Saving a water damaged laptop is a must know technique for laptop owners, considering that an accident can happen when you are not ready.
Unlike phones whose technology has enabled them to evolve to water resistant devices, laptops have been slow to adapt to this technology. Most available laptops in the local stores are not water resistant. A water damaged laptop is not good, and it is even worse when you were in the middle of some task or meeting.
Laptops can cause a lot of anxiety if they get wet on a rainy day, water-spilled on the table, or get splashed in the bathroom. Water may swiftly destroy a laptop, and critical components are frequently damaged when they come into touch with a liquid. Water damage is usually not covered by warranties.
This article seeks to construct techniques to save your laptops when water/liquid spill on it.
Table of Contents
How to fix a Water Damaged Laptop
Switch off the laptop
Hold the power key for about 5 seconds until the device shuts down. Water contains ions and impurities which makes it a perfect conductor of electricity. You may not want to short circuit the device by leaving it on when water spills. Time is of great essence, switch it off ASAP! If the battery is not in-built, you can detach it as the first reaction.
Dry the exterior
A paper or cloth towel will suffice for this as they are good absorbents. Dry out especially vents or ports as they are susceptible as streams to the inner components. The keyboard should also be dried very well, especially in between the keys.
Disassemble the Parts
The water must have gain access to the inner components thus the need to disassemble it to dry the inner parts. The screws should be unscrewed carefully while the laptop is held in a fixed position to prevent the water already in the device to further penetrate to the innate parts.
Dry out the components
For this, leaving out in open dry air is great and should precede drying them with a paper towel. The parts should not be dried under direct sunlight, parts like the screen and some microprocessors are highly sensitive to the heat from the sun and this may damage them bringing a great loss to the owner. You may be on a tight budget and replacing the damaged parts can spell a great loss. Drying should take 10 hours at least.
Internal Cleaning
After drying, there is a chance that the water may have left some minerals which conduct electricity. This will lead to short circuiting when you power on later and may damage the device permanently. What should be done at this stage? Well, this requires a thorough cleaning using a powerful solvent like a higher isopropyl alcohol. You can do it yourself or consult a local tech expert.
Assemble the laptop
After drying and cleaning, it’s time to assemble the components. This should be done with utmost precision to prevent further damage. We recommend that you take it to a professional laptop repair to ensure that it is completely dry and no part is damaged before the assembly for a small fee.
What you should not do when fixing water damaged laptop:
Use rice grains
Some sites and ‘electronic experts’ state that a water damaged laptop should be deeply immersed in a bowl containing grains of uncooked rice with the belief that the water will be absorbed. This is misleading information as the rice may introduce starch or dust to the device. Rice is not only an ineffective as a drying agent, but it is also ineffective when compared to simply putting the item out in the open to dry naturally.
Use Hair Dryer/Vacuum Cleaner
This is a misconception which is always circulated on the internet that these electronic devices above help out in drying out the laptop. Heat from a hair dryer or vacuum cleaner will damage the sensitive internal components of the laptop. Hair dyers also emit air which may contain impurities and solids which may physically destroy the microscopic parts of the interior components.
After the steps above are done carefully, the laptop should be good to go. It should be noted that if the battery was damaged by the water, it is advisable to purchase another one. Damaged batteries are no longer effective in running the laptop.