HP Tech Support Claims Water Damage on CPU

[y-aji]

Hi all,

Let me begin by thanking everyone for taking the time to hear this.

HP claims this is water damage. I am quite sure it is not, there is no lead-in where water could have gotten under the processor like this. There is no proof of water damage anywhere but directly under the SEALED processor. It looks like the core got hot enough to lightly melt the plastic in the slot that holds the processor. What do you guys think?

This is not liquid, we have another one that HP claimed the same. It is a residue of some kind again hinting to me that it is some kind of melted plastic.

These laptops are about 4 years old and are used quite heavily. Any thoughts on what this residue is, what technically causes it, is there a real name for this (i.e. cpu plastic osmosis.. lol)? And does anyone have any references so I can report back to HP that they are wrong?

 

[yomamafor1]

I'm quite certain its not likely to be melted plastic. The melted plastic will actually turn black, as opposed to transparent. However, I also agree that its definitely not water damage (although it sure looks like it).

I think you're looking at a type of glue or some sort, although AFAIK the CPU is not glued to the socket.

What CPU is this?

 

[dokk2]

Looks like some kind of glue from a rather small sticker of some kind.maybe a little alcohol will address it I have also used lighter fluid and even acetone [fingernail polish remover] to get gunk off of various components there's no way that water could have got in there ..

 

[spathotan]

4 year old laptop CPU, its likely it is something created by heat. You gotta figure....4 years of 50c+ temps.

 

[runswindows95]

I agree with spathotan. Most likely heat related. Also, I can't blame HP for such a lame answer. Never heard of an OEM covering a computer longer than 3 years. Time to buy a new one.

 

[y-aji]

Thanks all for the responses.

We actually have an extended warranty (which we payed alot more than I would have liked for.. 110 per pc for 1 extra year.) So, after spending 3300 dollars to cover our 30 laptops, they are slowly claiming they all have water damage (this is the second one they diagnosed the exact same.. so we opened the one they diagnosed w/ water damage 2 weeks ago, pulled the processor out and took a look.. same glue/plastic/water residue.. tried the processor in another machine and it worked fine). We will be purchasing new laptops at the end of this year to replace these (which definitely wont be hp's), but they have to last until the summer.

I dont in any way blame the machines for having problems as yes, they are 4 years old, but, I blame HP for not correctly diagnosing them and trying to charge upwards of 880 dollars (after shipping) to us to replace the motherboard and ship it back. If nothing else, they say we are going to be penalized 80 dollars for shipping it to them when it was damaged by "water".

One of the technicians in our office is HP certified, and he said they never mention to look for anything like this in any of the paperwork he has.

 

[y-aji]

The computer is a 4 year old low-end hp laptop (n9110, i think? I dont have one with me as I am off work).

We mostly got the super extended warranty because we had close to all 30 lose their power pin from normal daily use.. So, close to all 30 have had motherboards swapped out, so i suppose if this was one of the probably 10-20 of the machines we had to send in, they could have gotten something on it while swapping the mobo the first time.

These dont leave the library they reside in. They sit in a laptop cart for "closely supervised" student use.

I had one technician say it could be something where due to the processor getting hot enough in a cold enough environment that it could cause some kind of weird condensation, but again, they dont ever leave the library and sit on tables, not kids laps.