R0p & coffee

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seaweedsl · #1 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 5:23 am

Well, I did it. I knocked my cup of coffee (black) over and a good part of it splashed my R50p keyboard.

I immediately turned it off, pulled the plug and flipped it over to pull the battery.

I then pulled the keyboard. I only saw the least bits of moisture on the edges of the keyboard space, nothing on the actual motherboard (that I could see)

I left the KB out and put it to dry in front of a fan all day. 10 hours.

But that night, it would not start up at all. Zero response.

Two days later, still nothing. I pulled all components waited a bit, then inserted one RAM.

It started right up! I put the wireless card back in- no good.

So I took it out again, no good. I swapped RAM - nothing. Never could get it to start again.

Anything else I can do? I suppose the next thing is to pull and gently wash the board and dry it thoroughly. I've done that before.

Also, I have a spare CPU (celeron) from a trashed R51 MB. I wonder if it's worth swapping that in.

This will be my third Thinkpad mb in two years ! Both my T23 & R51 went out on their own, without coffee !

Finally, would an R5x MB with Intel Graphics work with my UXGA screen? Those R50p MBs are expensive and don't turn up on Ebay auctions too often. R5x (non p) are all over. It would be a temporary fix, until the right one turned up.

Thanks.

Steve

#2 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat May 24, 2008 5:40 am

The coffee gets under the motherboard and causes a short between the motherboard and the bottom of the case. You probably should have disassembled it and washed it out the first time.
You can use a R5x board in the R50P. It will probably even support the proper resolution but with lower performance. The LCD sets the resolution limit. I have put a T42 board in a T41P and you couldn't tell the difference unless you tried to play a FPS game.

seaweedsl · #3 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 6:02 am

OK. Right. That's what I was thinking - next time, pull and check for moisture everywhere - if found, wash.

But now I know for sure where the problem happens - underneath where I can't see it !!

Maybe I should put my own drain holes in - has anybody discussed this ?

So, do you think that since it turned on once and then didn't - it shorted, or what?

Is it likely that if it started once it will again? Somehow I think the opposite, but I'm gonna put the time into washing it, I suppose.

Thanks for the info on swapping boards too. So the same LCD cable works for a 14" R51 XGA as a 15" UXGA ?

Steve

ajkula66 · #4 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat May 24, 2008 10:04 am

Sorry to hear about your mishap...

You need a different LCD cable for UXGA, check the HMM for the part number...

Good luck.

frankiepankie · #5 Post by **frankiepankie** » Sat May 24, 2008 12:07 pm

It could be that your mainboard isn't fried.

The coffee leaked onto your keyboard, and the keyboard and power button is one part, with one connector.

It could be that the coffee fried the keyboard, but not your mainboard.

You could try with a keyboard from an other R50, or put your R50 into a dockingstation, and try booting it with the power button on the dock.

#6 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat May 24, 2008 1:46 pm

I don't know about your situation but a customer of mine spilled a large cup of coffee on his R51 and after that it started once then went out and never started again. When I replaced the motherboard there was a burn mark on the white insulating sheet between the motherboard and the lower plastic with a matching burn mark on the motherboard. You may or may not have the same results. Take it apart and see.

seaweedsl · #7 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:02 pm

ajkula66 wrote:Sorry to hear about your mishap...

You need a different LCD cable for UXGA, check the HMM for the part number...

Good luck.

Thanks George. So, the existing UXGA LCD cable on my R50p is not the right one for an XGA 14 board, or is it the connector on the board that varies?

Ironic, I was tempted to buy your R50p for myself, and as soon as my friend decided to get it, mine fried.

seaweedsl · #8 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:04 pm

frankiepankie wrote: It could be that the coffee fried the keyboard, but not your mainboard.

You could try with a keyboard from an other R50

That was my hope, but I already tried a spare KB from a 14" with no luck.

