Thinkpads Forum

Hi there,

I would like to ask more experienced people: I bought a ThinkPad 340CSE in a very decent condition (no scratches etc.), no parts missing, everything is just as it had been laid on a shelve a decade ago. However, previous owner probably had no idea and let the battery plugged in. In a result, NiCd battery has met it's common characteristics and leaked throughout the laptop. The inside of a laptop is filled with a dried liquid from the battery connector up to the VGA output.
If I plug an AC adapter, battery indicator works. It changes colour from red to green, I guess it's normal with so old and dead battery (?). If I turn it on, I can hear an electronical "snap" and all the indication diods begin to light, as on normal startup. However, nothing more happens. There is just a weak electrostatical noise to hear, thats all.

Is there a chance to "clean" the mess on the motherboard and make it work again? I would bet my head that it worked flawless, all these troubles are definitely caused by the battery-cell's liquid...

Thank You for some help
skrble

Take the motherboard and all other corroded parts out and carefully clean them with a firm/hard toothbrush first, to remove the worst of the corrosion.
Then clean further, using 91% Isopropyl Alcohol (a.k.a. Isopropanol).
Don't use any screwdriver or knife or similar, use some plastic tools for e.g. a cell phone if you need to scrape.
When completely cleaned, make sure to let them dry out for a few hours, before you try it again.

I luckily have some spare isopropyl here, they actually didn't want to sell it to me in local pharmacy, they thought I am drug addicted Gonna check it out, thanks!

Progress: I cleaned the motherboard with isopropylalcohol and toothbrush, which removed the most of stiffened liquid. However, it wasn't enough. My friend recommended me to wash it with water and then clean with isopropyl once again (to remove dirt, grease etc). I am currently waiting till the whole motherboard fully dries. I'll post here my following progress when I make any.

Interesting, eagerly waitin'!

Washing the motherboard with regular water (ex. tap water) is likely to make things worse. The minerals and impurities could create nasty shorts. Distilled water on the other hand is much safer, but still you must make sure everything is 100% dry before turning the unit on.

Turning it on before cleaning it most likely killed it. Too bad, it's a nice little box. I still have one and it has the best keyboard ever made for a laptop.