You don’t want to accidentally soak your laptop. When water comes into contact with the electrical components inside, it can cause them to short circuit. You might not be able to turn the device on again.
Even if you manage to avoid a short circuit, water can corrode the internal components of your laptop and cause permanent damage. This risk is even higher with liquids that contain sugar, like juice, soda or alcoholic beverages.
If you want your laptop to stay in top condition, you should do your best to avoid water damage. But how?
Keep Drinks Covered:
To prevent any chances of accidental spills and drops, make sure your drinks are covered. Drink from reusable water bottles and travel mugs with secure lids.
Be Careful When Cleaning:
You should be careful whenever you clean your dirty laptop. Don’t spray water — let alone harsh liquid cleaners — on your laptop. Turn off your device and use a damp (not wet) microfiber cloth to lightly wipe it down.
Get Protection:
A silicone keyboard protector can stop dust and liquids from getting under your keys. A screen protector can stop splashes from hitting your screen. And a thick laptop case can give your device a layer of protection when it’s sitting inside a backpack or travel bag.A leather backpack or briefcase would be great. Be guided in choosing your leather bags, check Stride Wise.
What Should You Do If It Gets Wet?
Remove Power Sources:
You want to stop any electrical activity to prevent short-circuiting. So, unplug the charger and turn off the laptop.
Disconnect Accessories:
After pulling out the charger, remove any other accessories attached to your laptop. This includes a mouse, headphones, keyboards and USB keys.
Dry It Out:
Wipe the outside carefully with a clean microfiber cloth until it’s dry. Then prop the open device onto a layer of paper towel and leave it alone for 24-72 hours. This should be enough time to let the internal components dry out.
These are some strategies you should avoid:
- Don’t use a hairdryer to dry your laptop.
- Don’t put your tech in rice to soak up the moisture.
- Don’t try to heat your laptop to dry out the water.
Call a Repair Shop:
If you really want to make sure that your laptop gets through a spill, you should call up the nearest tech repair shop. They often have devices that can thoroughly dry out wet laptops, tablets and smartphones. They have cleaning tools that they can use to remove any harmful residue from internal components. And of course, if they spot any components that are damaged and need fixing/replacing, they can do that for you too.
Paying for Emergency Repairs
Your basic laptop warranty will not cover water damage caused by spills and other accidents. If you’ve signed onto an extended warranty program like the AppleCare+ extended warranty, you can get coverage for water damage. Without any warranty coverage, you’ll have to pay for all the urgent repairs out of pocket.
If you don’t have enough savings to handle the costs, you’ll need to find an alternative option fast because, unfortunately, when it comes to water damage, you can’t wait long.
You can charge the repairs to your credit card and pay down the balance later, or you could apply for a short-term loan online. A simple online application is just one of the incredible benefits of short term loans that you might appreciate when handling an emergency. If your application gets approved, you can use the borrowed funds to cover the repairs in a short amount of time.
Don’t underestimate what a spilled drink can do to your laptop. Protect your device from water damage.
