Spilled Juice on my T42, is the warranty void now?

[rajkal23]

I spilled juice couple of months ago on my T42 some of the keys are sticky will that void the warranty?I have still 1 year's of warranty left.
I have a fan issue with my laptop, called the support team they asked me to send the laptop for replacement of the fan as it is still under warranty, I haven't mentioned about the spill as I am not sure whether it was only on the keyboard or it went inside. Need advice what to do now.

[egibbs]

The fan issue is very likely a result of the spill... If they pull the machine apart and discover sticky residue all over the MB and in the fan, they will certainly not allow it as a warranty repair (unless you have the accidental damage coverage).

Not sure what to tell you to do. You could try try taking it apart and cleaning it yourself with distilled water and Q-Tips, or just bite the bullet and send it in. They will want to replace any components with any evidence of spill reside on them, and charge you for it.

Good luck - I went through this with my T20 and coffee a few years back and it cost me over a grand.

Ed Gibbs

[Johan]

Welcome to the forum, rajkal!

Unless you have the "ThinkPlus accidental coverage" (= additional damage warranty, which must have been separately purchased by you), I really believe that you have to be more-than-average lucky to get IBM to honor a warranty repair of this kind - see the many threads mentioned in this post. In the worst case, IBM-Service (EZServ) will discover that YOU was responsible yourself of e.g. an expensive dead motherboard (!), and they will potentially totally refuse to repair your T42 later (under warranty). Because of this, I would certainly suggest that you carefully review e.g. the following, and then decide if it is not your best option to very, very carefully clean both the keyboard AND the interior (= the motherboard) for any spill residue. If there ARE anything such on the motherboard (spill residue), it may have some corrosion effects which may potentially have influence on the long-term reliability. In the very unlucky case that your T42 later on develop a REAL hardware error (through no fault of yours), and, say, the motherboard needs to be replaced, then you risk that IBM deny to do this (pay for it), if they find juice on your motherboard. Therefore, I would at least open up the T42, and very carefully inspect how it looks inside.

Now, for the keyboard, I would try (myself!) clean it as well; first take it off the T42, and then follow the descriptions in the below threads. If you are unable to clean the keyboard, I'd say: Get a new. They are available from around $25 at eBay, and you may find the part number via the Keyboard service parts - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p. Beware that there are keyboards for 14.1" ThinkPad's and for 15" models, and they are not interchangeable. Also, there are three different keyboard brands; many users prefer the NMB keyboard (especially the ones which were manufactured in Thailand... but those are hard to get hold of - if you order a new, spare T42 NMB-manufactured keyboard, you'll get one mfg. in China). If you still have the original keyboard in your T42, you may find out what type it is through the IBM warranty status lookup page; enter the type and serial-number, select "Submit", and then on the following page choose "View parts lookup results for this system". You may buy replacement parts directly from IBM (= new parts); see IBM Maintenance parts (hey, does anybody know what IBM charge in shipping/handling fee if purchasing spareparts via this site - I never tried?).

For recommendation about how to clean your keyboard and interiors, have a look in e.g. the following threads (all of which I easily found using the Search function in this forum): ibm won't repair my computer claiming it's 'spill damage' and T42p fatal coke overdose......motherboard model? (see especially the post by SteveS of Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:30 am) and Club soda'd t42, need new mobo, upgrade Q's and Spilled coffee and spill advice and T42 HW damage and Spilt Coffee On My Keyboard! How to clean?!?!.

To find out how you open your T42: Get the Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p and you're all set. Also, you may take a look at the many ThinkPad movies; find them via Movie matrices - Notebooks. Remember to first take out the battery, and disconnect from the power supply. Also, take out your CD-ROM and your harddisk before you start cleaning!

PS: When (if!) you take off your keyboard, be sure to use the correct screwdriver (sized PH1, I believe), and a good quality - if you damage the keyboard screws owing to a wrong/cheap/poor tool, then... you're in more troubles!

Please post back here your results - for the benefit of future unlucky fellows... Good luck!

Best regards,

Johan

[rajkal23]

Thanks for all your help. I sent my laptop for fan replacement , IBM fixed it, No questions asked. Also I made sure that there was no juice spill on mother board or on the fan. There were no traces of juice inside, only keys on the keyboard were sticky.

[chan_man]

Great that you got the fan replaced.. options would be to get a new keyboard or try cleaning it. You could try water wash but make sure everything is DRY before reinstalling. Wait a day or so to make sure it is dry. Alcohol can also be used but again, make sure it is dry before reinstalling, you do not want to blow the motherboard. It is probably safer to just order a new keyboard or check the Marketplace for someone selling a T4x keyboard, make sure to get the right size board, either 14" or 15". T40, T41 or T42 will fit, probably T43 as well. I have swap between models except for the T43