Mobility Site - View Single Post

Dologan0 · 09-14-04, 04:37 PM

Hmm... It seems this is a rather common accident...

I also happened to be stupid enough to put some alcohol directly on my X5's screen to clean it, and it leaked under it. A huge bubble formed and even though the thing still worked, the touch screen sensitivity was completely lost. Okay, the regular symptoms.
However, I happen to work in a laboratory where I have access to a vacuum "box" that is used to keep reagents moisture free, so I put it inside. The alcohol dried up in a few minutes and the touch sensitivity came back to life; however, a stain remained at the spot where the bubble had been. The stain apparently is some kind of icky residue from the evaporation. It looks bad, but is only visible with some light reflections or when the unit is off. The real, annoying problem is that if I press the screen on the stain, the two layers of the screen stick together again and the touch sensitivity is lost again. I've found I can fix this easily in the lab without having to put it in vacuum, just using the pump hose directly on the screen to 'suck' and separate the 'membranes'. Sucking with the mouth worked for me once, but the cleaning afterwards is messy and not worth it. :)
This is getting quite annoying not only for the bad aspect of the stain, but mainly because if the screen sticks away from a sucking device, I'm basically screwed for a while. So, I was thinking of deliberately introducing a liquid to rinse the stain and then vacuum-evaporate it; however, I am still doubting whether I should do it and what liquid to use. I could use distilled water, but I am afraid that water might not evaporate as readily and/or not dissolve the icky stain. I was thinking about using reagent grade isopropanol (which in theory should be purer than the ethanol I was using), but I don't know if it could damage the internal membrane irreversibly. I am also afraid that the stain might come not from an impurity of the original ethanol, but from something it dissolved along the way and so using isopropanol could just make the problem worse.
I could also play dumb and ask for a replacement, since the unit is still under warranty IIRC, but I don't know if they would buy it since the stain looks kinda... unnatural.
I know I'm stupid for pouring liquid directly on the screen, but I think it's a design flaw to make the screen so sensitive to it. What do you think I should do? Play dumb and call Dell, use isopropanol, use d. water or get used to the sticky screen and the stain?

Anyway, having ethanol (or water, or probably Windex, which contains isopropanol) under the screen DOES NOT kill it, but getting it out might be a problem (and there's the risk of residue, as you can see). For those without the benefit of a vacuum box, maybe something similar can be done with a vacuum cleaner and some recipient.

09-14-04, 04:37 PM	#37 (permalink)
Dologan0 Aximsite Prospect Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hmm... It seems this is a rather common accident... I also happened to be stupid enough to put some alcohol directly on my X5's screen to clean it, and it leaked under it. A huge bubble formed and even though the thing still worked, the touch screen sensitivity was completely lost. Okay, the regular symptoms. However, I happen to work in a laboratory where I have access to a vacuum "box" that is used to keep reagents moisture free, so I put it inside. The alcohol dried up in a few minutes and the touch sensitivity came back to life; however, a stain remained at the spot where the bubble had been. The stain apparently is some kind of icky residue from the evaporation. It looks bad, but is only visible with some light reflections or when the unit is off. The real, annoying problem is that if I press the screen on the stain, the two layers of the screen stick together again and the touch sensitivity is lost again. I've found I can fix this easily in the lab without having to put it in vacuum, just using the pump hose directly on the screen to 'suck' and separate the 'membranes'. Sucking with the mouth worked for me once, but the cleaning afterwards is messy and not worth it. :) This is getting quite annoying not only for the bad aspect of the stain, but mainly because if the screen sticks away from a sucking device, I'm basically screwed for a while. So, I was thinking of deliberately introducing a liquid to rinse the stain and then vacuum-evaporate it; however, I am still doubting whether I should do it and what liquid to use. I could use distilled water, but I am afraid that water might not evaporate as readily and/or not dissolve the icky stain. I was thinking about using reagent grade isopropanol (which in theory should be purer than the ethanol I was using), but I don't know if it could damage the internal membrane irreversibly. I am also afraid that the stain might come not from an impurity of the original ethanol, but from something it dissolved along the way and so using isopropanol could just make the problem worse. I could also play dumb and ask for a replacement, since the unit is still under warranty IIRC, but I don't know if they would buy it since the stain looks kinda... unnatural. I know I'm stupid for pouring liquid directly on the screen, but I think it's a design flaw to make the screen so sensitive to it. What do you think I should do? Play dumb and call Dell, use isopropanol, use d. water or get used to the sticky screen and the stain? Anyway, having ethanol (or water, or probably Windex, which contains isopropanol) under the screen DOES NOT kill it, but getting it out might be a problem (and there's the risk of residue, as you can see). For those without the benefit of a vacuum box, maybe something similar can be done with a vacuum cleaner and some recipient. Last edited by Dologan0; 09-14-04 at 04:41 PM.