of the tp working again is pretty good, as I've read up on some of the others' experience with spillage.

- Are those spots on the fan and the cpu from the water, or is it possible that those were already there as this is my first time opening up my tp?

- What are the chances that the motherboard or any other component of my tp will go bad in a few months?

- How long should I wait till I try to turn my tp on again?
n
I'm sad because my thinkpad is only a month old. Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks

**edit** I forgot to mention the thinkpad was on at the time of the spill and I did turn it off once I got over the shock of it all. haha

PICS:

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g145/hangooky/

[EOMtp]

Do NOT worry in the slightest. There is ZERO chance that you ruined anything or that anything will happen months from now as a result of what you describe.

Your pictures look perfect. All Thinkpad internal components look just like yours, i.e., showing what appear to be water spots on the metal. The green chip is not the CPU and what appears to be an "imperfection" on it is part of the chip; it was manufactured that way. The CPU is under the metal heat sink and it is dryer than dry (not that it matters one bit).

Once the water evaporates, nobody will be able to tell in any way that what you describe happened.

Just make sure the unit looks/appears dry inside before you turn on the power. There is nothing inside that is damaged by moisture if the power is off. With the power off, you can submerge the unit in a bathtub and suffer no ill effects, either electronically or cosmetically (but let's not try this).

Don't worry at all and enjoy your Thinkpad ... once it's dry!

[NS]

I had done something much worse to my thinkpad. All thinkpads do not get damage so easily after water spilled on them. Most important DO NOT SWITCH IT ON IMMEDIATELY after the spill. Wait till it is dry completely before switching it on.

I spilled a can of coke on my TP and i quickly switch everything off and take out the screws and leave everything out to dry and don't know why my [censored] nose start to ooze blood. I got nose bleed. I got a sensitive nose and a little heat, i will suffer from nose bleed. The blood from my nose dripped onto my heatsink and onto my CPU. It dripped so fast and a lot and i stood there stunned. Later i washed the CPU and heatsink and wait for it to dry. Then i fix it back and amazingly everything works. <--Amazingly. Miracle...

^It's real, i swear...

[ipark]

Thanks guys for your response.

[brewt]

With the power off, you can submerge the unit in a bathtub and suffer no ill effects, either electronically or cosmetically (but let's not try this).

Not true, the hard drive will not like being submerged in water. Also, if you have impure or hard water, it will likely leave some residue behind after drying (which from other people's posts, will end up voiding the warranty if the tech sees the possible water damage during repair).

[christopher_wolf]

With the power off, you can submerge the unit in a bathtub and suffer no ill effects, either electronically or cosmetically (but let's not try this).

Not true, the hard drive will not like being submerged in water. Also, if you have impure or hard water, it will likely leave some residue behind after drying (which from other people's posts, will end up voiding the warranty if the tech sees the possible water damage during repair).

Oh myyyy....*DO NOT* try to do submerge a turned off Thinkpad in water, period. Even though the system is "off" there is still quite a bit of power in the battery itself and on various capacitor on the system board, even the CMOS battery keeps working so the system doesn't lose track of the time. Also, don't *ever* totally submerge a LiIon battery or NiMH battery; ever see what happens when Lithium comes into contact with even a slight amount of moisture?

All domestic water supplies, unless you have them hooked up to a DI system and a series of filters, will have resiude in it (just like Brewt said); most of the residue is of the CaCO3 form and other metals, some in oxide or co-ordinated organic compounds, will build up and leave either nasty spots or, in the worst case, short out some connections.

Even though tehnology has improved over the years, Electronics + Water can still have some very unpredictable effects.

PS: I should also note that the HDD will, if totally submerged in water, cease to function should you leave it in long enough. HDDs need a small, but significant amount, of clean air to set up a small laminar flow between each head and the platter; usually this comes in from a little hole in the HDD case with a cylindrical filter set to trap particulate matter in to prevent damage to the HDD. Get this wet and it might survive if you dry it out, but if the water soaks all the way though after a period of time....That's it.

[NS]

ever see what happens when Lithium comes into contact with even a slight amount of moisture?

Yeah, will result in an explosion... Read the warning in the manuals.

PS: Try not to get any water spilled on any electronic device. Because either the thing will get fried or you will be electrocuted...

