Spilling coffee, water, or any of your favourite drinks on your laptop is a common mistake. Chances of water or liquid damage to a laptop get escalated if you keep your drinks any closer to your laptop. However, in case you have already split your drink or water on your laptop then it’s time to act fast and lessen the damage extent.

Accidents do happen but coping with them through the right methods or steps can save your day. If you are out of clues regarding how to repair water-damaged laptop then this guide is for you. Check out how you can deal with water damage or liquid damage to your laptop.

What Should You Do with the Liquid-Damaged Laptop?

The process to repair a water-damaged laptop involves both basic and advanced steps. You should perform those advanced steps only if your laptop’s warranty period has turned invalid. This is because you might have to disassemble your laptop and remove a few components for the best results.

Since interfering with your laptop’s hardware will affect its warranty benefits, you should refrain from those advanced steps if the device is still under warranty. Let’s start with how to repair water-damaged laptop and save it from being dead.

Shutdown the Device

A powered laptop can be more vicious even after an accidental spillage. Therefore, you should consider turning off your laptop as soon as you have split any drink on it.

On a contrary note, make sure that you save all the ongoing work on your laptop if it’s still on. Only then, you should shut down the laptop by holding its power button for 5 seconds or so.

Remove Peripherals or Detachabales from the Laptop

The next step is to remove your laptop’s power plug from the device if connected. Spilt liquid on your powered and charging laptop can enhance the chances of a short circuit. In turn, a short circuit can severely damage internal components or can even set the place on fire. So, detach the power cable from your laptop immediately.

In addition, you can’t risk data loss on peripherals attached to your water-damaged laptop. That’s why remove cables, flash drives, USB dongles, and everything else from your laptop. Ensure that your laptop remains standalone in this situation.

Remove the Battery (If Possible)

This step is optional for laptops that come with internal batteries. Additionally, there can be issues with warranty terms if you open up your laptop on your own and try removing the battery. Hence, this step isn’t for everyone.

You can slide the notch of the battery compartment in case your laptop comes with a removable one. Remember to remove the laptop’s battery only after unplugging the laptop from a power source.

Wipe out Excess Liquid

Take a clean towel or microfiber cloth for this step. You need to absorb all the residual liquid from your laptop’s surface. This step will make sure that your laptop comes in a minimal touch of any liquid and won’t give an electrical shock if you touch it.

So, mop the excess liquid with a dry microfiber cloth or towel. Pour a little bit of isopropyl alcohol into the cloth if the liquid is sticky. If you can’t find any residual liquid then you can turn your laptop upside down with its lid on. Thus, all the liquid will be dripped out from your laptop.

Place the Laptop Upside Down on a Towel

Take a dry towel and spread it on a sturdy surface such as a table. Make sure that there is no more liquid or any other interference. Now, open the laptop lid as wide as it allows. Then, flip the laptop to its upside-down position and let it rest on the towel like a tent.

This will help in dripping out the liquid, as you already know. On the other hand, this step will help in improving the drying speed. Additionally, you should prefer a dry and warm area for the laptop to dry out completely and quickly. However, you can take the help of a warm fan that will help evaporate all the liquid on and in the laptop much quicker.

How long should you keep the water-damaged laptop like that? We recommend keeping your laptop like that for at least 48 hours. You can try turning on the laptop after these 48-hours. If this doesn’t work then you can extend the duration up to 72 hours. Otherwise, you have to continue to the next steps in case you feel confident in removing laptop hardware.

Disassemble the Laptop

You should perform this step and the following ones only if your laptop is not under any type of warranty. Or else, you might lose your laptop’s warranty perks. However, you can try removing your laptop’s hardware as much as possible. Start by unscrewing the bottom cover of your laptop.

Access the SSD or hard drive, Wi-Fi module, RAM, and motherboard components of your laptop. You can take the help of a professional or a user guide on detaching all the modules from your laptop securely. Soak excessive liquid from all these components with a lint-free cloth.

Dry the Keyboard

The keyboard is the main gateway to the motherboard and other critical components of a laptop for any drink. Hence, it’s wiser to disconnect the keyboard from your laptop so that liquid can’t reach the motherboard and other parts.

However, this step requires technical expertise and knowledge. Detach the keyboard and wipe it out as early as possible. This will keep the motherboard out of water damage threats. Additionally, keep the keyboard and its circuit upside down on the towel where you have placed the laptop. Let everything dry up for at least a day or 24 hours.

Clean the Motherboard

Have you brought out the motherboard from your laptop? Well, if you have split anything sticky liquid on your laptop then its motherboard might feel sticky too. Test if the motherboard is sticky because if you leave it untreated, it will oxidise gradually.

Therefore, you need to clean the motherboard with a specialised liquid and ultrasonic bath. You can purchase them and clean the motherboard if you are tech-savvy.

Reassemble Your Device

After 48 hours or so, you can put your laptop’s components back in their exact places. Make sure that you connect everything precisely. Keep in mind that you should attach the battery at the very last of the assembly stage. This will save your laptop from static damage.

Now, you can try to turn on your laptop. If there is no severe damage then your laptop should turn on. Next, test your laptop’s functions such as screen, sound, USB connections, etc. Contact repair experts if you find anything glitchy.

How to Repair Water-Damaged Laptop: 5 Mistakes You Must Avoi

Are you looking for a solution on how to repair water-damaged laptop? A bunch of DIY online videos might suggest some weird steps to deal with a liquid-damaged laptop. They might appear to be tempting but they might damage your device further. Hence, take note of what you shouldn’t do while saving your laptop from water damage.

Don’t Power on the Laptop

Be patient and don’t try turning on your laptop in between the drying process. You should give your laptop at least 48 hours for complete drying. Powering your laptop can lead to an unexpected short circuit or similar consequences.

Keep Hair Dryer Away

You can use a warm fan or a dehumidifier to speed up the drying process but don’t ever include a hot hair dryer. A hairdryer can force the liquid particles to reach deeper parts of the laptop. Additionally, strong hot wind from a hair dryer can melt or harm the keyboard.

Don’t Use a Cloth that has Lint

Pay extra attention to selecting the cloth for soaking up liquid and moisture from your laptop. Avoid clothes with lint as lint can affect your laptop. For the best result, you should always use a lint-free cloth, preferably a microfiber one. You can also use cotton swabs to reach harder areas.

Forget Rice

It’s been a new trend where people just dip their water-damaged devices into a bag of rice. This doesn’t work for a water-damaged laptop. Rice has nothing to do with fixing the spillage or soaking up the liquid from inside of a laptop. Moreover, you have to carefully remove rice from your laptop as it might damage your laptop more.

Refrain from Shaking your Laptop

Lastly, you should not shake your laptop to get rid of the excess water or liquid. This will result in the water going deeper inside the laptop. So, it doesn’t help and instead it damages your laptop. Instead of shaking, place your laptop upside down as stated before.

Contact Tech Support Dubai to Restore your Laptop from Liquid Damage

Let professionals deal with critical water damage situations and revive your laptop. Hire laptop repair specialists from Tech Support Dubai and get your laptop fixed. Reach Tech Support Dubai today for immediate help and maximise your laptop’s survival chances.