Thinkpads Forum

I thought thinkpads were supposed to be spill proof. I spilled approx one half pint of beer on my w510 keyboard, and it promptly shut down and will not start... A bit disappointed that the drain holes on the bottom are apparently there just for show.

I still have warranty, but doubt that it covers mishaps like this. I'm not sure the thinkpads were ever explicitly advertised as spill proof, but videos like this certainly imply a greater resistance to spills than mine had: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7cvi00OZDM

Anyway, just a heads up that your thinkpads are probably NOT spill proof.

hi there
sorry for your MISSHAP; bummer !

AFAIK , only T410 and Edge 420 keyboard's are 'approved' spill proof.... but then WHO KNOWS as not even Lenovo Tech Support ( USA nor Canada) seems to know. Recently as last month I asked this SAME QUESTION.
There also seems to be confusion' MIL SPEC" and "MIL APPROVED" wordings and clearly as you have found out " spill proof " ....

Seems Lenov is either going on OLDER MIL SPEC of past thinkpads (eg T60p&T61p) which are and clearly still in use by USA Mililitary Services and these machine are in process of being replaced with "HP" units as far as I know.....and Lenovo still continue to use words like' complies with MIl spec" but noone seems to be able to supply me/us with that APPROVAL LETTER/COMPLIANCE NOTICE. And my further questions/posting in their sister-forums hs gone to deff-ears also!
NATO/NISCUM has clearly 'de-listed' Thinkpads from their 'APPROVED" list and I suspect its due to these(spill) and other non-complicances.......blah blah

So I would send to depot repair and see that what they say. Just send it in (if still under warranty) and let them determine if its covered. One user @ our work has simialr experaince with water spill; he waited few weeks for water to 'dry off' than try to reboot , it worked!!! but not sure if the same would occur with 'canadain beer' - not sure of you in far north beer !! lol lol But hey no hard in trying that route - and if not boot then send it in for Repair ; LET THEM TELL U its a spill !!

hope this is of some help
Cheers

Well, all ThinkPads since ~10 years are spill prof, but for only a little bit. They can´t take much , because there are some areas where the water can went through. So, if you spill a bucket of water on a ThinkPad, it will shut down. Thats to much.

ThinkPads are Mil-Spec tested (T/X/W/L-Series) and Business-Rugged Notebooks (not Fully-Rugged as Toughbooks, which means they can withstand some things, but not all).

Ibthink wrote:Well, all ThinkPads since ~10 years are spill prof, .....ThinkPads are Mil-Spec tested (T/X/W/L-Series) ....... but not all).

If your have any MIL STD "NUMBERS" > or even USA DOD approved "numbers"
I be keep to have/see them

thanks in advance
Mike

They passes MIL-STD-810G. That are eight tests: humidity, low temperature, high temperature, dust, vibration, mechanical shock, altitude, and extreme temperatures. http://www.lenovo.com/news/us/en/2009/0 ... uting.html That are the test for the newer ThinkPads too.

period3 wrote:I thought thinkpads were supposed to be spill proof.

ThinkPads are spill-resistant, not spill-proof.

I dropped a 16oz glass of ice water on an X300 with no ill effects.

http://blog.lenovo.com/perspectives/spi ... -420643808

What did you do to minimize the damage once the spill had happened?

ThinkPads are spill-resistant, not spill-proof.

I dropped a 16oz glass of ice water on an X300 with no ill effects.

http://blog.lenovo.com/perspectives/spi ... -420643808

What did you do to minimize the damage once the spill had happened?

I unplugged it, wiped up the mess, then let it stand for a few hours before turning it on... I had the keyboard replaced under warranty, and I still had the old one, so I tried plugging that in and it still didn't work. (The old keyboard had a problem with the trackpoint). I'm going to try to disassemble it and give it a thorough cleaning. I doubt it'll fix it, but it's worth a shot.

Ibthink wrote:They passes MIL-STD-810G. That are eight tests: humidity, low temperature, high temperature, dust, vibration, mechanical shock, altitude, and extreme temperatures. http://www.lenovo.com/news/us/en/2009/0 ... uting.html That are the test for the newer ThinkPads too.

YIPS " ALREADY seen that page ...... and items of note in the "Announcement letters /news"
Lenov 'talks' of having done those tests - nowhere do the QUOTE THAT APPROVAL NUMBER !
yes granted - they are "Tough Test":Meet Military Specifications for Semi-Rugged Computing as most 'field user' in those area's they talk about (police etc) would agree to...

Also repeated requests (even from pple mentioned in that letter/news) NOR The Current Thinkpad ProDuct Manager (WW) = no repsonse ! everyone seems to talk of 'that tests' noone is able to even 'email; me an APPROVED MIL number !

Saying in press = dont necessary make it 'approved' unless someone actually plublic'ly places such document on line and or send one to us...(like used to be case for T6xp etc) in past years ! FYI ..if you search in Lenovo-US webite for "MIL-STD-810G" = would not give you any 'results' - as that ARTICLE is not longer used ... "wonder why?"

So we now no- longer able to say 'our machines' are MIL-SPEC - MIL APPROVED.... in certain area's of our work....all of these are T&W Series current machines....

Ah well life goes on !