Comments on: How to Clean Up Laptop Spills

on 6/17/2007 what about something that has dried under a key so that that key no longer works?

on 5/30/2007 when I worked at IBM laptop systems before sold to Lenovo. There are a few myths posted here in the comments and the original article is also wrong. Hard drives on laptops are self-contained and SEALED. You CAN short the pins across the power leads. You CAN NOT get liquid into the physical disk, or the controller board. To the person who mentioned not using Saline, your half right, Saline would seperate the lamination from the boards and other components. Most importantly, system critical paths are Gold, Saline should never be used anyway. To the person who stated using Distilled water you are 100 % correct! That would be the ONLY solution to use when cleaning a board preferably de-ionized which distilled water. For all users reading this strongly encourage you to not do any of this yourself thats why you have a warranty. If you must I would also recommend using a Q-tip between keys.

on 4/26/2007 Is it possible to experience damage down the line if water is spilled on the laptop? The keys weren't working properly, but the next day everything seemed to be working fine. I'm worried there may be some latent damage that could ruin the computer in the future.

on 9/16/2006 Follow user manual instructions or Google how to remove your keyboard. It's basically just a tray with sensors that lies on top of the other stuff in the computer.

In my case (HP Pavilion DV4000) I had to pry off the switch plate, by pressing down keys near the top and snapping it off, then unscrewing the keyboard from the frame.

Check to see if it's looks sticky or very dirty at the back of the keyboard. If it's bad you might want to replace the keyboard.

I spilled a bowl of frosted mini-wheats into mine. Pried off the keys and cleaned it, but underneath (at the back of the keyboard) it was pretty nasty so I found a replacement on eBay.

on 8/8/2006 The primarily goal is to avoid electrical shorts. These are most likely to cause permanent damage to the laptop. Next, get the sticky stuff out before it dries.

* Act quickly - shut down the computer, unplug power and any cables, and remove the battery. Any electricity in the laptop can possibly cause a short - even if it's turned off. Most laptop battery packs can be removed without special tools.

* Tip the laptop sideways, then upside down, preferably away from any CD/DVD/Floppy drive. Tip or shake gently to drain all fluid.

* Here's the hard part: quickly rinse out the keyboard with water, then turn the laptop over as before to drain. Repeat this two or three times. Work quickly - rinse, drain, rinse, drain. Distilled water is best, Brita, Pur, or other filtered water is the next best, but any water will do in a bind.

* Allow to dry completely - ideally for several days before re-installing the battery or plugging it in.

Pouring water into your laptop keyboard on purpose may sound like madness, but face it - it's already soaked! Would you rather have sticky pina colada drying in the keyboard or nice clean water? I've done this successfully - but there are no guarantees with this kind of accident. Good luck!

on 1/15/2008 One month into my new laptop, an unfortunate Gatorade spill threw my keyboard into sticky-key-hell. This was not a major spill, and a cloth rag and a blow dryer got rid of the liquid immediately.

But 80% of the keys on my right half of my keyboard would make a loud sticky smacking click on keypress. Big contrast against the whisper of keypresses on the asdf side of the keyboard.

I couldn't bring myself to disassemble the precious laptop, so I took a plastic/cloth CD sleeve and spent about an hour and a half dipping the edge of the sleeve into rubbing alcohol, and then sliding it in the teeny space between the keys until the the sticky was gone and all my key sounds returned to a beautiful quiet click.

The CD sleeve worked well because it didn't disintegrate like paper would have, and it was firm enough to actually insert between the keys. a very thin plastic card would probably substitute well.

on 6/30/2006 Anyone who lives near the ocean knows that salt water corrodes metals faster than regular water. Do not clean a laptop with saline solution.

on 12/8/2005 I work with multiple laptops. Keep drinks below laptop level at all times. Try not to place drinks on the same table as a laptop. Keep laptop elevated if you have to use laptop tilters or laptop fans. You really don't want to spill on your laptop. I always find myself moving my friends drinks away from my laptop when we work together. It's your money, protect it.

on 11/22/2005 I have repaired many laptops that others have claimed to be dead by opening the machine and getting all the gunk off with saline solution and Q-Tips. I then soak the logic board (minus the processor, ram, fans, etc.) in deionized water for a few hours, then allow to air dry. To date, I've fixed about a dozen machines this way (0% failure rate) ranging from water damage to Margarita spills. A bit more hands on than the average person is willing to do, but it works for me!

on 11/22/2005 The last thing you want to do is to pull your laptop out of the freezer, especially if you live in a humid state, only to have condensation do what you?re attempting to prevent ? cause a short circuit. Removing any and all power sources would be my first thought (battery and power - forget about shutting down gracefully - yank the cord and battery faster than you spilled the drink), turning the laptop over second (if you haven?t already to remove the battery) to prevent liquid from seeping further into the system, and absorbing or drying the components third.

on 11/22/2005 ...like the last person's tip said, it could damage the computer. Silicon (and other components in the machine) are not meant to be kept at cold temperatures for very long. A few minutes will cause no damage (and could possibly delay/stop the damage from the water), but more than that could damage the computer.

To avoid this whole mess, if you drink at the computer, make sure your cup never goes over your computer: sit back to drink.

on 11/22/2005 A woman who is a lawyer and a physicist told me that if you spill something on your laptop, the first thing you should do is put it in the freezer.

I tried this when I spilled water on my laptop (after draining most of the water out, removing the battery, etc).

I think this stops corrosion while buying you valuable time to find a hairdryer, locate tools if you want to take it apart, and look up advice on how to fix the thing.