Acer Nitro V ANV15-51 completely dead - liquid damage claim by Acer

kylash

Hi All,
I bought the Acer Nitro V i9 (ANV15-51) for my son (15yrs) in December 2023. Within first month had driver issues (DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL). Got that fixed in store at Harvey Norman. 3 weeks later, he was exporting an edited video and it completely stopped working, no lights, wouldn't power up or charge. Took it into to HN and they managed to get it started, used the software he was using when it crashed and it seemed to work OK but wouldn't charge, had to use with cord in, they said likely the battery, needs to go to Acer.

10 days later Acer email and advise the issue is a liquid spill on device's Mainboard which is considered customer induced and not covered under warranty. We also bought the extended warranty (Customer Care) through HN - also not covered under that. Quoted $4500 by Acer to repair it. Device is currently on it's way back to us via post.

Below is the photo Acer sent of the liquid damage. My son is adamant he's never had any liquids any where near it, it was his pride & joy and was very protective of it. I've been reading of other cases where Acer claim the same issue of liquid damage by customer and also of some Acer's leaking some kind of oily fluid.

We are going to take it to someone for a second opinion but thought I'd ask advice of all the knowledgeable people on here also. Any suggestions on how we proceed with getting a more positive outcome rather than just flushing $2K down the loo :(

Thanks in advance!

Resized_670551_1278905z_146570342429972.jpeg

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/703128/acer-nitro-v-anv15-51-completely-dead-liquid-damage-claim-by-acer

I also live in Sydney Australia so I'm very familiar and know the consumer laws of Australia, just before we start off as I've had 39 years' experience in computer engineering and building PC, so I know what I'm talking about and especially what a liquid spill looks like and does. The most important aspect of this is "did your son spill any liquid(s) into this laptop?" as and if the answer is a definite NO then this is not the right decision that Acer make and Acer should NOT refuse a warranty fault repair!

As far as I can see from your caption above and my experience(s) with liquid spills, a liquid spill doesn't just affect one chip with a black dot and or a slight streak on a ram wrap, like its shown in the caption that you have included, as all these things could be a natural steak that happens on the chip and the ram graphite warp. A liquid spill always covers a vast area of the mainboard circuitries, and it should be prominent and also and over time (like 5 days) a liquid spill becomes moldy, and the spill turns a whiteish colour, so the photo that you have included doesn't show that at all and as far as I can see there is NO liquid spill on those red circled areas that Acer is pointing out and has refused your warranty claim!. Also, the triangle white streak on the ram graphite wrap does not show that the mainboard was affected by liquid and/or that the mainboards circuitries and traces have been damaged by liquid.

What I would do is to first get an independent technician to do a report on the laptop and what could have been the cause of its failure and also mention all the previous failures that this laptop had, then get into contact with HN so that they either get their insurance to cover this repair or get HN to get a warranty service started with Acer Tech Support to repair this laptop for you, as there is NO WAY that what they are pointing out is a liquid spill, if you don't get any positive results then I would take this matter up with consumer affairs in your state and give them all the proof from an independent technician that its NOT a liquid spill fault that damaged your laptop, as consumer affairs are very affective in this regard and they can recob=ver by law your money for this laptop. Good luck and hope this helps you out.

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