I got a laptop in my shop that has fallen victim to yet another spillage incident, this time it happens to be red wine (insert facepalm smiley here). The owner claimed to have spilled the beverage into the keyboard area. The computer supposedly worked after sitting for a day or so, which isn't really enough time imho, and now it won't power up at all--battery or aux power.

I took the laptop apart, right down to the motherboard and tested a few components. The RAM, HDD, optical drive and battery are all fine, but there was some sticky wine residue on some of the internals. I couldn't see and physical damage to the circuits but my guess is that it must have shorted out somewhere. I checked all of the connections for the power button and screen but i couldn't find any problems. None of the LEDs seem to work at all even when the computer is plugged in. The fan does not spin, and I hear no beeps or the usual boot sounds. It appears as if the machine is dead, but I was looking for some quick advice before I return it as such. Any ideas?

Wash it upside down with distilled water only... and use a lot of it, then dry it upside down for seven days without the use of fans as they generate static electricity which is the real evil.

The drying wine sugar can act as a conductor.