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Liquid spill damage to Powerbook display

P

probot

Junior Member
Hi all!

I had a falling accident with my 2005 edition 15" Apple G4 Aluminum Powerbook,
in which soda was spilled into my laptop carrying bag. Now the display has an area
covered with patches of this liquid, behind the outer screen layer.

Does anyone know how to open up the display case and clean away
the mess? I really cannot afford a new new LCD at this time, so I am
hoping there is a solution.

best regards,

probot (at warpmail dot net)
 
u might wanna search around for the service manual of you powerbook. i've one for the earlier models... might work for yours.
 
Thanks for the reply. I already found a manual that came as close to my model as possible, but that one didn't say anything about getting the LCD out of the display assembly so I could get to it for cleaning purposes. A search on the Apple forums yielded a couple of posts strongly advising anyone NOT to try this, as the LCD panels are glued to the display case,
and not meant to be taken apart. At least not by anyone else than qualified technicians.

I will have to get hold of much more detailed information before I will try this on my own.

 
Nah. Won't work. Didn't spill water, but soda. Some RedBull clone. Contains sugar and other stuff as well. I may have been wrong saying the stuff sits between the protective plastic cover and the LCD panel, as the droplets are well lit up from behind by the backlight. Don't know if that makes it any easier to clean off, once the panel has been removed from its shell.

Nothing was spilled onto the motherboard, drives, or anything else inside the PowerBook, only the display was affected. Must be some kind of physical property of the display construction that facilitates sucktion, somewhat like a capillary glass tube used in a doctor's office when taking blood samples from a small incision in the finger tip.

I consider myself lucky I didn't break the panel in the fall or empty the whole can into it. At least the display is working fine except for the annoying stains. A local Apple tech told me cleaning wasn't possible (without seeing the laptop in person), yet a mail from a pro elsewhere in the laptop repair biz stated the exact opposite. A new panel from Apple costs A LOT, so if I have to replace it, I will look for cheaper alternatives.

The downside of doing this myself, however, or getting this done by a 3rd party obviously voids warranty, so I will have to live with this until I am sufficiently informed of my choices. The search goes on...
 
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