Obviously it won't sit right, does not ground, but I kinda doubt that would keep it from coming on.

seaweedsl · #9 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:07 pm

carbon_unit wrote:I don't know about your situation but a customer of mine spilled a large cup of coffee on his R51 and after that it started once then went out and never started again. When I replaced the motherboard there was a burn mark on the white insulating sheet between the motherboard and the lower plastic with a matching burn mark on the motherboard. You may or may not have the same results. Take it apart and see.

That's kinda what I thought. If only I'd pulled it out and fully dried it when it happened. Arghh. But maybe not. (fingers crossed). I didn't start it until 10 hours later....

I'll pull it Monday and report back.

#10 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat May 24, 2008 8:26 pm

ajkula66 wrote:
You need a different LCD cable for UXGA, check the HMM for the part number...

Good luck.

I thought you only needed a cable when switching displays, not motherboards. Isn't the motherboard connector the same on all of them in a series?

ajkula66 · #11 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat May 24, 2008 9:58 pm

You're right, I misunderstood the post...

Need to get some sleep over this weekend otherwise there'll be more nonsense coming from me...

seaweedsl · #12 Post by **seaweedsl** » Sat May 24, 2008 10:15 pm

carbon_unit wrote: I thought you only needed a cable when switching displays, not motherboards. Isn't the motherboard connector the same on all of them in a series?

Oh good.

seaweedsl · #13 Post by **seaweedsl** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:39 am

Well, I feel foolish to say it, but the damage was pretty obvious once I pulled the board and took out my magnifying glass.

But I didn't need to even pull the board, the burn happened just below the wireless card.

Considering this damage, I don't think there is any remedy nor is it worth washing the board - correct?

I do have another salt-corroded mb with perhaps replacement components, but doubt anybody could fix this - correct?

Thanks guys for the help.

Steve

Note from Admin: No warning in the subject line and >>> 50k.

EDIT; Sorry, I had checked posting rules and saw it's ok to post photos. But I must have missed the part about subject line warnings. I'll use a thumbnail/link instead - ok?

#14 Post by **Harryc** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:55 pm

Looks like toast to me. That big IC with the pins on all 4 sides looks like it got shorted/charred. There is no way you're going to replace that by hand.

seaweedsl · #15 Post by **seaweedsl** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:19 pm

I am looking into a replacement motherboards but it comes without CPU or fan.

Anyone want to venture a guess on the likelyhood of my CPU/fan still being ok?

I would think so...but don't really have any experience to base that on.

cmarti · #16 Post by **cmarti** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:36 pm

seaweedsl wrote:
Anyone want to venture a guess on the likelyhood of my CPU/fan still being ok?

Yes, they are OK you just need the motherboard.

#17 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue May 27, 2008 5:53 pm

I would guess that they are OK too.

seaweedsl · #18 Post by **seaweedsl** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:26 pm

OK. Thanks for the input, guys. It was only a $200 cup of coffee then. Even more expensive than at Starbuck's !

If anybody has any attention span left, my next two questions are aimed at preventing this from happening again. I will be more careful in the future, but still....

1) I believe that this short happened right when it spilled, not when I turned it on after drying for 10 hours. So...

When it spilled, I forced it off with the switch, then pulled the plug, then flipped it and pulled the battery.

Is that the best and fastest procedure? Just pulling the plug does nothing and flipping it to get the battery while it was on seemed wrong, but...

2) Does anybody feel that these R5X could be modified to better resist spill damage? I know that Lenovo addressed this issue in later models.

Specifically, I'm thinking how to protect the place it damaged in my case and perhaps also where Carbon_unit saw damage and/or how to allow it to drain.

sjthinkpader · #19 Post by **sjthinkpader** » Wed May 28, 2008 11:21 pm

Pull the plug and battery, forget about the switch. I was able to save one machine this way, over the phone.

Then removed the MB and cleaned it with spray contact cleaner. This machine is still working today.

R0p & coffee

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