Thick, sticky liquid leaking from my laptop...

[alexiacat]

I'm sure this is a pretty unusual problem, but some of you may know something about fixing it.

 

I am using a Dell XPS 12 9q23 as my laptop because I don't have anything better at the moment, but a few months ago it started leaking this really thick, sticky liquid-ish stuff out the top and corners of the screen's plastic body. It's really gross and it gets all over my wrists when I type, because when I close the laptop it spreads to the area below the trackpad, and sometimes some of it even gets on the trackpad. I don't know what to do about it; I've cleaned it with Clorox wipes twice, but it didn't fully take care of the problem as it left a little bit of residue and everything was still sticky, and it began to come back in larger, more visible amounts again in a few days. I have two pictures of it in the area above the screen, it covers a microphone and the webcam. When I close the laptop it gets all over the area directly under the trackpad and even on it a little, and it's just so annoying. It's already probably permanently damaged the chassis of my laptop, unless someone has a way to clean off the stuff for good.

 

If anyone knows what this could be, a good way to clean it without any sticking, or best a practical way to make it completely stop leaking out, that would be great and thanks in advance.

[emosun]

according to google it's a common issue and a defect. that laptop is well out of warranty so you'll have to clean and fix it yourself. Luckly it doesn't seem to be battery acid

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/LCD-Leaking-very-sticky-liquid/td-p/5954392

[Corrupt_Liberty]

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display.  The sticky goo would be the Liquid part.  Your laptop is not long for this world.  If you are handy you can replace the display.  Ebay has ONE available from china.

[alexiacat]

9 minutes ago, emosun said:

according to google it's a common issue and a defect. that laptop is well out of warranty so you'll have to clean and fix it yourself. Luckly it doesn't seem to be battery acid

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/LCD-Leaking-very-sticky-liquid/td-p/5954392

Thanks, and sorry I forgot to include the pictures! I will try cleaning it with alcohol soon.

[alexiacat]

1 minute ago, Corrupt_Liberty said:

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display.  The sticky goo would be the Liquid part.  Your laptop is not long for this world.  If you are handy you can replace the display.  Ebay has ONE available from china.

Thanks for the info. That might also explain why there are bubbles and dark spots all over my screen, where it is slightly discolored. There is even a region where I can see the subpixels from a normal distance..? I won't be buying a replacement screen as for the price I would rather just put that toward a new laptop, but thanks for the info. I'm going to try cleaning it with alcohol to see if that works better.

[goto10]

the liquid that makes the lcd show images, colors is coming out, no cleaning will fix it, replace the part or retire the laptop, don't invest time and money into cleaning a damaged broken part, clean the liquid that is coming, well, it is more form where that liquid came, so you have to clean and clean until the lcd stops working or damages something else

 

the two options are replace the part or replace the laptop, don't try anything else

[alexiacat]

1 minute ago, goto10 said:

the liquid that makes the lcd show images, colors is coming out, no cleaning will fix it, replace the part or retire the laptop, don't invest time and money into cleaning a damaged broken part, clean the liquid that is coming, well, it is more form where that liquid came, so you have to clean and clean until the lcd stops working or damages something else

 

the two options are replace the part or replace the laptop, don't try anything else

But until I get a new laptop (I'm not gonna replace that screen, too expensive to not just buy new machine), I could clean it with alcohol, but the screen would slowly lose color and stop working as it leaks, right?

[goto10]

it can even short out and end in flames, the liquid might or might not be electrically conductive, i wouldn't risk it, if i can't see well images, screen is leaking, immediate action is required, repair or replace the laptop

 

this is not like clean dust from over your desk or a table, is chemicals, minerals suspended in a oil that makes the unit show images and colors, you are not supposed to be exposed to these chemicals and oils, not clean them, you need a definitive solution

[alexiacat]

1 minute ago, goto10 said:

it can even short out and end in flames, the liquid might or might not be electrically conductive, i wouldn't risk it, if i can't see well images, screen is leaking, immediate action is required, repair or replace the laptop

 

this is not like clean dust from over your desk or a table, is chemicals, minerals suspended in a oil that makes the unit show images and colors, you are not supposed to be exposed to these chemicals and oils, not clean them, you need a definitive solution

Okay, thank you for the information. I will replace the laptop as soon as I can and avoid touching the liquid or getting it on things until then.

[neelpy]

I had the same issue, I researched on the internet and with the local service center technicians. After that I concluded that there is nothing I can do except replacing the screen with a new one. But the price for the new screen was high (around 150 - 200$) as my laptop had a 4K touch screen. Too high to be spend on such an old laptop (4 years), it also had dead battery issue (around 50 - 100$). The technician also said that I can't replace the current one with a low res, non touch screen (which would cost less than this).

 

Finally I reached to a conclusion that instead of buying a new screen for the laptop, I bought a new monitor and removed the whole damaged screen part (including the upper body) from the hinges of the laptop. It required a pretty tough disassembly (at least for me). The reason for buying a monitor was that eventually when I buy a new laptop, I can also use this monitor as an extended screen. Now my laptop can not move from my desk but because of the battery issue, it was already like that only.

 

After removing the damaged screen, I found that the liquid was leaking from the insides of the screen layers (there were 10-15 while paper like layers) to the bottom where the circuitry of the screen (green chip), the whole chip was covered with liquid and still the screen was working fine, so I can safely say the liquid was non conducting.