You did the right things, and there’s an excellent chance your laptop will be fine — if the spill was indeed just plain water, and if you were quick in turning the laptop off and flipping it over. (Psst! If you haven’t done so already, pop out the battery.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A pure-water spill may do no harm at all, because pure water — pH nearly neutral, with very low mineral content and no additives; like the best tap water and spring water — is actually a poor conductor of electricity. Pure water also isn’t especially penetrative, so if you flipped the laptop over quickly, odds are that not much water got inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s im<\/em><\/strong>purities — dissolved salts and other minerals, chemicals, etc. — that can make water so conductive, corrosive, and highly damaging to electronics. So, the more salts, sugars, pulp, color additives, and other stuff<\/strong><\/em> that was in your drink, the more likely you’ll have follow-on problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sugars, for example, can leave behind a sticky residue when the water evaporates, messing up the keyboard’s action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And the longer the water sat on the keys, or if the quantity of water was enough to effectively submerge the laptop, the more likely a dangerous\/damaging amount of liquid got inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you’re on the right track, with the laptop off, and draining. I suggest you pick up the laptop and, keeping it inverted the whole time, slowly tilt it this way and that, to ensure that any trapped water can escape from under the keys and from any laptop openings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now comes the hard part: Keep the laptop off and inverted and in a warm, dry place for longer than you want. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n How long depends on your honest assessment of how much liquid you think got inside. If you’re talking a few drops, the laptop will likely be fully dry overnight or in a day or so. If you’re talking enough water so that you had to pour it out of the keyboard, you’ll probably want to wait a bit longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case: If you fully drain the laptop and then let it sit in a warm, dry place (put it in a plastic bag with a generous helping of desiccant, if necessary), three or four days should be enough to remove residual moisture after even a heavy-spill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, if it really was pure water, I’ll bet your laptop will be fine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2228<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> Reader Emily Long sent in this urgent note — from her smartphone, I presume! “A couple of hours ago I spilled water on my laptop, I’ve turned it off, dried the keyboard and it is currently sitting keyboard down while I wait for any possible water to drain out. Will it be fine when it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-zW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":431,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/20\/a-reader-asks-i-spilled-yogurt-on-my-keyboard-now-some-keys-are-stuck-how-do-i-fix-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: I spilled yogurt on my keyboard. Now some keys are stuck. How do I fix it?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-20","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: I spilled yogurt on my keyboard. Now some keys are stuck. How do I fix it? (via Quora) A: Wash it! Yes, you can wash almost any electronic device, provided the device is unpowered and you only use distilled water, which is almost totally nonconductive. There's no guarantee it'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1624,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/10\/a-reader-asks-some-of-the-keys-of-my-laptop-wont-trigger-is-my-keyboard-broken\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “Some of the keys of my laptop won\u2019t trigger. Is my keyboard broken?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-10","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, by definition: It\u2019s not working, so it\u2019s broken! :) I think you\u2019re really asking if it can be repaired. If you can remove the keyboard, it\u2019s quite possible that you can indeed correct what\u2019s wrong. You\u2019ll have to poke around your laptop, carefully removing fasteners, to see how it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2337,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/14\/a-reader-asks-what-is-your-favorite-laptop-that-you-have-ever-had-or-used-and-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-14","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Jenni Wieter asks; \"What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?\" Hmmm. Two top contenders come to mind: Model 100: This was my first portable computer: a TRS-100. Back in the day when PC's were usually bulky, desktop units with several separate components,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/thinkpad-butterfly.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2147,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/25\/a-reader-asks-is-it-safe-to-travel-repeatedly-with-your-desktop-not-laptop-computer-in-your-back-seat\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: “Is it safe to travel repeatedly with your desktop (not laptop) computer in your back seat?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-25","format":false,"excerpt":"Sure, within reason. Merely being outdoors or in motion won't hurt a desktop PC. But impact, moisture, or temperature might. If the PC is properly and fully shut down before moving; and is protected\/padded from sharp jolts, bumps, bangs, and such; and is kept dry and at human-comfortable temperatures; it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4074,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/15\/do-you-care-if-your-laptop-has-a-backlit-keyboard\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":4},"title":"“Do you care if your laptop has a backlit keyboard?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-01-15","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Elynn Quirk) Personally? Nope. Not at all. I doubt I use my keyboard's backlight even 0.1% of the time. I\u2019d probably feel differently if I were regularly using the laptop in situations with poor lighting. But if there\u2019s enough light to work, there\u2019s usually enough light for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/37391673_s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/37391673_s.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/37391673_s.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/37391673_s.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1412,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/19\/a-reader-asks-how-can-i-reduce-laptop-noise\/","url_meta":{"origin":2228,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: “How can I reduce laptop noise?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-19","format":false,"excerpt":"Laptop noise usually comes from four components: the cooling fans; any spinning-media data-storage device (e.g. hard drive or DVD); the keyboard; and the speakers. We'll discuss those in reverse order, and immediately discount the speakers: I seriously doubt that's the kind of noise you were referring to! You can just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2247,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions\/2247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"[seperator]\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SEPERATOR-short-grey.png?resize=104%2C6\")
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