Inadvertently spilled liquid often causes damage to a favorite device. What if you suddenly spilled on your laptop or computer water, gas, tea or coffee?
Spilled fluid is dangerous at once with several complications: from fast short circuit, if you do not de-energize and do not turn off the computer, to the sluggish, long-lasting corrosion of the laptop's originals. We have tried all the well-known methods for solving the problem and offer step-by-step instructions for saving your device.
First Aid: 3 Actions to Make Immediately
1) urgently de-energize the laptop and pull out the battery
From the moment you shed liquid to the device, the bill went for seconds. Forget about the conventions and correct completion of Windows, the data can be restored, but the laptop risks forever to go to the landfill. Boldly pull the cord and pull out the battery from it. This will stop the destruction associated with the process of electrochemical reactions.
A simple disconnection from the network will not be enough, so pull out the battery. It is necessary to secure the motherboard on which, even after turning off the laptop, the power schemes work.
2) Disconnect the peripheral devices, pull out discs and flash drives
Here everything is simple, if some devices, hard disk are connected to the laptop, the disk in the drive, then you need to turn off or pull out.
3) Wipe fluid from the laptop housing
In this case, it all depends on the volume of the spilled fluid. If the volume of "spill" is small, not more than 20-30 milliliters (approximately 1/7 glasses):
- flip the laptop so that the fluid does not penetrate the inclide
- Quickly wipe the body with girlfriends (any handkerchief, paper towel or cloth fit)
If the volume of the "tragedy" turned out to be more significant: turn the laptop on the edge so that the ventilation holes are lower, and gently shake it in order to merge as much water as possible.
4) When the first measures to save the device are accepted, you need to decide: carry a laptop to a service center or deal yourself.
Now you have some time on reflections. You do not need to try to turn on the device and check if it works! Most likely, it will work, but it is also likely that your computer will die at the most unexpected moment, having taken with you your valuable information "to that light".
First, you should immediately accept the fact that you will not enjoy a laptop at least 1-3 days. Secondly, you need to evaluate the scale of the tragedy - the severity of damage depends on which fluid you are shed to your device. Consider the destructive effect of popular liquids.
Water
If you shed water to a laptop, it can get to any elements inside the device, including the motherboard, which is fraught with the loss of the laptop. Water, though weak, but the electrolyte, can lead not only to the short circuit, but also cause slow but faithful electrochemical corrosion. However, this is a relatively harmless liquid, so the chances of saving the device are large enough.
Tea, coffee, drinks with sugar or milk
If you shed tea or coffee, drinks with sugar or milk, then things are worse, since they all contain various acids. For example, tea is a combination of a huge amount of substances, some of which, for example, a tannin, has an acidic reaction. If you shed a sweet drink on the keyboard, then after it drying it will remain a sticky sugar mark, and the keys will slide.
By the way, the favorite of many beer also contains a series, albeit weak, but acids. As a rule, devices that plunged into beer "live" for several months and function normally, because of which the owners of the devices mistakenly think that the problem has passed. Over time, the motherboard or hard disk is destroyed by the influence of chemical elements present in beer.
It is feared and juices: they are quite aggressive, as they also contain acids, for example, lemon or fruit.
Carbonated drinks
The greatest danger represents carbonated drinks. These are aggressive fluids rich in chemicals that are able to oxidize and destroy, for example, the same motherboard. In particular, the gazirovka is often encouraged by the acid of the middle force - orthophosphorus, which is used when soldering.
If you are shed a half-cook of soda or more, then consider the bill went to the clock. It is not always possible to immediately attribute the laptop to the service center. Consider that it is not in every service center will take the problem, and if they take it, they can get to your device not immediately.
Thus, if soda, tea, coffee, beer or wine got inside your device, you need to wash the device under water, regardless of whether you are planning to carry it into the service center or not. Do not forget to delay the device and remove power supplies from it. This will make it possible to wash off most of the dangerous chemical elements of the device that fell inside.
Leate water abundantly into the place where you were shed drink to wash it out. The motherboard is almost not afraid of water, to a greater extent you risk pouring only films from the keyboard. Remember, most importantly - do not turn on the laptop before the following actions.
