Shorted out my gateway with some liquid

T

thedrickel

New Member
Well, I spilled coffee into the side of my gateway laptop while it was on, and it shorted out and shut off right away. It wasn't a lot of liquid, maybe an ounce and mostly around the DVD drive, but the AC connector is adjacent to the drive bay.

The current symptoms are: when a power supply is connected (battery or AC), it starts to boot up and then turns off hard after 3 seconds. The power button has no effect. It will do this every time I insert the battery or connect the AC cord.

I've opend up the laptop (gateway's are a PITA to take apart) and cleaned up all the liquid I could find, there was basically none on the mobo, a lot on the DVD drive (which still powers on when I insert the battery, and even ejects if I press the button fast enough within those 3 seconds it tries to boot up). Any ideas? I'd like to avoid buying a new mobo if possible. Thanks

PS it's a gateway 4525gz
 
Give it some tme to air dry and then try it. This sometimes works but ususally with water. The fact it was coffee the cream/ milk and sugars are not good for the board. even after they are dry there is a film can cause an issue.

You may be looking at a new board my friend

For future reference they do make condoms for laptops that cover the keyboard to prevent something like this happening. Its a soft rubber that is transparent and molded to your type keyboard.
 
Last edited:
Hi, thanks for the reply. I know the residue from the liquid could be a problem, I cleaned most of it off with alcohol & q-tips after it had dried up. The liquid came in from the side, not from the top/keyboard area. I'm really stumped as to why it boots up for a few seconds as soon as I give it some power (w/o pressing the power button) and then turns off hard.

If I have to replace the mobo I'll just scrap the whole thing, it's not worth it for a 300$ used one off ebay.
 
yeah, seems like since it was on, it prolly fried something....

would you be interested in someone taking it off your hands?
 
I'm sorry to hear that. I've seen it happen too many times. I have had to replace dozens due to people being careless with their beverage.

I have a really cool laptop if you are interested. Its build to resist drops and the keyboard is sealed for just such occurrences.

PM Me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top