One of the worst feelings in the world are when you drop your cell phone into a lake or stream while camping or if you happen to spill water on your laptop while it is on.  Anything with electricity needs to be kept as far away from water as possible.  Because laptops are mobile devices, there is a greater risk of encountering liquids and as a result there is a greatly increased chance of laptop water damage.  If you have children if any age in your household, it is a good idea to make some hard rules about the use of liquids near the laptop.

First of all, children should never be allowed to have a drink when using the laptop.  Also, the laptop should never be moved to a place near a sink or other water source.  As a parent, you should be a good role model and not bring a drink with you when you are working on your laptop so that your children think it is OK to do it.  If you can keep these rules going so that the entire household follows them you can avoid laptop water damage at home.

You need to keep similar rules at work as well if you use a laptop there.  While it is very easy to bring your drink and lunch to the desk at work so you can get more done, you still need to observe the same rules you had at home regarding liquids and laptops at work.  It is very easy to knock over a drink sitting next to your laptop.  While a few drops may not have much effect on your laptop, spilling an entire cup of whatever you are drinking can be disastrous.

There are different methods recommended for dealing with laptop water damage depending on when the damage is discovered. The most important step is that if you think that some sort of liquid has been spilled into your laptop and it is already powered off, DO NOT POWER IT ON. Always make sure that you know the device has been thoroughly dried out before attempting to power it back up again.

You may want to check your warranty on your machine. Some laptop manufacturer’s offer extended warranty protection that extends accidental damage coverage. See the appropriate warranty documents to see if you are covered. If you are one of the lucky people to have selected such coverage when you purchased your laptop, follow the claim instructions and package it back up and return it to the manufacturer. You should have a repaired or replaced unit in a very short period of time.

In most cases, regular manufacturer warranties do not cover accidental damage in any manner; whether it is laptop water damage or breakage due to dropping or being knocked over. Once you have determined what kind of liquid has damaged your laptop, there are a couple of ways to see if you can mitigate the damage as well. If it is a liquid other than water, some experts recommend rinsing the affected area with distilled water; obviously with the power off, the battery removed and the wall plug disconnected.

Once you have done that it is recommended you use an external heat source like a hair dryer to get the most of the moisture dried up. Then you should place the laptop in a container with a desiccant like silica gel or rice. We have used rice when we had a liquid issue with my wife’s cell phone and it worked like a charm. You need to have some patience and let it dry out in the desiccant for a couple of days.

If you are certain that the liquid was only water, then you will not need to rinse the affected area and then follow the same steps above. Once you have completely dried out the unit and battery, replace the battery, connect the power cord and attempt to power the unit. If the unit does not power on or the power light blinks but the screen does not come on you will need to take your laptop to a professional computer repair shop. We are talking about computer water damage here folks.

Remember, when trying to deal with laptop water damage, the most important thing is to NOT power the system up until you have thoroughly dried out the system. Still wondering how to fix water damage? Leave us a comment in the box and we'll answer it asap!

Water Damage in Los Angeles
Basement Water Damage