Well, about 10min ago I spilled a glass of water on my desk, and computer. Luckily, it didn't get in the case, cause I usually have the top off.

Originally posted by JTY
Well, about 10min ago I spilled a glass of water on my desk, and computer. Luckily, it didn't get in the case, cause I usually have the top off.

I have 3 dead keyboards in a drawer, for parts, due to such accidents. I also had a monitor fried when a cup of water (or coke) spilled from a higher shelf and gushed right into the heat vents. That'll do it. Maybe someone should invent some sort of absorbing surface mat for computer desks?

You could always use the built in cupholder.....

There is a reason I buy spill proof keyboards.....

Originally posted by Exbodyguard
You could always use the built in cupholder.....


*lmao* funny...

I had a friend who roasted her keyboard with blue Koolaid once - about 32oz of it... It was never coming back after that :) For a week or two after that until she could get a new one she actually typed by cut and paste from a list of the alphabet and numbers with a few common words thrown in someone was kind enough to send her as a text doc.

Greg Moore

Why are you pleople eating and drinking by your computer equipment? Not very smart!

J/K - I think I am in the majority when I say I live on pizza and Jolt (in this business!)

I'm with you. Mike. No absorbent mat or anything else is a worthy substitute for a bit of sense. You just don't put food, especially liquids, anywhere near electronic equipment.

Of course, you can always get a membrane keyboard as a precaution.

If only I'd learn, seeing as I also have a 200watt Kenwood AMP on my desk to.

When I left my EX-Wife, I moved in with a Roommate, one day while I was out, she sweet talked my roommate to let her inside the house to look for a picture she wanted, instead while the dumbass was in the other room, she got a glass of water when to my computer (that I ALWAYS leave the cover out, and dumped the entire glass inside it.

My roommate freaked out (He was feeling my foot coming up on his ass), threw her out, and spent the next hour or so cleaning the water and drying it with a Hairdryer ... for our surprise .. we started it, and the machine booted with no problems (At the time it was a Dual PPRO 180) ..

Moral of the Story ?

Never get dumb roommates

The difference, Carlos, is that your computer was probably off when the water got dumped in it. That can make all the difference in whether or not damage is caused.

I've even rinsed some computers to clean them, old ones, like 286 and 386s (with the heavy IBM PC case), that had dust elephants instead of dust bunnies inside. The dust was so thick and matted that compressed air didn't get it all out. Putting it under a jet stream did. Of course, I made sure it was thoroughly dry before plugging it in. I've never had problems on the few occasions I've had to resort to that method of cleaning.

I remember being caught in a cloudburst while walking somewhere with my laptop one day. I don't think I've ever run so fast, hunched over, clutching the bag to my chest. Ended up stuck in a baby store looking at cots and babyseats for about an hour till the rain stopped :)

Laptop survived and I got some good prices from the ladies in the store.

Greg Moore

Back in my days working in retail computer sales, we had a guy come into the store to buy a new laptop. I tried selling him several different models, but he insisted he must have this one specific laptop (which we didn't carry). When I asked him why, he said that he lived on a houseboat, and he'd been through more than a dozen laptops in the past 5 years, and this particular brand was the only one that he'd found that lasted longer than 3 months in that environment.

I said "hmm... salt air isn't exactly good for a laptop, but no laptop should break down *that* fast" and he said, "oh, it's not the salt air that does it - it's just that sometimes I drop the thing overboard and have to fish it out".

Unbelievable.

wow...

I only wish I could go through a dozen laptops in five years... it'd mean I'm making enough money to do all sorts of silly things :)

Greg Moore

Actually, water...plain water by itself is NOT a conductor of electricity. Although it seems like it is, it really is not. What makes it conduct electricity is the salt, or other element inside the water. That's why when your body touches water that has a live wire in it, you will get electromecuted (the salt on your body makes the water conduct, as well as other impurities in the water).

OK folks, enough chemistry for today. I will expect your homework to be turned in on Tuesday.

Well there is the technique of placing the cup on the floor which I often use in the Lab. But I probably don't need to mention that. Somewhat inconvenient.

However, something that works for me: keep the top right drawer empty (or at least the first part), open it a little and set the cup in. Almost impossible to knock over. I keep a small towel spread out on the bottom of the drawer. Just be careful and don't hit the lip when putting it back.

Now the trick becomes not to spill it out the corner of your month when drinking.

Gary

Originally posted by Duster
I'm with you. Mike. No absorbent mat or anything else is a worthy substitute for a bit of sense. You just don't put food, especially liquids, anywhere near electronic equipment.

Of course, you can always get a membrane keyboard as a precaution.

Oh boy, here we go again... (Humor: Look it up).