What to do next?
You have to make a choice: Run with a laptop to an authorized service center or save the device yourself. We recommend that you first option to get at least some guarantees. However, not everyone is looking for light paths. If you understand the technique, or do not trust the service centers, or finally do not want to spend extra money, you can try to bring a laptop "to the feeling" of your own efforts.
How to rehabilitate a laptop yourself?
- Disassemble laptop and keyboard
It may not be easy. It is not always easy to unscrew all the screws on the bottom, often part of the screws can be hidden under the sprinkling legs and panels that are kept on some latches, attached under the keyboard, display loops, etc. However, as a rule, there are guides on all common laptop models. And video on disassembly. Go to the manufacturer's website for information, Google or YouTube. In order to reduce the search time, enter "Disassemble * the name of the laptop model *", and better "* Laptop model * disassembly".
Disassemble the laptop to the minimum possible components and check where the liquid has time to get. The main thing is to pull the CMOS battery on the motherboard, as it constantly feeds the fee, which is enough for short circuit in perspective. It's easy to find it, it is quite large, round and it is difficult to confuse with something.
As for the keyboard itself, it will have to be disassembled and searched separately, first photographed or writing the location of the keys on the keyboard. Next, simply remove the keys with a thin screwdriver or any thin girlfriend tool, as a rule, can be hired from the bottom. After "pull" pushers and spring elements. At the same time, 3 films will remain on the keyboard substrate: two conductive, with tracks, and between the separation film-dielectric. On old keyboards, the films are either not glued, or glued only at several points and they are easy enough to separate. However, on the new ones, they often gluedfully and they will be more difficult to expose them - here's no longer do without a hair dryer. We warn that the folding process implies certain skills, so it will be better to stop at this stage and hope that the water did not get between the films, they are still quite tightly glued.
- Clean and rinse
Special attention is paid to the keyboard and motherboard, you can even check it with a magnifying glass.
If there is some plaque or darkening on the motherboard, then take a lounge cloth or a soft toothbrush to wipe the dry residues from the spilled fluid.
Then carefully, without sorry for efforts and attention, consider everything outsiders with an alcohol solution, after it - distilled water. If there is no distilled water, you can use conventional water. However, the problem is that ordinary water contains impurities of metals salts and can leave them on the board after washing, which subsequently cause short circuit. Therefore, we recommend buying distilled water in a pharmacy or in a car shop.
If the area of the injured region is large, then remove the fee, turn off everything from it, which is only possible, rinse it with warm water and leave the minimum for at least 1-2 days. In the same way, you need to check and rinse all other laptop's insides and details of the disassembled keyboard, getting rid of stains and sticky sections throughout, where you can only find.
- Seeing the laptop
Now it remains for small - see everything you werehed. There is an opinion that you need to use a hairdryer, but we do not recommend that you do it. First, the hairdryer can blew hot dust to various sections and pollute them. Secondly, there is a risk of overheating and melt various elements. Thirdly, if there is no moisture somewhere, then the air jet will send it even deeper into the body.
Sew should be dried within 24 or 48 hours in a warm, dry room, without the impact of direct sunlight. Put the housing, board, films, keyboard to support or grid over some surface so that the air can circulate around the details. You can even fold the components in a container with rice, as dry rice pulls out moisture.
- Collect and check the device
After a day or two, assemble the keyboard and laptop, turn on and check the overall performance. You can check the keyboard in any text file, but it will be easier to go to the site keyboardtester.com and check all the keys there.
If everything functions normally, consider that you are lucky if only the keyboard does not work, you will have to replace it with a new one or just buy an external one.
- If the laptop does not turn on, you will have to contact the service center, or buy a new
Summing up, let's say that you can protect yourself from such incidents. If you use a laptop as a replacement for a stationary computer, you can put it on the stand, pushed off and use the outer keyboard and the mouse. However, as a rule, the laptop implies mobility, and this option is not suitable for everyone, in which case should not risk and drinking drinks in dangerous intimacy from the laptop.
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