Dead T43, completely unresponsive.

[herr.jth]

Hi,
I have some strange problem with my Thinkpad T43, well, I think due to improper handling

I tried to clean the keyboard, i.e. I removed it according to the IBM Manual. Then (Mistake 1, I guess) drowned it completely into water with some dish liquid in it. Then I let it dry one day and it also seemed quite dry to me after that. Then I reinstalled it into the thinkpad and things got a little out of hand:

1. At first glance, all seemed fine. The OS booted, but during that (machine was running approx. 25 seconds) the thinkpad simply switched itself off.
2. Second attempt, the machine shut itself down even faster, I couldn't even make it into the bios.
3. Tried it again, but this time from the AC-Adapter and with/without battery. The behavior was exactly the same, with different stutdown-times (from ~2 seconds up to ~20, seems somewhat random)
4. Well, then Mistake 2 occured. I forgot to disconnect the AC-Adapter when I plugged the Keyboard back in and then, from ghost-hand the thinkpad turned itself on. Maybe I have touched some Interior with the metalplate or some screw-hole under the keyboard. Even if I don't think so, it would explain 5.
5. After that, the Thinkpad is completely unresponsive. Pushing the Power-On button has no effect at all. The only thing that reacts is the Charge-LED that goes to yellow if I plug the AC-Adapter in and have the battery attached.

I'am afraid of that I bricked the computer completely, but before buying some Systemboard for exchange, maybe someone has an idea what causes this thinkpad-behaviour and has some ideas what I could do next or at least how I can gather more information what was damaged.

Thanks in advance.

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.
Borrow a keyboard from another T40/41/42/43 in the same size as yours (14" or 15").
Make sure to remove AC and battery before you make the swap.
Guess a new keyboard is all you need (unless there was still water leaking from the KB onto the mobo, which 'fixed' that also).
Water and laptops do not mix!

[herr.jth]

Well, now that's weird. Like magic, the thinkpad turns on again und everything works fine... except for the keyboard. Some keys are simply dead, others give some strange characters and the Power-key seems to be triggered occassionally.
I guess you were right, its "only" the keyboard. *phew*

[edit]Tested it with an USB-keyboard and with it it works like expected.[/edit]