Thinkpads Forum

So there I am, typing away on my t420 when i spot a bee sitting on my shoulder. after trying to blow it away with no success, i start to shift my body a bit, knocking my cool blue gatorade onto my keyboard... but also the screen (!).

not a lot of gatorade got on the system, but some got on the screen, and the part that got on the screen seeped behind the bezel (!!) So now there's cool blue gatorade in my thinkpad. Worst part is: This was in a dentist waiting room (SO was getting a root canal). What i mean is: i couldn't exactly leave my laptop stationary to 'bleed out' all the gatorade... i had to put it vertically in my backpack. I get home and (stupidly) turn the thinkpad on. it boots into my desktop but now there are two problems:

1) the left half of my monitor is "milky" due to the liquid that got behind the bezel
2) the computer can't sleep, it goes into a loop.

Here's where you're facepalming and screaming at your monitor "why the hell did you turn it back on!?!?"

well, i realized this shortly after noticing the sleep/suspend loop, immediately turned the computer off and removed the battery.

I've opened the thinkpad all the way open and laid it back. I plan to leave it for a day or two in the hope that liquid can reaccumulate and hopefully find its way through the keyboard drains, or at least get the heck away from the monitor, but it's rpobably too late.

so now i'm looking at replacing my screen and potentially replacing the motherboard. ... what should I do?

I'm thinking I should wait the two days for the liquid to settle before opening it and cleaning it with isopropyl... this would be my first time doing so so really any advice from you guys would be invaluable.

I would open it sooner than later so it would dry out quicker.

If it still boots...there is a chance the sleep loop will be just a temporary issue; sometimes the electronics is surprisingly durable. But that LCD is probably busted.

i'll open it tomorrow. so sad; was sitting down the other day enjoying my specs/config exactly as i wanted.... i guess that's how accidents happen :/.

while i'm sobbing/ranting: has anyone had negative experiences regarding purchasing replacement led/lcd panels on ebay vs through lenovo/fru approved suppliers? I'm not going to let this thing become a paperweight.

Try and contact (PM) forum-user Brad, he is in NY as well.
He may be able to help you out.

well, i took my t420 apart today and only found a very small amount of sticky residue on the magnesium cage under the palm bezel. when taking apart the screen lid, i found some sticky residue on the sides of the panel and bezel where the liquid entered. I cleaned em with isopropyl and cleaned the entire back section of the monitor and the back panel. This was a blast! first teardown of a thinkpad and Probably the only time I could see and feel the magnesium cage and think "yeah, that's f*ckin badass." lol. after waiting a few hours to make sure things were dry, I powered it up and:
1) There is less cloudy crap on my panel hooray (and WTF!?)
2) no more sleep issues !

would anyone understand why my screen is somehow better? I'd consider taking it apart again to see if i could do what i did (by knowing what i did, heh)