(Please scroll down if you want to see the repair itself)

How Dampness Can Cause Ongoing Corrosion to Digital Devices

Computer, Smartphone and Tablet Repair Fallacies #347: If you’ve spilled water or liquid on your laptop, but it appears to be running okay (possibly after you think it’s dried out), then there isn’t a problem, right….?

WRONG!

Even after you think the initial danger’s passed and your computer- or whatever- appears to be running normally, any remaining minor dampness (or even dried out residue) can- and often does- cause ongoing damage through corrosion and other factors.

This repair that was carried out in our St Andrews store is a good example. Having spilled coffee onto their computer a while back, it wasn’t until some time later that the problem appeared- the computer stopped turning on at all… and when we opened it up we found out why.

Liquid damage doesn’t always happen straight away

When we opened it up we found out why- one of the power-control chips’ pins had been seriously corroded. The damage hadn’t been caused straight away- indeed, by the time the problem appeared and the customer brought the computer to us, the insides were already dry. The corrosion damage had occurred slowly, after the original spill. Had it been properly cleaned out and all residues removed in the first place, this might not have happened.

Fortunately, we were able to remove the damaged chip, repair the corroded pad (metallic contact) on the motherboard and fit a replacement chip of equivalent specification. Once this was done, the computer was reassembled and turned on, and after our usual diagnostic tests had been run, the customer was able to collect their working computer.

All the same, we strongly recommend bringing your computer, smartphone or tablet to us immediately if it’s suffered serious spill damage. If possible, disconnect it from the mains power supply or charger and remove the battery, but only if it’s possible to do this safely. Remember that water mixed with mains voltages can cause fatal shocks, and even lithium batteries can be dangerous when damp.

Bring it to us as soon as possible at our St Andrews store (1 City Road, just beside the West Port).

The Repair

This is the original chip. As you can see, it has suffered considerable corrosion damage, demonstrating that even coffee is far from harmless.

Once the chip and corrosion have been removed, we can see that the metallic “pad” on the board has also been damaged and requires repair.

The old chip after removal from the board

The damaged pad has now been repaired.

A replacement chip of equivalent specification is soldered onto the motherboard.

The Vaio’s motherboard after the repair has been completed. Note the small size of the power IC (circled)- this is not a repair job for beginners!

The machine turns on and seems to function as normal. To be sure, we then ran our usual battery of diagnostic tests, and the machine passed with flying colours!