Liquid Spills On Laptop Keyboard

What you need to do if you spill liquid on your laptop keyboard.

It is possible to repair a laptop that has had a liquid spill – the result is literally dependent upon how big a spill, what type of liquid and what action being taken after incident.  Water is best, fizzy drinks and anything containing sugar ie: hot chocolate are much more problematic as they often leave a residue and are more difficult to remove.

You need to act quickly!

Firstly stop the spill and then quickly unplug the laptop and network cable from the wall.  Next very carefully as some power sources have capacitors in them that store a charge; disconnect the power cable from the laptop DO NOT use wet hands!

Now remove the battery and turn the machine upside down to drain excess liquid and hopefully prevent the liquid from reaching the mainboard.

It is critical to now leave the laptop alone for about half an hour in the event that the laptop is smoldering and a fire may occur.

If after half an hour there is no fire you need to get rid of the excess liquid by dabbing (not rubbing!) the laptop with an absorbent cloth; preferably a lint free cloth.  You can use an ear bud between the keys and ports to help remove the moisture.

DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF THE STEPS BELOW UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED TECHNICIAN!

We don’t recommend you open the laptop case unless you are have experience in laptop repairs. If you are confident to do this you should take out the hard drive and RAM and dab the connections to remove liquid.  You can use rubbing alcohol to help with this.

If the spill is a sticky liquid such as soft drink it may be necessary to remove the residue with WD-40 on a cotton bud to prevent corrosion.

If you have successfully done the above (and assuming that you are confident that you can put the laptop back together again) leave the machine to dry out.  Put the laptop somewhere where there is good airflow and leave it for at least a day, preferably two. We don’t recommend that you use a hairdryer to dry out your laptop as it may do more harm than good.

For who are really experienced repairers you may need to remove any keys on the keyboard that are no longer functioning and clean them underneath, possibly with rubbing alcohol or methylated spirits and a soft toothbrush to remove sticky residue.  Make sure the board and keys are totally dry before reinstalling them.

Once your laptop is completely dried out you can power it up using the battery and see whether or not it will work.  If the laptop powers up but the keyboard no longer works try plugging in a USB keyboard which if it works will allow you to back up your data.  Then you may need to purchase a replacement keyboard and install it.

Prevent this from happening again. 

Be super aware in high risk environments such as busy coffee shops and on the bus or airplane

Use a sippy cup

Raise your laptop using a riser at home and work and consider plugging in a cheap USB keyboard.

We hope this article has been of some benefit to you.  Please we re-state that unless you have expertise in repairing laptops we recommend that you only undertake the drying steps, not the more difficult tasks of laptop dismantle.