Spilled coffee near USB ports - mouse doesn't work

[Unfocused]

An hour ago I spilled coffee on my desk and partially on the left side of my laptop. I cleaned it up and everything seemed to work, until my mouse disconnected. I plugged it out and back in and it was working for a few seconds then disconnected again. Upon unplugging and closer inspection I noticed a bit of coffee on the connector, so I cleaned it and dried both the connector and the usb port with toilet paper and a hair dryer.

It turns out it wasn't the usb port at fault, as I had initially thought, because right now I've got my keyboard plugged into it and it works fine. So it must be the mouse connector. At this moment when I connect the mouse it only lights up (it's a Razer Deathadder), but the PC doesn't see it. A few minutes ago it would randomly see it and then lose it; sometimes replugging it once didn't fix the problem. Occassionaly I'd get a message in the system tray that the USB device is unknown and/or that the device had a malfunction.

What do I do? Is it possible that there's water deeper inside the USB connector and it will eventually dry up and work again? Or could it be that the connector is partially "fried" inside, so that the mouse receives power (it light up), but won't recognise user input?

 

[xcellerate]

you might be on to something with the water deeper inside, I'd set the connector up maybe in some sunlight, and come back to it later and try again.

 

[Vegeta897]

First I was like

But then,

(it's a Razer Deathadder)

 

[Higlac]

Rice. Put the connecter in a container of rice.

 

[Krynn72]

Plugging in any electronic that has gotten wet is a terrible idea and you might have already killed it by doing so. You clean it, dry it with a towel to get the majority, and let it air dry completely for several hours. Then plug it in to see if it works. Once you fried a bit of it, there's no bringing it back unless you replace that connector bit.

 

[Vegeta897]

Plugging in any electronic bit that has gotten a bit wet is a terrible bit of an idea and you might have already killed it a bit by doing so. You clean it a bit, dry it a bit with a bit of a towel to get the majority, and let it air dry a bit completely for several bits of hours. Then plug it in a bit to see if it works a bit. Once you fried a bit of it, there's no bringing it back a bit unless you replace that connector bit.

This man speaks the truth, I'm always very paranoid whenever I get anything electronic wet and make sure it's totally dried before plugging it in again.

 

[sixteenth]

Compressed air does wonders sometimes. Also, someone mentioned rice earlier. I've *repaired* a couple of phones, that were dropped in water, by putting them in closed containers (Tupperware) filled with rice and then setting them in the freezer compartment of my refrigerator. Might not be a bad idea in your case.

 

[Unfocused]

Plugging in any electronic that has gotten wet is a terrible idea and you might have already killed it by doing so. You clean it, dry it with a towel to get the majority, and let it air dry completely for several hours. Then plug it in to see if it works. Once you fried a bit of it, there's no bringing it back unless you replace that connector bit.

Yeah, I should've made sure it's completely dry; I unplugged everything, cleaned the desk and the laptop and didn't think to make sure the connectors are dry (actually, out of the three only this one had a bit of coffee on it.

I'm not sure what's going on inside there, it can't be completely fried because I just plugged it in (after I left the connector to dry for ~20 hours) and it worked for a few minutes then disconnected itself completely (no lights). After I replugged it, the lights went on, but the cursor didn't respond. I'm pretty sure that if I plugged it in in a few minutes later it would once again work for a bit.

Is it possible to take another USB connector (buy one or cut from another unused device) and just put the wires in the correct places after I see how it's all wired inside my mouse's connector? Perhaps my best bet would be to wait for a few days to see if it doesn't fix itself (perhaps some moisture inside evaporates) and if not, then take it apart and look inside?

Rice. Put the connecter in a container of rice.

I heard about putting electronic in rice, but how would that take out the possible moisture from inside the connector (if there's any water left inside, it would be in a place where maybe a needle would fit in)?

 

[Higlac]

I heard about putting electronic in rice, but how would that take out the possible moisture from inside the connector (if there's any water left inside, it would be in a place where maybe a needle would fit in)?

The rice pulls the water vapor out of the air, therefore lowering the vapor pressure, and increasing the rate of evaporation.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Rice is good in that instance but considering you plugged it in already it sounds like you've shorted it already. Probably blew a tiny fuse on the PCB or something. You could test the board with a mulitmeter for continuity along circuit to work out where power is lost but it may be tricky considering the small scale. There may be a common fuse which blows in Razer mice so perhaps some googling can help you diagnose the most likely culprit. The first place to test is obviously the point where the USB cable is soldered onto the board to make sure the cable is ok, which I think will be fine.

 

[Unfocused]

It fixed itself, apparently. I left it for 3-4 days, with the usb plug pointed upwards in case there was anything in there left to evaporate and it's been working since I plugged it in yesterday.

Thanks for all the advice!