The bad thing about a laptop is that you tend to sit down with it at places where a computer actually doesn’t belong. Like the livingroom, the garden, the kitchen or even in bed. That’s the whole point with a laptop, that you can move around with, but unfortunatley we also very often present our preasiuos black boxes for uneccesary risks like enjoying a glass of wine in its precense. Accidents with beverages and laptops are more common then I though and this became apparent after I wrote the article Salvage your device after liquid spill which was about a router that got water into it.  Don’t even think about doing this as an experiment unless you’re 110% sure about what you’re doing!! Not only can you ruin your laptop beyond repair but you can also get to see other unwanted effects like electrocution, fire or even explosion caused by the shortcut the liquid causes. You’ve been warned. For this experiment I used an old Dell Latitude CSx 500Mhz that was donated to me after my former boss managed to crack the screen on it after passing an x-ray machine while travelling. Except for the screen that has a crack in it; it’s a perfectly fine laptop. As liquids I used a glass of a Kroon van Oranje Pinotage from South africa as well as a glass of lemonade (for the sugar Have a look at the video to get you started with what the effect the wine and lemonade had on the laptop. It’s less dramatic then you’d think. (Thank god for that!) |
 So now you have a laptop which has suffered from alcohol and sugar poisoning and the absolute first thing you need to think about is to disconnect all power sources to not make things worse. E.g. unplug any AC adapters and take the battery out of the laptop. The second thing you need to keep in mind is that time is not your friend. Many people that have this happening to their laptop will try to ‘dry it out’ and this is one of worst things you can do. All liquids contain minerals which lead electricity and many liquids contain sugars and other interesting ingredients which of many are corrosive. You need to get this out of your laptop as soon as possible. Actually it’s quiet simple. Take the laptop apart, which can be a challenge in itself, and rinse the parts affected (no more no less) in tap water and when it’s clean rinse it again with distilled water to make sure that the tap water in gone as it contains minerals, chlor and calcium. Let it dry and then assemble it again. |
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March 20th, 2007 at 12:33
This is the most tech-savvy guide about recovering a laptop from
a spilling accident I have ever seen. Great! I have made a link to it at Repair4Laptop ( http://repair4laptop.org/ ).
March 20th, 2007 at 21:29
“Let it dry” might need some clarification. When I was a repair tech, we’d let wet components dry for at least a week before re-assembling. Just a note to your readers — letting it dry for just a few hours won’t cut it, there are too many surfaces that need to dry.
March 20th, 2007 at 23:04
ALL that disassembling and still a broken screen ,
March 21st, 2007 at 4:57
Nice job, but I am thinking that most people that spill something in there do a few things that you didn’t. Leaving the power on for a long duration once the fluid has leaked inside and letting it sit allowing the fluid to get into things like the hard drive.
March 21st, 2007 at 10:22
Very nice job!
March 21st, 2007 at 14:43
Fast clean out without dissassembly.
1. Unplug the computer & remove the battery.
2. Drain and blow out the computer with compressed air to remove large puddles of fluid.
3. Followed by pouring rubbing alcohol through the computer will rapidly evaporate any residual water based liquids left in nooks and crannies.
4. Again blow the computer out with compressed air and allow to dry for 4+ hours.
5. Reinstall battery when the strong smell of alcohol has dissapated.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:50
I have done exactly this; the laptop motherboard got hosed by my nice red and I had to buy a new one on the road.
The time & power comments are crucial. You must power off immediately. MUST. It matters not if it dries out or not, because the next step - taking it apart - is almost impossible without a whole plethora of various-sized cross-head screwdrivers (tiny ones with big handles/super strength) and maybe a torq or 2. If you can’t do it immediately then don’t even think about giving it a try after shaking off the excess. Wait until you have the tools and read on…..
I have repaired many bits of kit - even when immersed in salt water - the key is you must wash off any residues. Initially you can use soapy water to get rid of greasy and sugary stuff, then copious rinsing with fresh or distilled water. If you have commercial spray that leaves no residue, use it. I have used WD40 but it does leave a mineral oil behind and is not optimal.
Next - hairdryer or long wait. I have actually hung bits on a line like so many socks before.
