a sad story, and some advice needed

[Triptych]

I work for a contractor company, and most of our workers have the IQ of 8 year old children. We were hired to do some power washing at a BMW dealership, and they didn't think to move (or at least cover) the $8k+ tablet computers they use for diagnostics. The thing got wet in the battery compartment.

The tablet is made by Siemens, its a Sidis 7KE3110, specially made for BMW's needs. Pic:

I pulled it apart, stuffed it with silicon packs (I started saving them just in case!). I backed up the SATA hard drive, rubbed the internal battery connection with some flux to clean up the corrosion and put it all back together. Everything works fine when it's plugged in. Tried a different battery and got nothing.

I cannot get the company to send a replacement internal connector, they expect me to ship it to Germany for repairs. If I can find this internal piece, or repair it, I will avoid an $8k expense. Any help will be much appreciated.

Regards,
D.P.

 

[(*steve*)]

It is almost 100% likely that if you sent it in for repair that they would replace the motherboard or tell you it was not worth repairing. I would imagine that the damage is not limited to the connector and other parts may fail along the track.

Incidentally, I would have considered flushing out the device with water and then alcohol, but a lot depends on whether there are on-board batteries or devices that would be damaged by water or alcohol.

 

[poor mystic]

It certainly is a sad story.
I've wondered whether salt has something to do with the problems I've come to expect from wetted boards. Salt crystals in the atmosphere might settle on the components and when the board is wet and they might end up concentrated where the water dries away. Water is very active too on a sub-microscopic level and works its way into cracks, further opening them and making room for more (salty) water.
I've always wanted to try a vapour degreaser for this kind of cleanup, with distilled water as the solvent, but I suspect that irreparable damage is already done.
You'd think the military would have investigated cleaning water-damaged boards - a pity they're not likely to be forthcoming with their results1

 

[Resqueline]

Sadly, when corrosion like that has already taken place it's usually too late to do anything but replace the connector & board.
The connector looks like many common laptop battery contacts. Maybe you can get some electronics-repair place to desolder it and replace it (& fix the board).
It will be the track from the positive pole that's eaten away. The board will surely need patching.

When water intrusion is suspected it's important to remove all power & batteries immediately. Water alone won't harm (most) electronics (LCD's are sensitive).
If there might have been salt (or chemicals) or other impurities in the water it would be beneficial to flush it thorougly with fresh water.
Then it should be blow-dried ( with compressed air) before flushing it with isopropyl alcohol and blow-dried again. Leave to dry for a couple of days before testing.

 

[Triptych]

Update:

The unit powers on when plugged into the adapter, but a new battery doesn't work at all. (they decided to chance it, not me). I think most of the corrosion you see is from debris and dirt accumulated from being in an auto repair shop. The blackened burnt scorch marks- I'm going to assume is water damage.

Steve,

I've heard of the "flushing" technique before (distilled water and then alcohol). the inside of the device didn't appear to be wet at all, so I didn't want to risk hurting something worse. I'm hoping this doesn't come back to bite me down the road.

Poor & Resqueline,

The circuit board that you see is only in the battery compartment. The rubber cement looking stuff on the right is covering soldered pins which lead to power supply wires (it has a square connector that plugs into the MOBO). Are you aware of anywhere I can obtain this circuit with the battery connector? it has "A5E00 | W2Ey" printed on it, but not even Google can decipher those numbers. I don't even know where to begin to look from here.

 

[(*steve*)]

If I understand correctly, the battery plugs into a socket that is itself connected to the motherboard with a cable.

In that case, it is possible that the motherboard has escaped damage due to the same corrosion seen on the battery.

It still leaves you with needing to get a battery connector, but it would then be a replaceable part.

In this case I'd send it for servicing. They'll probably charge you well over the odds for the cable and connector, but they should be able to source one.

The danger is that there has been some other damage to the motherboard which renders the battery inoperable. But that can't be observed until the battery connector cable is replaced.

 

[Triptych]

Actually steve, I had it working when I plugged it in with the ac adapter. It runs windows xp and it booted up just fine. The problem arose when they tried a different battery. I want to avoid shipping it to germany to be serviced. Do you think that battery connector is a product specific part?

 

[(*steve*)]

Actually steve, I had it working when I plugged it in with the ac adapter.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it will operate from or charge the battery.

It runs windows xp and it booted up just fine. The problem arose when they tried a different battery. I want to avoid shipping it to germany to be serviced. Do you think that battery connector is a product specific part?

Yes, I think it is a specific part. However you may not be able to obtain it.

If you're really lucky it may be used in another laptop and you may be able to salvage one.