WHY, $DEITY, WHY!?!

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

You just spilled an ENTIRE FSCKING CUP OF COFFEE on this poor ThinkPad.  The whole keyboard was dripping wet when I looked at this machine, as were the HDD and battery bay. Yet you, in your supremely boneheaded wisdom decided to try to turn the machine on anyway.

I assume you have at least an elementary understanding of how electricty works, so WHY did you think this was a good idea, really? No matter how many times I see behavior like this (and considering how long I've been doing this job, we're well into thousands of instances here), I'm still suprised by it.

You at least had the foresight to buy ThinkPad Protection. So now I can box this machine up and let the IBM/Lenovo depot handle it. Looks like you're going to need a new everything-but-LCD, so maybe they'll issue a replacement.

Comments

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

Heh. Bet she wishes AppleCare covered spills/accidental damage, doesnt she?

[agentdanak.livejournal.com]

i have spilled miso soup in a laptop before. turned it off, flipped it upside down to drain, unplugged it. and thanked the gods in the trees that i had accidental damage coverage.

[chaobell]

D:!!!

Oh God, just hearing that secondhand makes me cringe and want to hug my own ThinkPad.

[arabwel.livejournal.com]

.. ick. I amdit, i have been repsonsible of some liqid damage on my tinkpad but noting like THAT.

(projectile spittake NOT ftw)

[amynnah.livejournal.com]

Zap?

Yeah... I spilled (a second glass of) blueberry wine on my home PC's keyboard. I broke my crystal glass, had a keyboard smelling of blueberry grape juice. First thing I did was unplug the damned thing, shut down my PC with my mouse, run to the sink, toss it keys-down in the sink, run back and try to sop up the mess before it hit my speakers.

D'oh!

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

Yes, there *are* people on this planet who don't realize that wet computer equipment that's *off* (and hasn't been turned *on* since becoming wet) **may** be salvageable, depending on what's been spilled on it and how quickly and thoroughly it gets cleaned/dried, but powering it on will, 100% guaranteed, kill it beyond any hope of repair.

(And I have, indeed, salvaged a keyboard I inadvertently spilled coffee into, by disconnecting it as quickly as possible, disassembling it then and there, thoroughly cleaning and drying the boards, leaving them exposed for some time to remove all traces of moisture, reassembling, *then* powering it up. But it was an ancient 3278 keyboard in a sheet metal enclosure, and not mine. Salvaging it prevented me from losing my job.)

(And I know of one vintage CP/M portable's keyboard that actually *worked better* after it had Shiner Bock spilled into it. Don't ask me why.)

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

Cleaned the contacts, perhaps?

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

The T60's have drain holes.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

Not for 32oz of liquid they don't.

[sigurther.livejournal.com]

Your LJ avatar is very appropriate.

On a side note, once dropped a sony digital camera in a lake while climbing the ladder of a boat. Dove in to get camera, which was fortunately in case that floated. Got out of water realizing I still had my cellphone in my pocket. Both were moderately wet, but the camera was off and the cell phone survived the dunking. Cousin IMMEDIATELY picks the camera up and turns it on to see if it works. *sigh* Long story short, after extended drying period with hair dryer on blow only, camera and cell phone work, though cell phone has a ghost in LCD screen, and oddly, camera works better. Internal lens cap that used to get stuck doesn't stick in half-open position anymore.