Finally re-assemble and power on.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:34
I would hazard a guess that if the laptop had been running and warm, the “patient” may not have survived. And the comment about salt water dead on. If the offending liquid is salt water and the power is left on for any length of time at all, it is almost certain that the patient will be DOA at the surgical suite.
March 22nd, 2007 at 14:54
It’s not true that the drying out idea won’t work due to the ‘minerals’ in water/whatever. The ionic compounds contained in, for instance, tap water will only conduct electricity when dissolved in water. Once dried, even if the compounds remain on the components, they will not conduct electricity.
March 27th, 2007 at 16:10
I thought you should never use water on these surfaces, because some of the metals might rust. I thought there are special electrical component chemical cleaners that you are supposed to use, or possibly a chemical flux remover?
Also, what is the recommended method to clean a CD/DVD drive after an episode like this? Or do you just buy a new one?
- Adam
April 19th, 2007 at 11:59
I accidentally managed to spill I would estimate 2-4 teaspoons of 2% milk onto my Very Understanding girlfriend’s Acer travelmate laptop this morning. Unfortunately all that was done was leave it turned upside down for several hours (6 and counting now) removed the battery and the AC, even though it was off at the time of the spill, as we didn’t have time or definite knowledge what to do for repairs. After about two hours, against my advice, she connected the AC and tried to turn it on. Tried. The usual power light came on for maybe half a second, and that’s it. It was unplugged again and turned back upside down.
If it was my own desktop I would probably attempt what is said on this page, but I don’t have the same experience disassembling laptops. Are we better off taking it to a repair shop? It doesn’t help that we are both leaving town in four days and that the warranty is long past if that would even help.
I am somewhat lucky she was thinking about getting a new computer this summer, though a desktop, not to replace the laptop.
April 22nd, 2007 at 19:09
please help me!! I spilled beer over my laptop yesterday, and the store was not open so I could not buy the tools I need to open it.. I just let it dry over a towel. do you think I should clean it, or just let it dry? or is it TOO LATE????? Do you think the pc will be fucked if I turn it on? It is beer,,so maybe all the things inside the Pc are sticky.. i have no clue about computers, Im just a norwegian blonde girl who need to get my laptop on as soon as possible:) I would not like to spend my last money I’ve got to let someone else repair it, I would like to do it on my own..
April 24th, 2007 at 7:23
Excellent article as always from Grynx!
Anna, have some self respect for gods sakes. Doing the whole damsel in distress routine gives the rest of us girls a bad name. Let people help you or not, but don’t have it swing on your being “a norwegian blonde girl”. Dayum….
April 30th, 2007 at 1:16
I don’t think Any “Sweet Little Norwegian Blonde Girl” Says: I quote
“Do you think the pc will be fucked if I turn it on?”
DUDE!!! … GIVE IT A BREAK! WILL YOU!!!
Please…. Get a brain guy…. That won’t help you here…
May 1st, 2007 at 1:55
An entire can of coke! that’s what my dun sister spilled on my acer ferrari laptop. Let it dried out but no go, sent it for repairs, warranty doesn’t cover spillage, bill came up to exactly half the price of the laptop. Items quoted didn’t make sense, how can coke damage the casing?!?! Took it home and carefully disassembled it, pumped in an entire can of contact cleaner, repair centre actually labled the parts which i assumed were “damaged” with white stickers, so paid particular attention to them, left it to dry for 24hrs, switched it back on and it works perfectly, been using it for 3 months now and still aok.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:44
If you spill some liquid shit on the computer, just kick the piece of shit!
May 11th, 2007 at 19:00
I cant see this at work - know of anywhere else this vid is at that may not be blocked here. Like a direct download link or the like??? They block the stupidest stuff here
May 13th, 2007 at 5:36
I’ve cleaned out PC keyboards with similar problems a few times - this isn’t worthwhile for the usual cheapo keyboards that come free with most PCs, and I have a stack of four or five spares, but I really like the old-style clunky IBM keyboards which are no longer made, and only have two, so I have to try to fix them if they go wrong. I’ve found that washing them under a shower works quite well for getting rid of most things, followed by a rinse with industrial alcohol - not the purple sort, that has mineral additives. Surgical spirit (a mixture of ethanol and methanol) should also work pretty well.