You don't even have to spill anything to have problems. What made me a true believer in the separation of computer and liquids was having a drop of condensation slide down from my iced drink onto the keyboard. The keyboard was fine after drying, though I had no way of exiting the large database I had open and it took quite a while to recover afterwards.

That was all it took to teach me. I'll sometimes have a drink on a table next to me or behind me and have even knocked them over on occasion (twice in one day). Still, I'd much rather have to wipe up the floor than deal with a fried keyboard or computer.

well the only fluid I usually have next to my computer is coffee. As coffee is as important to me as the computer itself I can happily say I've never spilt a drop :)

Greg Moore

This happen to me just last month. I was doing some routine upgrades for a client as she was complaining about speed. At 11pm she calls me (on my cellular) using lanuage I've never heard before (or since) wanting me to come over and fix her computer because nothing works.

I tell here to boot up and press the Delete key (del gets to bois setup on her system), she says it doesn't work.
I tell here to check to make sure it's plugged in, she's tells me that it was unplugged but she has plugged it in. We go through the boot up and press delete again. Doesn't work, I say out loud "I wonder why that was unplugged?"
She responds, "I had to take it to the sink to rinse the pop I spilled off of it."

I hang up.

grizz.

I always have purchased Apple laptops as my notebook computer. All the Apple machines (laptops) I've purchased have handle a lot more abuse than any pc laptop that I've ever played with. I've dropped my pb down a flight of stairs, spilled pop on it, dropped it on cement, knocked if off a desk, and all sorts of things. The pc on the other hand just couldn't hack that enviroment and is now dead. Hopefully my new G4 Laptop will arrive soon, Hopefully it is just as study as my previous models.

Originally posted by ckizer
I've dropped my pb down a flight of stairs, spilled pop on it, dropped it on cement, knocked if off a desk, and all sorts of things.

Yer one of them clumsy types aren't ya? *lol*

Just kidding :)

Greg Moore

A few years ago I helped a friend with a PC problem. I had brought my toolbag and a box of parts, including a spare drive and an Adaptec SCSI controller. I had my hands full when I left, so I placed a few things on the roof of the car so I could more easily load the other stuff on the back seat. When I got home, I realized I was missing the controller. I called my friend to see if I left it at his house. Nope. It dawned on me it was on the roof of the car when I drove off. My friend went outside to search for it, and found it a mile up the street. You guessed it: Roadkill.

Desperate to replace the expensive controller, I called Adaptec and explained my problem. Shockingly, they gave me an RMA! I sent them the mangled controller (complete with tire tracks) and within three days I had a replacement. On the RMA form the reason for the return was listed as "Defective component".

Originally posted by Jason Ellis
I said "hmm... salt air isn't exactly good for a laptop, but no laptop should break down *that* fast" and he said, "oh, it's not the salt air that does it - it's just that sometimes I drop the thing overboard and have to fish it out".


ROTFLMHO.

Why dont they make uderwater laptops like underwater pens, paper, camera and even underwater ships?

Wing.

Actually I'm pretty sure they already do after a fashion. I'm positive I saw one on TV once. A bunch of geologists or surveyors were doing something underwater, taking measurements and samples etc. One of the divers had a laptop of some sort and was poking away on it. I doubt it was quite a feature rich as a normal one but it was functioning at 100ft down or so..

Duster might be able to confirm that - being that it's two of his passions meeting here :)

Greg Moore

Originally posted by TheWingThing
Why dont they make uderwater laptops like underwater pens, paper, camera and even underwater ships?

Some of those things have been made for years. Jacques Cousteau developed the first commercially available underwater camera, the Calypso, which was purchased by Nikon and became the Nikonos. Previously and alternately, there have been housed cameras (land cameras in a protective housing).

There have long been slates and pencils that work underwater, as well as other devices, including Magna Doodle, a child's toy that works underwater.

As far as a notebook computer underwater, I can think of some ways it could be done. There is a company, Ewa Marine, that makes heavy duty equivalent of freezer zip lock bags in various sizes. You can put pocket cameras and other devices inside them and take them underwater, pressing the controls through the plastic. A notebook computer encased in such a bag could work. The is a depth limit imposed by increasing pressure and the danger of leakage of around 130-140 feet.

Another possibility, and one I consider more remote without knowing specifics, is a sealed notebook computer. If it had a membrane keyboard and all openings were sealed with O rings, it could work (with a similar depth limit).

I don't know if that has been done, though I might be able to find out. The danger oif leakage occurs around moving parts. Even some water resistant watches work underwater until you depress the buttons, which can allow water to leak in. While it can be possible to make a laptop watertight, I expect enclosure would be a more likely way of taking it underwater.

Another possibility is that the equipment seen was not a laptop, but some other equipment. There is a large variety of devices fitted for underwater use for commercial, scientific, industrial, and military work.

[Edited by Duster on 03-30-2001 at 05:40 PM]