Thinkpads Forum

it was on and i knocked over my water bottle. now i mistype vtlike vthis and ivts novton purpose. do i need to buy a new keyboard? or can i try and wait for it to dry?

thank god for onscreen keyboard

turn it off!

Now wait for a while, it will be fine

You might want to put it up on its side for a few hours and let all of the water drain out. I would also leave it turned off until you are sure that it is dry so that you don't damage anything else.

paOol - "thank" You for testing the "spill resistance". So far I´ve never spilled anything on my thinkpads (knock on wood), but you never know... Tell us how it goes!

its been 12~ hours or so. now my "m" key6 doesn't5 work. nor "."
but i can type some key6s i couldnt before.

i think it'll be good in a day or so. o_o

2 days later, some keys are still not working.

im typing from a usb keyboard >_>

Too bad... I suppose the spill resistant means it gives you enough to save your work and turn it down. Perhaps it´s only the keyboard that gets wasted and not the rest of the machine.

I´ve got a UK kbd (Alps) that I can sell to You for a small $. PM me if interested.

The fact you can type anything with the laptop, let alone using the internal keyboard, means the drainage channels have worked. Get a $30 keyboard and be glad you're not paying for a $400 motherboard

I've heard this works, and in theory it should...

1.) remove the HDD and battery
2.) put the slightly opened laptop in the largest ziplock bag you can get.
3.) clear a shelf in the fridge and put the laptop/bag on the shelf with the zipper propped open.
4.) wait a day or two.

The refrigerator will act as a de-humidifier. Moisture will be absorbed out of the laptop. Probably best to refrain from constantly opening the fridge for liquid refreshments.

5.) when ready to remove, zip the bag shut, then remove the entire bag.
6.) let the sealed bag and laptop sit for 12 hours while the temperature equalizes with the room. Remember the insides need to equalize too. The case will feel warmed up while the insides are not.

Having the bag sealed prevents moisture from entering the bag and condensing on or in the laptop.

Alternatively, one can use the same size bag and seal it with desiccants around the laptop for a few days.

If you are fortunate to work in the electronics field, you may have access to a dry chamber. This is a larger sized cabinet that maintains extremely low humidity at room temperature.

Joe

I've resolved problems like this on wet keyboards with the careful application of a hairdryer at low heat. Remove the keyboard from the T61 first. A drop of isopropyl alcohol on the offending keys may also work as the alcohol will absorb the water and evaporate quicky. Alcohol is a last resort when nothing else works. Removing the keyboard will also let the rest of the pc dry more thoroughly.

joester wrote: The refrigerator will act as a de-humidifier.

hmmm, not too sure about this one. I maintain climate controlled museum stores and when we need to raise humidity quickly we usually lower the temperature. From memory for every degree Celsius in temperature lowered the relative humidity is increased by 4%. So this may not be what you are after.

hmmm, i think what i'll do is remove the keyboard, and let it dry.

i might try the fridge method with the keyboard.

joester wrote:I've heard this works, and in theory it should...

Joe

What's the theory?

The air in the refrigerator should have the same moisture content (grams per litre) as the air outside the refrigerator (but higher humidity), so putting the computer in the refrigerator will do nothing.

If the air in the refrigerator has lower moisture content than the outside air, then water must be condensing inside the refrigerator, in which case it will condense on the computer.

Sounds like a very bad idea to me.

If the fridge is set to very cold, and it also has the "humidity control" or "reduce exterior moisture" turned on, then it will work.

Mitasol, for a closed system, you are correct; lowering the temp raises relative humidity, except that a fridge is not a closed system.

Underneath your fridge is a tray that condensed water from the cooling coil inside drips into. From there, it evaporates into your kitchen air. This system constantly removes water from the air inside, and moves it outside. That's why a cold can of coke doesn't start dripping wet until you take it out.

So, yes, the fridge trick will work IF you leave the door closed. Every time you open the door, you dump all the dry cold air, and replace it with warm, wet air, and the fridge has to start over again pulling water out of the air.

I always thought, that IBM/Lenovo T-series are "water-resistant" and can easily handle water thru keyboard?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czCXonIIfoY

Well, they keyboards supposedly are water-resistant, firstly they canalize all the fluid out of the laptop without getting into the motherboard or any other sensible electronic equipment inside the machine. Buy maybe you need to let keyboard dried out completely before trying to turn on the laptop.

P.S. Has anyone seen the Panasonic Toughbook videos, where they pour coffee with other weird mixtures and the laptop is still on. Guess Thinkpad have their strongest competitors, although thinkpads now have a wide arraw of models to chose. But for now 4:3 is forever gone in a Thinkpad.

mitasol wrote:

joester wrote: The refrigerator will act as a de-humidifier.

hmmm, not too sure about this one. I maintain climate controlled museum stores and when we need to raise humidity quickly we usually lower the temperature. From memory for every degree Celsius in temperature lowered the relative humidity is increased by 4%. So this may not be what you are after.

You're right that warm air can carry more humidity than cold air, but
very cold temperatures cause the air to get extremely dry - that,
combined with a chemical phenomenon called sublimation
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(chemistry) ) is the
cause of, for example, very dry lips in winter. I even heard that
in winter, wet clothes dry faster outside than inside.

But I'm no physics guy, so it's all just smattering

But as for the laptop, I'd too just disassemble it and lay the parts
into direct sunlight for a day.

Please see the other water/keyboard thread, where I just posted detailed instructions on how to salvage the keyboard if it can be saved. Usually, they can be.

The deal with refrigerators is that there are COOLING COILS in them which remove moisture by CONDENSING IT from the air. You won't get that effect without getting some objects (like the cooling coils) cold enough to force condensation. And then, you run the risk of creating ice in whatever you are trying to dry out, or crossing the line into freeze-drying.

When it comes to recovering electronics? Better to keep them warm, and let the water evaporate. Way less complicated scenarios.

update:

my power key stopped working, so i couldn't even boot my computer.

so i took out the keyboard, rinsed it in my sink for a little bit,
left it out to dry by the window for 24 hours.

obviously, it works again, but many of the same keys are still not working >_>.

i ordered a replacement NMB keyboard off thinkpad-parts.com for about $85.

in about a month, when i go back to school, i'll test out the old keyboard and will update in this thread if it is working fine or if its still owned.

paOol wrote:update:

my power key stopped working, so i couldn't even boot my computer.

so i took out the keyboard, rinsed it in my sink for a little bit,
left it out to dry by the window for 24 hours.

obviously, it works again, but many of the same keys are still not working >_>.

i ordered a replacement NMB keyboard off thinkpad-parts.com for about $85.

in about a month, when i go back to school, i'll test out the old keyboard and will update in this thread if it is working fine or if its still owned.

Glad to hear the solution was only $85. BTW, what was the lesson learned from this experience? For me it was keep a lid on it (or a bottle cap in my case)

$85 ... wow! One of our moderators (aamsel) is selling 2 NIB T6x keyboards for $55 on the marketplace. Even if you had bought direct from IBM parts it would not have cost $85 ...

gator wrote:$85 ... wow! One of our moderators (aamsel) is selling 2 NIB T6x keyboards for $55 on the marketplace. Even if you had bought direct from IBM parts it would not have cost $85 ...

after all the frustration i went through, it doesn't even bother me to have overpaid $30.

i was going into thinkpad withdrawals.

and i guess the lesson learned is;
if you're planning on getting a new keyboard because your old one is worn out, make a video of you pouring water all over the keyboard and put it up on youtube (i already know there is one, but more wouldn't hurt)