Drink Spillage

dec697 · 26 Apr 2009 at 02:13

I bought a custom made laptop off overclockers about 6 months ago, can't remember the name off the top of my head. Anyway, tonight I spilt a drink on it and it turned off straight away. Dried all the standing water off and it's currently in front of a fan drying off.

What's the chances it's going to survive and any advice on what may help?

Tute · 26 Apr 2009 at 03:18

Hard to say. If it doesn't work you might be lucky and only need a replacement keyboard. If you're unlucky it'll all be goners.

Do you have any kind of accidental damage insurance?

datawrite · 26 Apr 2009 at 07:58

Bad luck. Fingers crossed it will work again.

philjohn · 26 Apr 2009 at 10:20

Did you remove the battery immediately after unplugging as well? If so there is a chance it will be ok, was the drink only water or something else? If something else you're going to want to get it properly taken apart and all the components cleaned.

On the subject: I don't know why more manufacturers don't copy the drain holes on the ThinkPad range, it's a really simple elegant solution to the problem of spilling drinks in laptops.

Mr-White · 26 Apr 2009 at 10:27

depends how much you spilt and what got wet. i've had keyboards and phones that initially stop working but continue to work fine once they've been dried out.

MW

dec697 · 26 Apr 2009 at 15:22

Well it was a beer and went on the keyboard but I removed everything straight away, didn't take it apart mind. I don't think it's looking good, and I'm not sure if I have accidental insurance. Well I certainly didn't pay for it, but we have certain things insured in our rooms, and I know theft is for definite, but not entirely sure if spillages count.

Oh just realised I never mentioned, I'm in halls of residence and we have endsleigh insurance if that means anything to anyone?

alex24 · 26 Apr 2009 at 15:24

Make sure the battery is out and it's upside down if possible, in a warm dry place like a boiler cupboard. Might need 48hrs of this before it's dry again, and powering up before then could cause more problems if it's still wet.

Beer is much worse than water i'm afraid!

Check your insurance cover, I had that cover last year and i'm pretty sure laptop insurance is extra.

dec697 · 29 Apr 2009 at 16:25

Turned the laptop on today after 4 days under a fan/in a warm room. Miraculously, it works fine. All keys working and the screen is fine. And that was a lot of beer, so there's hope for us all.

If this happens to anybody else I'd just advise turning it off and unplugging everything straight away. Then leave it to thoroughly dry for quite a few days.