May 13th, 2007 at 8:05
The best liquid for cleaning is 99% pure Isopropyl alcohol. Rubbing alcohol won’t do (it’s usually 70% Isopropyl/30% water) - I get 99% pure at drugstores (you may have to ask for it - it’s apparently a ‘precursor drug’ to manufacture some illegal drugs). BE AWARE that 99% Isopropyl is explosive and evaporates rapidly at room temperature - no smoking/flame/heat in the room is CRITICAL when using Isopropyl!
I’ve rescued hundreds of pagers/cellphones/radios by washing with Isopropyl, which actually displaces water. In a production repair environment that saves time over lengthy drying out processes.
Standard instructions to users are: (1) if dropped in fresh water (or toilet!) remove the battery and bring it to me as soon as possible. (2) if dropped in salt water, remove the battery, place the unit in a bucket of salt water and bring it to me ASAP. Salt corrosion starts instantly once any water dries - let the technician remove it from saltwater under controlled conditions, but get it to me fast! Pure Isopropyl and a toothbrush or artist’s paintbrush can usually clean anything I’ve encountered so far from electronic gear - soft drinks, gasoline/petrol, even the LC from LCDs in some cases (that’s a warning - try it first on an unimportant bit of the questionable device.
May 27th, 2007 at 20:10
Well my acer has alot of important info on it and just plain water was dumped on it will drying it just work. Because it just seems dead i took the battery out and i am letting it dry.
June 1st, 2007 at 3:09
GOOD TIP ABOUT THE ISOPROPYL I checked some alcohol prep pads /swabs the type used in hospitals and for tattoos yep only 70% feel free to email hpnotebooks@blueyonder.co.uk for hp compaq keyboards etc.
June 14th, 2007 at 15:24
Just had a call from a mate, who woke up this morning after a heavy night on the booze and had mistaken his laptop for the toilet in the night. After i picked myself off the floor and the hysterics stopped, i thought i would find some advice. It was was switched on at the time and remained on for the rest of the night. Is ther any hope of salvage? He has dried out with hairdryer and still no go. Insurance company will think hes taking thepiss. Pun intended
July 29th, 2007 at 11:42
I spilled pure water onto my Dell CSx laptop. The computer was on, I turned it upside down immediately and turned it off. I removed the battery too. I then took it apart, but left the motherboard in the bottom case, I put it up to a fan for three days. It powers up, but when it trys to load windows, it freezes and I get the blue screen warning “stop c000021a”. Special Note*** the hard drive works fine in my other Dell laptop-I have two hard drives that have Windows XP Pro on them and they both work in my Dell Latitude, but not in the laptop that had the water spilled on it. Any advice? Thank you in advance. KK
August 12th, 2007 at 15:57
I spilt unsweetened tea on my mac ibook. Drained it. Didn’t take the battery out right away. Everything works except the 1, q, a and delete keys. I have taken out the battery, flipped open the keyboard (didn’t see any liquid) and turned it upside down. what else should I actually do?
September 16th, 2007 at 14:38
In my entire life I never thought this would happen to me… I spilled Orange Juice over my wifes Acer Ferrari 4000 - Immediately pulled the power cord and usb mouse out
and held the laptop upside down seeing an orange waterfall I thought of the recent memory upgrade I just put in was gone to waste.
The laptop now has been dried where possible from the outside and general screwplates (memory/hardrive/battery were actually not wet luckily). Does anyone have any idea
or manual that can help me open up the keyboard from the top so I can troubleshoot further ? Laptop hardrive lights up and fan makes the usual noise when turned on but
screen remains black. while I await a response I will put the (PATA 100GB) drive into an external IDE HDD-Case 2.5 to recover as much data as I can… the wife doesn’t
get the concept of backing up her pictures/phone txts/emails …
Thanks for whomever can give me some clues on opening up my Acer Ferrari 4000 without too many scarring?! SSA.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:16
You would want to use DEIONIZED water, not distilled water. Distilled water contans ions that can short out the board.
October 2nd, 2007 at 18:31
wow everyone is writing about spills as if its nothing and can be dealt
with quite easily. I spilt water onto my HP which i’ve had under a year.
OF course i turned it off and blow dried it then foolishly tried turning
it back on that same day - and it worked! However the next day it didn’t.
