The Scariest thing to happen to a "broke" college student

[Au_ViZionZ]

Before I started college, I knew I was going to have to dish out the big bucks for a laptop that would both function as a workstation and a gaming station. I settled on the ROG Zephyrus G502 due to it being on sale at the time of purchasing it. This was one of my most expensive single purchases in my entire life, totaling out at around $1,050. For the past 8 months, I've cherished this laptop as it has provided me with the means of both gaming, and completing my college work. Yesterday, the first day of my second semester of college, I spilled Coke ALL OVER the touchpad and keyboard. Now, being the nerd that I am, I had watched videos on liquid damage in the past and knew what to do immediately. I powered down the laptop and cleaned off the excess soda within seconds. I quickly bought a can of compressed air from my campus' bookstore and went back to my dorm to do some deep cleaning on the device.

 

I was still panicking like crazy when opening the laptop up, frantically going over each key with a paper towel and spraying the keys from an angle so that the liquid had a path to come out. Once completed dried out, I opened it as much as I could and put it face down under my bed. (to allow it to dry overnight, just in case I missed something) This morning, I opened it up, and voila! it worked. There was, however, a problem. The keyboard was now sticky. As I depressed the spacebar, my eyes watched in horror as it took a good full second for it to pop back up. I took to Youtube as my first class started and started to carefully try and use a piece of paper to remove the spacebar. 

 

After some time, the spacebar came off without anything breaking. I cleaned it a little, and put it back together, saving the whole ordeal till my day was over. I went back to my dorm after classes and gathered my supplies: Q-Tips, a cup of water, and toothpicks. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Get rubbing alcohol!", I wish. I don't have any with me, and I don't have any means of transportation at the moment. So, I'm stuck with cleaning the parts by hand with water, being careful not to get any water on something important. After cleaning the spacebar, I put it back together, and it worked almost perfectly. There is a little stick to it, but it's only a millisecond or two, so it will have to wait for the weekend when I go home. 

 

So now I have a weekend project... To take my entire laptop keyboard apart and clean it out with rubbing alcohol and Q-Tips. As far as I can tell, the hardware inside is A-OK, with no penetration past the keyboard itself. I should probably take it to a repair shop and have it checked for corrosion, but I think I will give it a shot myself in opening up the unit this weekend and cleaning it first. 

 

If anyone has any suggestions for me when it comes to cleaning this type of stuff, it would be greatly appreciated. For now, I will try and use the laptop as little as possible until I clean it properly. Also, I really don't know why I posted this to a forum, I just felt like sharing my story. 

[TrainFan475]

That's scary

[Fasauceome]

5 minutes ago, Au_ViZionZ said:

As far as I can tell, the hardware inside is A-OK, with no penetration past the keyboard itself

Can't be too sure, I'd take a look wherever possible regardless.

 

Vinegar can help clean corrosion, just in case.

 

Godspeed on this laptop's survival.

[Au_ViZionZ]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Can't be too sure, I'd take a look wherever possible regardless.

 

Vinegar can help clean corrosion, just in case.

 

Godspeed on this laptop's survival.

I think it should be fine, after taking some of the keys off, it looks like this laptop has some sort of thin plastic layer under the whole keyboard. So, other than the keys getting sticky I should be able to clean it up just fine.

[WkdPaul]

Keys should come off without issue, then you can use a toothbrush with soft bristles and some isopropyl alcohol ... and lots of patience.

 

Good luck!

[Au_ViZionZ]

6 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

Keys should come off without issue, then you can use a toothbrush with soft bristles and some isopropyl alcohol ... and lots of patience.

 

Good luck!

The keys did come off pretty easily, but the PrtSc key and other differently shaped keys are sideways when compared to the other keys, and I broke a little part on it. It didn't do anything to the key though.

[TheGlenlivet]

Au_ViZionZ dodging bullet,  circa 2020 (Colorized)

 

[Au_ViZionZ]

4 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

Keys should come off without issue, then you can use a toothbrush with soft bristles and some isopropyl alcohol ... and lots of patience.

 

Good luck!

Do you think that the internals are untouched? Heres what the underside of the keys looks like.

[WkdPaul]

Looks fine.

[Au_ViZionZ]

On 1/23/2020 at 5:34 AM, wkdpaul said:

Looks fine.

UPDATE: Everything is fine after a week, no adverse effects. Some keys are still a little sticky, but that's because I still have't gotten around to deep cleaning each single key individually. I got scared when I started it up and it brought me to the bios without me doing anything one time, but it just needed a bios update. lol.

[Ben17]

25 minutes ago, Au_ViZionZ said:

UPDATE: Everything is fine after a week, no adverse effects. Some keys are still a little sticky, but that's because I still have't gotten around to deep cleaning each single key individually. I got scared when I started it up and it brought me to the bios without me doing anything one time, but it just needed a bios update. lol.

Glad it didn't break on you

Hope all goes with the laptop and college btw  

[Intergalacticbits]

I'd guess about a million people dump a whole cup of coffee on their laptops every year. 

They probably don't do nothing but power it off, wipe it down with a damp cloth and leave it sit unused for a few days.

Just to make sure it's thoroughly dried out.

 

Besides being gross I think the only possible danger would be running it when it is still damp.

 

I once backed over my own camera with my car. I can't tell you the feeling when I came back home and saw it squished in my driveway.