Please help me fix my eMate

[classic mac 500]

Hey fellow Newtonians! I need your help in fixing my eMate! The short of the story... I had it sitting in a chair under my dining room table. I had tomato's sitting on the table, and one of them rottened and leaked slightly. A few drops found its way into the eMate. I didn't know this until I got to work and tried to turn it on. I saw the stain.

I get home and take it apart. The only place I could find where it had dripped was on the metal cover that surrounds the PCMCIA slot. I checked all around several times and couldn't see anywhere it else it had spread. I cleaned the whole board to be safe.

Here's what its doing... absolutely nothing! Despite countless resets, all the different kinds of resets, nothing worked. The only sign of life you can find, is when you plug in the AC adapter. The green light comes on, but that's all it will do.

I got the idea that it could be a SMB fuse blown. Please excuse my electronic ignorance... but does anyone know if the eMate has a SMB fuse or more than one? If it does have one or more, how would one go about testing it with a digital multimeter? This is one area I lack knowledge in.

In general, is it fixable at all or am I screwed? I don't think it's a lost cause, because I'm adventurous and willing to try to fix it. I'd appreciate any and all help with this.

It's been one hell of a year for me personally this year. I do have good news on my friend with cancer. She's currently taking physical therapy and is starting college tomorrow. Her hair is growing back and she's getting stronger. Thank you for your prayers everyone!

 

[Bunsen]

I think perhaps we need more detail on what you mean by "cleaned the whole board"

 

[classic mac 500]

What I meant by cleaning the whole board was that I used a soft toothbrush with a little water. I did let it dry completely and even used a hair dryer on the low setting to make sure every part was dry, but alas, it still does the same thing.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Dennis Nedry]

A good spraying of freon could be helpful in removing any remaining tomato residue and all the dried up conductive minerals left behind from the water and possible residual toothpaste. I'm not sure where you can get ahold of a spray can of that anymore! You can get a non-spraying can from the automotive department intended to refill air conditioners, but I don't know how you could spray that.

Freon is extremely harmful to the ozone layer; that's why you can't buy it in spray can form anymore.

I don't know what else you could do to remove those minerals. It's also quite possible that you've already burned something by trying to turn it on so cleaning it now may not even work.

 

[beachycove]

It might be worth while paying some attention to the ROM card under the rear cover. Is it seated properly?

 

[MacJunky]

A good spraying of freon could be helpful in removing any remaining tomato residue and all the dried up conductive minerals left behind from the water and possible residual toothpaste.

Could bathe it in 99% isopropyl alcohol as well. Available at your local drugstore.

 

[classic mac 500]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have removed and reseated the ROM card to no avail. I hadn't thought of the alcohol. I will give that a shot.

Is anyone here good with a multitester? Maybe someone could help me with what actual circuit board components I should test first? The board must be getting power because the green light comes on when the AC adapter is plugged in. Problem is... it won't do anything else.

Thanks for bearing with me and as always, I'd appreciate any help received!

 

[MacJunky]

Make sure it is not less than 75%. Go for 90% to 99%.

Make sure the percentage is listed on the bottle because they will try to sell ya the weak crap if they can.

The higher the percentage, the faster it will evaporate off the PCB but give it ample time to dry anyway just to be on the safe side.