[souleater]

Yesterday morning, i spilled soda on my Lenovo G580 laptop.. im no expert, but i dont think any of the computer's internal hardware was affected too badly.  it wasnt a huge spill and i took care of the excess liquid pretty quickly.. however, ive been having problems with the keyboard since then.  i can start up the laptop just fine and do all the stuff i want using a wireless keyboard/mouse, but the damaged keyboard periodically enters a bunch of random letters or presses other functions (like the arrow or enter keys) making it impossible to use my computer the way i need to.

at first, i would just open notepad or something to see which key was acting up, and once id figured it out i would mess with the key (manually) until i got it to stop repeating,. but it kept happening and the problem eventually got worse.. now the laptop is turned off and im using a different one.  i have Windows 8.1, in case that somehow matters.

i tried to find out how to disable the broken keyboard until i clean it, or change the default keyboard to the wireless one ive been using, but i couldnt really get much information on either of those methods.  eventually i found an option to disable keyboard/disable device or something, but it was grey and wouldnt let me click it.. it was the same way for the USB keyboard too, and also on my dads Acer Aspire laptop (he has Windows 7).  i tried uninstalling the driver, but it didnt work.  i followed the steps to uninstall, it told me to restart, but when i did it everything stayed the same and the keyboard driver was still there when i checked Device Manager.  i guess i could go to system files or something and manually delete the driver files, but im not sure how effective that would be..  either way i just decided i should clean the thing ASAP.

i found a tutorial that suggests removing each key and cleaning them, but im not sure this would work with my model (see it anyways here).

my other option is apparently removing the keyboard, which im not completely sure how to do.  ive included a picture of the best guide i could find (others exist but this one seems like the most straightforward):

after the damaged keyboard is removed, i would either try to salvage it by cleaning (which im also unsure how to go about) or just straight up replace it.

additionally, i made a picture of where the spill was and which keys were affected (i ripped off the 'i' key because i got annoyed but it still kept glitching, the 7 key was gone when i received the computer, and also the backspace key has never worked).

Anyways, thank you very much for reading all that if you did!! any words of advice or moral support?

TL;DR: Any tips/advice on removing and replacing my laptop's keyboard, or general help with cleaning up after a spill??

Edited by souleater, 02 January 2016 - 05:55 PM.

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i dont wanna pay a ridiculous fee for professional tech services/advice but i really need guidance from an expert.. so, im posting here

Please help me? or if youve been in a similar situation, please reply.. thanks in advance

Edited by souleater, 02 January 2016 - 05:58 PM.

[souleater]

i dont wanna pay a ridiculous fee for professional tech services/advice but i really need guidance from an expert.. so, im posting here

Please help me? or if youve been in a similar situation, please reply.. thanks in advance

Edited by souleater, 02 January 2016 - 05:58 PM.

[iammykyl]

 souleater

Not an expert so just pointing you to a user service manual, + site sell parts.

> http://www.laptoppar...m0n2000300.html

Just make sure to discharge static electricity from your body by briefly touch grounded source,   Good luck. 

[paws]

Hi souleater and welcome to our forums.

 

 

Sorry to hear of the spillage of soda over your laptops's keyboard.

Just to add a little to iammykyl's usual excellent advice, here are some extra thoughts for you.

 

1 Liquid ingress into laptop computers is one of the most effective methods of causing them not to work....

 

2 The failure to work at all often happens several months after the liquid ingress occurred.

 

3 Most laptop keyboards are not water proof or even resistant, and the delicate electronics of the motherboard are directly below the keyboard where the liquid tends to seep through...

 

4 Many laptops once having suffered liquid ingress are considered to be beyond economic repair and are often offered for sale for "spares or repair"

 

5 All is not lost however as long as prompt remedial treatment was started and the machine stripped down and cleaned and dried and defective parts removed and replaced with new...... minutes and seconds are important here, cut the power, remove peripherals, and cords, remove main battery, memory modules, hard drive, wireless card and anything else that is easily and quickly removed....Remove the keyboard and clean out any signs of contamination or wetness that lie below it.... the important thing is to clean the computer, thoroughly, you can forget the keyboard as its best to replace it with new rather than attempting a clean....when cleaning the machine use nothing other than clean dry tissue, cotton buds (Q tips) a small amount of pure (distilled) water to wipe away the contamination.

 

6 All traces of the soda MUST be removed with distilled water and then manually cleaned using dry tissue.... remember to take all the usual ESD precautions when working inside the computer ( you don't want to add to your troubles)

 

7 When this has been completed and the removed items cleaned and dried with tissue (but not replaced yet) the laptop should be inverted and placed on a stand allowing free access to air off and complete the drying process (do not use any forced air, a hair dryer for example as this often makes the problem worse.   The laptop should be left in this inverted state to air dry for 72 hours in an ambient temperature of 65 to 70 degrees F 

If the room temp  is less than this then a little background heat to bring the room (not the laptop) up to that temperature is advisable)

 

8 In the workshop we would use low power magnification to thoroughly examine each part of the laptop and perform a complete strip down and clean, with specialist desiccant material, in a temperature and humidity controlled environment to aid the drying process

 

9 If this process is carried out quickly( remember minutes and seconds count) then there is a chance that the computer may be saved....

 

10 Due to the difficulties sometimes encountered by customers in starting the stripdown and cleaning/drying process  quickly, we often restrict our guarantee on work performed to no more than 90 days (as an absolute maximum) less if the delay in us starting work is more than a few minutes... the strip down (complete), clean, and subsequent rebuild (after 72 hours of air drying) necessary on most laptops takes around 2.5 to 3 hours or so, as its vital to clear every trace possible of contamination. The costs for a workshop to perform this work for you can necessarily be quite high and the price of a new keyboard should also be factored in, when making the decision on " hoping for the best" selling it for spares and repair, or taking it quickly to a competent workshop.

 

11 soda and the like contain, some salts, acids, sugars and other ingredients that are very injurious to electronic components, the corrosion they precipitate often remain latent for several months before manifesting themselves in unreliable behaviour followed by complete loss of functionality as time goes by.

 

Post back if you need any amplification or clarification on any of the above.

Regards

paws

[souleater]

Dang... thanks so much for this information, paws as well as iammykyl..

is there a site or something i can use to find a workshop like that in my area??

[paws]

Hi souleater,

 

i always reckon that a personal recommendation from friends or neighbours, or business associates, church community or other local organisations is the way to go in the hope of finding someone reliable who will give good advice, a fair price for the work done and extra advice if it's necessary.

 

Failing that, you could try a search on the net by entering your location ( town and State) followed by a space, followed by computer repairs and see what comes up.

 

Just a tip make sure you get a firm quotation for the cost in writing for the work, before you start and make sure all your important stuff, (docs, photos, music, videos, work and personal files, product serial codes, drivers, downloaded executables are all fully backed up onto removable media, and software installation discs including the Windows disc and product key) are all located and to hand should they be needed.

 

I hope things turn out well for you.

Regards

paws

[souleater]

Thanks very much for the advice paws

ill do my best!! and happy new year

[paws]