Women and electronics DO NOT MIX!

[MWGemini 0]

Last week my fiancee tells me that her laptop "stopped working" and that she took it to the tech people at her lab to have it looked at. To make a long story short, she left a glass of water next to it that the cats knocked over sometime during the night. She got it back today with a really half assed synopsis of the problem from them, basically "it won't turn on". No shit, that's why she took it to you in the first place! Idiots. So, after doing some power checks, I decide to take it apart (HP uses a LOT of screws on their laptops- took me 30 minutes just unscrewing them all) and was able to find a small section of the motherboard that is slightly corroded (whitish stuff on the board, you know what I mean if you've seen it). Best idea I can come up with is to try to clean it with some distilled water and a q-tip, but I was wondering if anyone here has had a similar problem and has any suggestions on how to fix it.

If nothing else, her dead laptop could serve as the basis my next project- making a wireless dumb terminal for my KVM.

Thanks,

Mike

[CrazyIvan 0]

That might work, however, do not scrub, just try to remove the "white stuff" gently, and see how close to the wafer you can get, hopefully the MoBo is not burned.

__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

[bob.dino 1]

Isopropyl/rubbing alcohol. Clean using a soft cloth (nothing abrasive). Rinse with distilled (ok, clean would do) water and leave in a warm dry place to air-dry.

If the laptop was on, something may have shorted out. If you're lucky, it may be a replaceable fuse.

[MWGemini 0]

She says that it was on during the night, and she used it that morning, everything was working fine. She turned it off, took it to work, and it would not turn back on.

I did not see any signs of electrical burns or damage, just the corrosion, and it doesn't appear to be that bad (some of it wiped off with my finger by barely touching it). The corrosion is not so much on the wafer, but on a chip (that I cannot figure out what it controls by close inspection of the board layout), it's connections to the wafer itself, and some neighboring transistors (I think- they are very small, less than 1/8th an inch wide).

Due to the tight confines on the corroded area, I can't really get a cloth in there, hence my q-tip idea, but I'm afraid the cotton may snag and cause more problems than it is worth. Is there something better that I can use? She'll be bringing some distilled/de-ionized water home from work tomorrow, so I'll be working on it tomorrow night.

Thanks,

Mike

[smiles 0]

I'm a women that mixes well with electronics

SMiles

[CrazyIvan 0]

Quote

I can't really get a cloth in there, hence my q-tip idea, but I'm afraid the cotton may snag and cause more problems than it is worth

Use a can of compressed air, that might do the trick.

__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

[MWGemini 0]

Already tried, the corrosion is dried to the board and will require cleaning.

Smiles- you are an exception to the rule, then. My fiancee is not

Mike

[Unstable 9]

Quote

Women and electronics DO NOT MIX! by MWGemini

I think that now Alice from "Dilbert" will punch through your torso for saying that....

=========Shaun ==========

[bob.dino 1]

Cotton doesn't easily conduct electricity, but maybe a toothbrush or similar might be better? Or, if you have an electric shaver, the little brush for cleaning it could be perfect...

edited for spleing

[Kris 0]

Bah...several years ago all the parts for my new PC arrived (Pentium-II 300, which was hella fast back then) while I was away at work.

By the time I got home, my late fiance had already assembled the entire thing, loaded the OS, and had even done some overclocking on it. Geek girls kick ass!

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[MWGemini 0]

Hrm- toothbrush. Hadn't thought of that. I'll have to find a small one. I think I still have a few that are designed for cleaning small parts of rifles laying around somewhere. Thanks for the tip.

Mike

[LuvToFly 0]

I'd recommend you get some foam swabs. They sell them at Radio Shack, and are generally used for cleaning video heads.

All the advantages (including tight access capability) of swabs, but no fraying -

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky

[popsjumper 2]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I posed this question to my neighbor.....she suggested a small pressure washer......

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[eUrNiCc 0]

Do any airplane mechanics know where the general public can get some ACF-50? That stuff EATS corrosion and is safe for electronics

Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

[MWGemini 0]

That would be nice, if it works as you say and I can get some. Do they have any at the DZ I could use this weekend?

To the person who suggested the power washer- water is what CAUSED the problem. I don't want to corrode the ENTIRE motherboard .

Thanks,

Mike

[MWGemini 0]

Well, I tried the distilled water and got almost all the corrosion off, with the exception of a half dozen or so connectors on the one larger chip. So I tried the isopropyl and was able to get a little bit more off (and then cleaned it with distilled thoroughly) and it is now drying, but there is still some corrosion on some of the connection. Should I try to rebuild it tomorrow as it is, or is there something else I can do to clean it?

Thanks,

Mike

[bob.dino 1]

Whack it with a large hammer?

Do you have a digital camera to show us what it looks like now?

[MWGemini 0]

Tried taking several pictures, but because the chip is relatively small (1/4 inch square or so), I cannot get it to focus well enough to see the corrosion, sorry.

Mike

[bob.dino 1]

In that case, after it's had at least 24 hours to dry, put it back together and hope

[labrys 0]

WTF does that have to do with gender?

Owned by Remi #?

[MWGemini 0]

Because it's not the first time she has ruined expensive electronics, and every other woman I've ever known has been pretty much clueless when it comes to tech stuff. I also figured it would get more clicks, and thus, more replies.

Planning on re-assembling it tomorrow (which will take forever- damn laptops) and hoping for the best. I believe the chip in question controls the lan ports, so maybe I can get it working, just without wired network capability. She can still do wireless though (assuming I can get it to POST and work normally afterwards).

Mike