Laptop Water Damage

You might not realize this, but the circuit board in your desktop computer and in almost any other consumer electronic device was rinsed in pure water and thoroughly dried before it was put up for sale. An electronic device that comes into contact with water should be dried as soon as possible, but as long as the water is clean and electricity is not running through the object at the time, it should be fine. An electronic device that has been allowed to soak in unclean water, such as flood waters or even in just pool water that has been treated with chemicals, may be a little more difficult to salvage.

If you spill something onto your laptop, the first thing that you need to do is turn off the electricity. Unplug it from the wall and remove the battery immediately. The battery should be set aside for drying after you are done dealing with the laptop unit itself, since the battery is obviously much cheaper to replace. Turn the unit upside down and wait for the liquid to drip back out of it until the drips cease. Wipe off the laptop wherever the liquid was spilled (this is usually the keyboard) and wipe off anything else that was splattered with the liquid. This other object could be an external hard drive or an external CD-ROM.

The insides of the laptop need to dry out for at least a couple of days before you try using it again. If what you spilled onto it was just plain water, then you can be fairly certain that it will be alright, but if you spilled something acidic such as soda or coffee that becomes sticky when it dries, you may have a bigger problem. You have two options at this point: repair the damage yourself or hire a professional. Since most warranties on electronics do not cover water damage, the concern with this is that you damage the laptop irreparably by trying to fix it yourself. If you take it to a professional, he or she may find out that the laptop is damaged beyond repair, anyway, and you will have wasted money.

If you choose to take care of the problem yourself, disassembling the laptop is your first step. Do not clean the circuit board with water. Use rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab or a small cloth and allow the alcohol to dry out before trying to power up the laptop again. Only service the laptop yourself if you are absolutely certain that you know what you are doing. If you run into a problem that you are not sure about how to solve or if you think you have caused more damage, seek a professional.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
mold remediation companies across the united states.