[ipark]

Not true, the hard drive will not like being submerged in water. Also, if you have impure or hard water, it will likely leave some residue behind after drying (which from other people's posts, will end up voiding the warranty if the tech sees the possible water damage during repair).

Oh myyyy....*DO NOT* try to do submerge a turned off Thinkpad in water, period. Even though the system is "off" there is still quite a bit of power in the battery itself and on various capacitor on the system board, even the CMOS battery keeps working so the system doesn't lose track of the time. Also, don't *ever* totally submerge a LiIon battery or NiMH battery; ever see what happens when Lithium comes into contact with even a slight amount of moisture?

All domestic water supplies, unless you have them hooked up to a DI system and a series of filters, will have resiude in it (just like Brewt said); most of the residue is of the CaCO3 form and other metals, some in oxide or co-ordinated organic compounds, will build up and leave either nasty spots or, in the worst case, short out some connections.

Even though tehnology has improved over the years, Electronics + Water can still have some very unpredictable effects.

PS: I should also note that the HDD will, if totally submerged in water, cease to function should you leave it in long enough. HDDs need a small, but significant amount, of clean air to set up a small laminar flow between each head and the platter; usually this comes in from a little hole in the HDD case with a cylindrical filter set to trap particulate matter in to prevent damage to the HDD. Get this wet and it might survive if you dry it out, but if the water soaks all the way though after a period of time....That's it.

hahahahaha thanks for the advice but i don't think that's something that i'd every try, no matter how tough these thinkpads are. maybe if i was so loaded that i had nothing better to do with my monies.

i'm on my tp as i speak, or write i should say, and it seems to be working fiiinnne! my girlfriend cried because she felt so bad and becase she knows how much i baby this monster of a machine. i gave her my sony vaio after i had purchased this tp, and i'm sure as hell the vaio would have been out of commission after an incident like this.

i love my tp and i freakin love this forum!

[cmarti]

[quote="ipark"] [[i gave her my sony vaio after i had purchased this tp, and i'm sure as hell the vaio would have been out of commission after an incident like this.]

You can be sure of that Thinkpads rocks!

[brewt]

Yeah, the keyboard a the drain hole is a pretty neat design. I'm not sure when they started adding them in, but my T42 has it. If you look closely, around below the left ALT key, the keyboard tray has a notch (there's a lip around the whole keyboard tray) that allows the liquids that land in the keyboard to drain out there. It then goes into a channel in the palm rest straight down out the bottom of the notebook.

[christopher_wolf]

Yeah, the keyboard a the drain hole is a pretty neat design. I'm not sure when they started adding them in, but my T42 has it. If you look closely, around below the left ALT key, the keyboard tray has a notch (there's a lip around the whole keyboard tray) that allows the liquids that land in the keyboard to drain out there. It then goes into a channel in the palm rest straight down out the bottom of the notebook.

In keyboards? IBM started that with the famous and legendary Model M keyboards. The orginal Model Ms go back a long way (officially started around 1986-1987), but they started adding drainage holes to the venerable Model Ms around 1992 I should think. Then it was only a matter of time before they got them on the Thinkpads.

[EOMtp]

Folks, please accept my apologies!
My "submerge in a bathtub" comment was not meant to be taken SERIOUSLY.

The fellow who started this thread had a new Thinkpad -- just one month old -- and was so very worried that he may have damaged it. He deserved to be comforted and I was just trying to set his mind at ease! It is hard to imagine that anyone would take such a comment seriously ...

[christopher_wolf]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/21/asa_creative/

^ UK's ASA took that seriously enough to take significant action.

And who is deemed, in certain cases, responsible?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/21 ... _comments/

....Well?

[EOMtp]

Impressive research. How do you find these jewels?
Nonetheless, let's not confuse bad free advice with illegal activity! I don't think you will be held liable for the former ...

[christopher_wolf]

Where do you find this sutff???

Nonetheless, let's not confuse bad free advice with illegal activity! I don't think you will be held liable for the former

Just kidding for the most part; but you never know what somebody out there could get into their heads and try to do.

I don't think anybody will be held liable for that Water+Thinkpad thing; then again, I am not one that would confuse those two or file any action now am I?