A boat pc - the worst idea in the world!

hotponyshoes · 01-29-2007, 05:24 PM

Ok, so my car pc is not so bad but,
I spent the weekend 'on board' bit of fishing so we took a sony viao laptop out and plugged it to the battery using a car power supply.
we played music on it non stop from 10am sat morning to 3pm sun.
I try turning it on this morning and it gets to the post screen, windows logo comes up then it just goes black. I put the mains charger on it and it charges for 10mins then the light goes green telling me its ful.
hit the power switch - fan spins screen flashes - all dies again.
Take it to my local pc/phone place. he takes the back off and its all covered with fuzz on the pcb form around the fan intake and the vents on the computer. he puts it is some sort of ultrasonic tank and cleans it off.
It works again. i start using it when i get home and it dies after 20min.
Back at the shop he takes the lid off and a whole load of tracks have lifted from the pcb and the processor pins have all crumbled away.

Now this laptop sat in a dry cabin on a dry surface and this has been caused just by the salt in the air. I 'might' put a proper one in for music (i think it's a better idea to get an ipod on board) but i WILL NOT ever use one for anything i might trust my life to (gps/bottom sounder/plotter) and i would urge others to think carefully before doing the same.

I would not want to be the person that pust lifeboat crews at risk because i am lost at sea because my pc wont boot up or my homebrew software has crashed.

Pistolen08 · 01-29-2007, 05:29 PM

damn, that sucks man. I can't believe it corroded the cpu that fast.

hotponyshoes · 01-29-2007, 05:48 PM

the edges of the cpu look fine. when you flip it over about half the pins have stayed in the socket and the rest are pitted like mad if you look at them under a mag glass!

worse part is its only bought last september. I am gona send it to sony for a laugh and see what they say..

2k1Toaster · 01-29-2007, 05:49 PM

dont tell them about the boat thing!

klundy · 01-29-2007, 05:51 PM

I know some people that live aboard a sailboat and have had laptops aboard for years without a similar problem.

hotponyshoes · 01-29-2007, 06:05 PM

If you stay inland you might be ok. I think the main problem was that we were out fishing overnight and the moist air at dawn and dusk must have put a load of salt in the air..

AlienEclipse · 01-30-2007, 04:05 AM

Got any pictures of it???

legacy05gt · 01-30-2007, 07:44 AM

not to rip off The Abyss... but you can submerge it in oil, that would probably keep the salt from getting to it:

http://russellware.com/liquidlinux/

sebberry · 02-03-2007, 04:56 AM

Strange.. I live on the coast and never have any problems. I have heard (pure speculation) that Sony has a habit of using lower grade copper in their boards, possibly explaining the lifting traces.

vfinterceptor · 02-03-2007, 07:40 AM

The only way you would get salt into the comp is if you let sea spray fall on it or spalshed it with salt water.
Moisture in the air (evaporated sea water) will not hold salt in suspension.
The increased humidity in the air would contribute to accelerated corrosion though.........

Cheers

BJ

Genesisfactor · 02-07-2007, 10:37 AM

Thank God i have thinkpad...I hope levono doesn't do what sony did....
I'm sorry man, sony is usually good about things with warrenty.

Blauvster · 02-14-2007, 02:55 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by vfinterceptor

The only way you would get salt into the comp is if you let sea spray fall on it or spalshed it with salt water.
Moisture in the air (evaporated sea water) will not hold salt in suspension.
The increased humidity in the air would contribute to accelerated corrosion though.........

Cheers

BJ

I was thinking the same exact thing.

If the pins crumbled off the CPU it's an Intel or AMD problem Sony doesn't make the CPU. It would be pretty crazy if it corroded in a couple of days too! Especially if it was running most of the time; it would be hot and moisture doesn't like to condense on warm things. Copper also won’t rust through; it will form a protective layer of oxidation that will protect the core. How long have you had that laptop? And what the heck would you are you doing with it to cause that amount of corrosion? Unless it took a little swim in the ocean I can’t see this being possible from normal use.

tha_nox · 02-25-2007, 06:12 AM

so u said the screen just went black? well...after u go black u never go back

Uh Uh Uh, You didn't say the magic word !

tedswartz · 02-26-2007, 08:55 PM

I've used a PC on=board in salt and fresh water with never a problem. My latest, tho, is a Ramline (old but works great, "mostly" sealed) touchscreen. runs the GPS and iTunes just great.

Blaydeman · 03-26-2007, 03:03 PM

im surrounded by commercial fishing boats and have never seen or heard of that. i was using a laptop for two months on the baot and nothing of that sort happened. Ive seen PCs that have been on boats for years that look fine. u sure you didnt drop it in the water?

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