Any Idea on What Happened? (Acer Nitro 5 - Heatsink crack and leaking on motherboard)

Hello,
I am having an issue with my AN515-51-55WL and currently I am unable to boot into windows and it says that there is no bootable device even though the m.2 drive is still inside of it. The issue started a few days ago when the pc just kept crashing even while doing nothing on it and I assumed it was from a windows update because every time it would boot back up, it would try to download the 1809 update and crash at around 89%. After a bit of crashing and rebooting, it just stopped booting and said there was no bootable device. I tried troubleshooting the issue before eventually giving up and opening the back to make sure the m.2 drive wasn't disconnected or damaged in some way. After I took the back off, I immediately noticed some sort of fluid all over the mother board as well as the m.2 drive. I touched the liquid and it seemed oily but it did not have a smell so I am unsure what it is. I then noticed that it seems to be coming from the heat sink's heat pipes right next to the drive as well as all over the radiator section near the fans. I am kind of assuming it got too hot and it cracked the heat pipe causing the liquid to leak out but I am not sure. I have not been doing anything that crazy to make it get that hot and I even have a extra cooling pad underneath because I heard that this pc ran on the hot side.

I even looked this issue up online and haven't seen anything like this except maybe one other person which had a desktop instead of laptop.

Sorry If the attached picture of the issue is large.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/25/pzdbg1kk35cq.jpg

Accepted answers

All comments

brummyfan2

Hi,
You have to send it for a service to Acer Service centre in your region, I am not sure about the warranty, so I can not comment on that as I don't know the details of parts covered by warranty in your region.
http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/

tjonesdesign

brummyfan2 said:

Hi,
You have to send it for a service to Acer Service centre in your region, I am not sure about the warranty, so I can not comment on that as I don't know the details of parts covered by warranty in your region.
http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/

I just received a phone call from the service department. They are saying this issue is because I spilled something somehow precisely on the inside of the computer, underneath, on multiple spots along the heat sink. They also said that someone else could have spilled it without my knowledge although, I am the only one that uses this computer and nobody else even gets close to it. I also do not have any oily liquids in my home or work that even resemble what is all over the motherboard. Once I got it on my hands, I couldn't even wipe it off without scrubbing my hands with soap and hot water because it was so oily. It also did not have a smell so I do not know what kind of liquid it even was. The locations where the liquid was, were all over the heat sink where the cpu and gpu are located as well as all over the m.2 ssd as you can see in the picture above.

All of this is not adding up to me because the most I have ever spilled on this pc was two or three drops of water from the condensation on a cup that dripped while taking a drink which I then cleaned up right away. The amount of liquid and type of liquid does not make sense or match anything I have in my work or home that could have been spilled. I also noticed a few spots on the heat sink mount that were corroded from the liquid which makes me question it even more. It sounds more to me like a combination of ammonia and refrigerant oil or just refrigerant oil because of the corrosion. It just looks too precisely "leaked" out in multiple spots along the heat sink, in between the heat pipes as well as on the radiator part to be from me accidentally spilling something onto it.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/al/hlw2ck1kcta5.png

The only options they gave me were, to purchase ANOTHER PC as a replacement with a small discount or just to send it back without service. I told them to send it back without service because I do not want to just get a replacement and then have the same issue, send it in, and have them tell me the same thing that I spilled something on my computer when I never did.

vkk

Does the heat pipe have some sort of liquid inside ? can some one verify

Kye2000

vkk said:

Does the heat pipe have some sort of liquid inside ? can some one verify

AFAIK Heat pipes contain some sort of liquid for conduction to take place which helps cool the area off

tobimaru

The laptop is open and the heatsink and heatppipes are accessible. Were you able to get a picture of the crack? A picture of the broken heatpipes would basically prove your theory.

While heatpipes can contain fluid, the amount inside of the heatpipes in your laptop will be very miniscule. This fluid actually evaporates and condenses within the heatpipes under vacuum pressure. I do not believe you would get more than a few drops if you were somehow able to extract the fluid. Some fluid mediums are also gas at room temperature and physically could not 'leak' out.

If you've already sent the laptop for repair, and they've inspected the heatpipes and determined they are not cracked we can only conclude a foreign liquid entered the laptop. That's not to say you put it there, or were even aware of it when it happened. Unfortunately, that's not a scenario covered by the manufacturer warranty.

tjonesdesign

tobimaru said:

The laptop is open and the heatsink and heatppipes are accessible. Were you able to get a picture of the crack? A picture of the broken heatpipes would basically prove your theory.
While heatpipes can contain fluid, the amount inside of the heatpipes in your laptop will be very miniscule. This fluid actually evaporates and condenses within the heatpipes under vacuum pressure. I do not believe you would get more than a few drops if you were somehow able to extract the fluid. Some fluid mediums are also gas at room temperature and physically could not 'leak' out.

If you've already sent the laptop for repair, and they've inspected the heatpipes and determined they are not cracked we can only conclude a foreign liquid entered the laptop. That's not to say you put it there, or were even aware of it when it happened. Unfortunately, that's not a scenario covered by the manufacturer warranty.

I could not get a picture of the crack exactly because it is so compact in there and I wouldn't be able to get a macro shot.. But, the ONLY place where the liquid is, is in between the heat pipes, on the heat sink mount, at the end of the heat sink pipes, on the radiator, and on my m.2 drive which is at the end of the heat pipe. There is no liquid ANYWHERE else on the computer and you would think if I have spilled it, it would be in more places than precisely all over the heat sink, piping and radiator.

I would totally understand if I spilled something on it but it is literally almost impossible for me or anyone else to have spilled this amount of something and just not have noticed or have any other signs of liquid. I only use it in my closed office which nobody else accesses, at home in my office/desk which nobody uses. There is also no evidence of any fluid under the keys on the keyboard, on my desk at work, home, inside my backpack, or anything. The only logical way this fluid could have gotten there other than the heat sink cracking/leaking is if I literally took a syringe and precisely squirted it through the case onto those spots I mentioned.

Redfan

this sounds like horrible "costumer service" they know that it broke because of the system fault and don't want to cover it. pretty shady, than again their custumer serice is 2/5? their laptops might have gotten better but the service is still horrible, and if it happens after 90 days they make you pay shipping... you could buy geek squak total protection and then THEY will replace your laptop but you will be stuck with geek squad for a bit, still better than no service.

lucOS

I removed dust on an Acer Nitro yesterday and it had a lot of transparent oil inside, much more on the board side than on the cover shown on pictures below where some corrosion occured too (it was oil not water, got droplets on my lips and tongue while spraying air with the compressor eeeek)