Did you spill water on laptop keyboard, keys not working ? Well this happens to most of us when we are tempted to down a soda, water, coffee, or other liquid while typing away at our keyboard and ultimately paying the price for it. But here is a complete guide to fix laptop liquid spills. It’s not a fallproof plan, however, so if you find it still isn’t working after doing these steps you might want to get a new laptop. If you can’t afford a new one then you can look into refurbished laptops that work just as well as new ones for cheaper.

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Fixing Laptop Liquid Spills

#1 Act Fast – Shut Down! – Instead of panicking and cursing yourself, immediately remove the battery, the A/C adapter, and unplug the device after the spill. The biggest danger at first is the device shorting out.

#2 Keep Yourself Ready – The best way to avoid any damage from laptop liquid spill damage is by keeping yourself ready. Make sure you have the following items nearby. – Paper towels, cotton swabs, ear buds, Towels etc.

#3 Turn your Laptop – Turn it to drain out excess water (see video). If its any other liquid, take a second to assess the location and quantity of the spill. If its just a few drops on a keyboard, you might be able to get away with prying off the surrounding keys and wiping down the affected area. Use alcohol swabs, which break up stains and dry very quickly.

If the spill doesnt appear to be limited to the surface of the keys and the parts below them, then scrub upits time for surgery. (Follow Step 5 before)

#5 Let it Dry – Be completely sure that the parts are dry before you proceed. As with rinsing, there are different theories on drying:

Dry naturally. Prop the machine up, away from surfaces, so that air can circulate in and around the entire unit. Leave the machine to dry for 24 to 48 hours.

Dry with light heat. Place your deck on a warm radiator or on top of a warm sill or shelf – out of direct sunlight – or near other source of warmth. Do not use high levels of heat, just moderately warm sources of heat. Let it dry for 12 hours, or so. A nearby dehumidifier may improve drying time. High heat will drive moisture and humidity further into the device and will ensure ongoing problems as that moisture causes oxidation and corrosion.

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#6 Take it Apart – Using your tiny screwdriver open up the device. Obviously theres no one-size-fits-all guide for taking apart gadgets, but here are a few guidelines to follow:

You may need to use some force to pry apart your device, but be careful, especially with circuit boards. If something seems to be taking more force to pull apart than it should, check again for hidden screws.

Be careful to save all your screws as you go. Dont just throw them all into a coffee mug, either, because most gadgets have several different-size screws in them, and youll need to remember which goes where when you put everything back together.

If something is particularly complicated, and youre afraid you wont be able to put it back when youre done, grab a digital camera and snap some photos before you start taking stuff apart.

Your ultimate goal is to expose any circuit boards or other electronics that might have gotten spilled on. If youre taking apart a laptop, this means youll need to isolate the motherboard. My really techie friend told me that he might be able to design me the part I need using a software similar to what can be found at Upverter.com to build parts I needed apparently because the parts in my laptop were hard to find? I’m not an expert so I don’t quote me on that.

Video Guide : Taking Apart a Laptop – Fix Laptop Liquid Spills

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#7 Clean It Off – Once youve exposed the circuitry in your device, youll have to clean off the stain. If you can see that the stain is contained in a certain part of the board, you can use alcohol swabs, as described above, to clean it off. If an entire circuit board is soiled, youll need to resort to more drastic measures: completely disconnect it from the rest of the gadget and run it under soapy water.

Wipe off everything with towels, swabs and ear buds. Dry them off completely (Step 5 again). Put back everything together and hope for some luck. All the Best !!

Also See : Replacing Laptop Keyboard Disable, Remove Faulty KeyPad