Water Damage

[Xecuter]

Hi Guys -

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to my question but I figure I'd run it past you guys.

My sister spilled water on her laptop while she was sleeping (computer in bed + water bottle = fried computer). She didn't turn it off - she woke up to water spilled on the computer and it was off. She tried turning it on and it didn't do anything.

She let it sit for a week and gave it to me. I ripped it apart and cleaned the corrosion. I could tell where the water had been sitting and eventually evaporated, leaving a decent amount of impurities that hardened. I used isopropyl to clean it up. In the places where corrosion was worst the solder was a very dull color; not a silvery metallic color like unaffected traces and components.

My question is, is it worth my time to try and re-tin the dull solder joints or is it not worth my time because components are fried and a little solder isn't gonna do much of anything? The components in question are very small. I've done some small electronics repairs in the past so I'm not all that worried about soldering.

Overall - is it the components that need replacing or is it the solder that could use a touch up? My guess is the tiny components are fried. If anyone could confirm this or explain it a bit better that'd be appreciated.

Thanks for the responses. It was a nice laptop and if there's a decent shot at hope I'll try it but if there's no point...there's no point.

 

[C1]

Dont mess around soldering particularly sub-miniature components (eg, tiny resistors) as you will damage them. Just clean the system out with a proper electronics cleaner/solvent (non-residue).

 

[denis280]

Dont mess around soldering particularly sub-miniature components (eg, tiny resistors) as you will damage them. Just clean the system out with a proper electronics cleaner/solvent (non-residue).

contact cleaner should do the job for cleaning.but i doubt it will work again:\

 

[WaterFireTobin]

The biggest problem is the power up test after the electronics got wet... that is what fries the componentry. I dropped my smartphone in the ocean one time... immediately pulled the battery out, never turned it on and stored it for a few days in a bag of rice (sucked it dry before any corrosion could happen). I hope you found a way to resolve it.

 

[fralexandr]

whether it's worth your time also depends on if it's an old notebook . Is it at least a core 2 duo?
maybe get your sister a thinkpad edge e430 or other spill resistant notebook.

note: you might want to pull the HDD and back up any important files

edit: ack old thread