So i took it to repair and am currently getting the motherboard fixed.
However the guy said that there’s a chance there will be problems later
on, and that spillage is one of the WORST problems you can have.
Currently im paying $500 but theres a chance other parts will need to be
fixed :/ After i get the comp back im selling it and getting a new one.
October 4th, 2007 at 7:00
Hi,
If you don’t want to fix it yourself; try www.assistanceit.co.uk as they offer a nationwide laptop repair service and fixed this problem today!
Cheers.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:05
Lots of good comments, I just did the beer thing and it was very little, maybe a tablespoon. Will start disasssembly soon. I also left it on like a fool, but then thought about and turned it off and removed the battery. Wish me luck.
A note on the comment that was made by Jake. He is wrong. I am a licensed industrial water engineer. Distilled water and Deionized water are two different processes that get the same result: which is pure water with no other dissolved mineral salts. A another note, pure water does not carry a current. It must have a salt in it to do so and then it is called an electrolite. Alcohol does carry current, therefore I will be using distilled or Deionized water and not alcohal to clean with. Last note, a salt is the compond of a metal and a nonmetal…which is just about anything dirty and includes coke, beer, orange juice, wine, pond water, and even hard water is full of a salt called calcium carbonate. Hope this helps your decisions as to what to clean with.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:46
Ok Chris, you did a good job on this experiment. 100% success story for me and I did everything wrong. I did not take the battery out immediately, I did leave the unit on to dry out, I did not disassemble immediately as I should have, and I was impatient to begin with….and I had a good ole german dark beer spill to beat.
I did everything to the letter afterward. I did use a warm shower for the motherboard, assorted pieces and , ect., and keyboard, then rinsed with distilled water and dryed for two days. I have obsolutely 0 problems.
By the way, when I tried the “drying” trick, it made things worse, not better, so don’t even go there.
Thanks again.
October 16th, 2007 at 9:09
Hi all,
looks like you’re all pretty clued up about this sort of thing.
I got a little amount of wine on a laptop. I turned it off and removed the power but unfortunately I let it dry. The laptop worked a few hours later absolutely fine. The next day it just won’t turn on.
Is it safe to say that this laptop is dead?
cheers
By the way I know I did everything wrong, I hadn’t read any advice at that time.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:57
I recently spilled a glass of iced tea on my laptop, I didn’t quite know what to do, but I did power down right away and wiped all exposed surfaces. After powering up again, listening to a lot of chirps and squeaks and things, the first thing I noticed was that the keyboard didn’t work. I powered down and attached an old ps/2 keyboard I had and powered up, installed the new keyboard, which surprisingly worked. A few days later while powering up, I got really sick of the stupid noises, but there was no way of aborting the power/boot up process, so I just pulled the battery (while having it plugged in to AC) and lo and behold it works like before the fatefull spill. I’m not sure if there is residue on the battery that causes the problem or what, but as long as I power it via AC, I’m fine. Go figure. I still may try the clean out process to see if it will take a battery, but it might be a lot of trouble just to make it work with a battery.
December 8th, 2007 at 17:46
Um, I spilled a bowl of wet coleslaw onto the back of my closed laptop, which was nestled vertically (back to the top and exposed); the vinegar ran in through the vents and down onto and through the keyboard.
I took it to my office and turned it on; didn’t work but I let the fan run for a long time (apparently that was not wise).
I’m inclined to give it a 99% isopropyl bath, but is that likely to help at this point?
January 24th, 2008 at 1:17
A friend spilled beer on my Compaq laptop. Immediately unplugged it from the AC outlet, took out the battery, turned it upside down over a towel then used a blower to dry out the surface moisture. I didn’t open it because I don’t know how and I wasn’t sure if it is a wise thing to do so. After about an hour or so, i replaced the battery, plugged it (not very wise as I learned from the posts here) then turned it on. It worked as if nothing happened and continues to work until now (the accident happened over a month ago). My question is: Is it ok to assume that everything is ok? I’m thinking that little or no moisture has gone inside the laptop. Or is it advisable to dissamble the laptop even if nothing is wrong? Is it possible that I’ll encounter problems in the future? Your replies will be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
January 25th, 2008 at 15:36
my girlfriend knocked over a whole glass full of one of those flavored water drinks right into the keyboard of my Dell Latitude D600 Laptop.
by some strange instinct I immediately picked up the laptop and turned it upside down, pouring the drink out the left side of the keyboard
while murmering disturbing things like “if I lose my data !”. some hissing of liquid on hot surface and even electrical shorting sounds
followed and the system shut itself down. After a short bit of draining upside down, I got out the vacuum cleaner and held the hose end
directly over the keys, touching them actually and went over the whole keyboard several times. this actually sucked liquid up out of the
keyboard. I also removed the battery before I started this. I also sucked air through the ventilation duct on the back, watching the fan
spin for quite a while and then the reverse, sucking air through the fan. Then I pressed the ON button and watched a normal startup.
Today, five days later, the laptop is still working fine except for some stickiness in some of the left side keys. I consider it a miracle.
January 25th, 2008 at 17:35
ok already….let’s get over it. I said I was sorry…this is the third time I did it, after practicing twice on my own machine. Live and Learn.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:00
Not sure if this test is anything close to reality.
I had a user spill a cup of coffee, and it immediately turned off (like yours). She then waited 5 minutes and tried turning it on again. THEN she called me.
I opened it up, dismounted most of the innards and put it out to dry for 2 days.
When I turned it back on again I smelled that ol’ “burning battery” and there was a flash. I pulled everything out of it quickly and closed down the table it was lying on so that no one would touch it. I was able to salvage the HDD and by use of forensic software under linux I dd’d most of the files on there. But I’m still not sure what to do with the remains. I’ve chucked the battery just to be safe.
March 29th, 2008 at 22:10
I also spilled wine next to (underneath) on my 2 month old Lenovo R61i
Freaked, it was working but my duma$$ turned it over to wipe it BEFORE I unplugged it and it shorted and went off(REMEMBER, ALWAYS UNPLUG RIGHT AWAY)
So I unplugged, removed battery, wiped.
Then I unscrewed it all and removed the back enough to use air compressed cleaner to dry.
Finally powered up 24 hours later.
*Whew*
The thought of trying to return the damn thing…
March 31st, 2008 at 12:39
I just recently had beer spilled on my computer and in my drunken state I didn’t immediately turn it off. It worked all night and I shut it down before i went to bed…i thought everything was alright. When i woke up in the morning my computer would not turn on at all. I blew dry the keyboard and the back of the computer. It now turns on but the screen is black and sometimes (once) the screen just flickered. I can sign onto my operating system and there still is noise…just no screen it remains black. Any idea fellas?
April 3rd, 2008 at 15:10
oh no… all these comments from people, explaining how the machine worked fine in the beginning and then later started to show huge problems, are freaking me out.
My Thinkpad X60s has a so-called “spill-safe” keyboard, and after unintentionally pouring about 3oz of limonade into it, I quickly turned it of and removed battery. It dried out for the day and I tried it later with no problems except for the keyboard being sticky and less satisfying to type on. I can buy a new keyboard, no problem… I just really hope that the “spill-safe” will actually keep my computer running tomorrow as well.
We’ll see in a few days.
May 14th, 2008 at 23:36
Hello All,
After some foolish horsing around, a glass of white wine spilled all over my girlfriends year old ibook. We turned it off and it is currently sitting on its side as suggested here and else where. I have blown it out with hair dryer on cold and condensed air. I am not savvy at all with computers so taking it apart is likely out of the question. I have bought 99% alcohol and saw on here you can just pour it over the computer without disassembly. Is this true?
The biggest (visible) problem is that the LCD screen got dashed and it seems wine is inside the screen making for some sort of wet spots. I assume this is unrepairable.
Please…… Any suggestions.
June 17th, 2008 at 13:45
hello my silly friend has just spilled beer ALL OVERA my laptop and i dont know what to do
iv removed the battry and all leads,but im scared to take it appart incase i cannot put it back together 
any ideas on how much this would cost to get fixed anybody please?
natalie x
June 17th, 2008 at 13:45
hello my silly friend has just spilled beer ALL OVERA my laptop and i dont know what to do
iv removed the battry and all leads,but im scared to take it appart incase i cannot put it back together 
any ideas on how much this would cost to get fixed anybody please?
natalie x