Common problems
Water damaged laptop
A drink has gone over the keyboard, or the laptop has been caught in the rain, and you need to know what to do right now. Here it is: turn it off, unplug the charger, and do not turn it back on to check whether it still works. Liquid does its worst damage when it meets power, so a wet laptop that stays off has a genuinely good chance, and one that keeps running, or goes on charge, is being damaged while you watch. Do not put it in rice either; that is a myth that wastes the time that matters. Then call us. We will look at it for free, tell you honestly what the liquid has and has not reached, and give you one fixed quote before anything is done. If we cannot fix it, you pay nothing.
- No fix, no fee
- We come to you
- The diagnosis is always free
- A real person who does the work, not a call centre
What it usually means
The likely causes, most common first
- The liquid may have stayed in the keyboard and never reached the board underneath, which is the best case and more common than people fear
- Liquid has reached the mainboard, where it can short connections while the power is on and corrode them while it sits, which is why switching off early matters so much
- A sugary or milky drink, tea, coffee, juice, beer, leaves a sticky, conductive residue that keeps causing trouble after it dries, so it needs cleaning off, not just drying out
- Clean water is the kindest liquid, it does the least harm on its own, and the damage mostly comes from power flowing through it before it dries
- The battery has been affected, which is the one part we treat with real caution after a spill
- The laptop seems fine today, but liquid left on the board is quietly corroding it, which is how machines fail weeks after a spill that seemed harmless
Not sure which is yours? That is what the free diagnosis is for. Call and describe it.
What we do
How we find the real fault
- You tell us on the phone what went over it, roughly how much, and whether the machine is on, off or on charge, and if it is still on we will tell you to power it off before anything else
- We come to you across Leeds, at home or at work, or you can drop the laptop to us, and with a spill, sooner genuinely is better
- We disconnect the battery first, so no power can reach the wet board while we work
- We open the machine and find out exactly where the liquid went, because a spill that stayed in the keyboard and a spill that reached the board are two very different jobs
- We clean the residue off the board properly rather than letting it dry in place, since dried residue keeps corroding and a machine that is merely dried out often fails later
- We check the battery before it is trusted again, and tell you plainly if it should be replaced
- You get a fixed quote before any work begins, and if it cannot be fixed, or it is not worth the money, we say so and you pay nothing
Is it worth fixing?
An honest answer, before you spend anything
Worth a free look, and quickly, because with liquid the odds genuinely improve the sooner it is dealt with. A spill that stayed in the keyboard, or one that was powered off fast and cleaned properly, very often ends well, and a keyboard or a battery is a modest part next to a new machine. The honest exception is a board that took liquid while powered and has been left to corrode for weeks, where the repair can grow beyond what an older laptop is worth. If that is where yours has landed we will tell you plainly, at no charge, and your files are usually still safe either way, because the drive survives most spills even when the board does not.
This is a laptop repair job. The diagnosis is free, then you get one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay.
Call 0113 460 2103 for a free diagnosisWhere we work
We come to you across Leeds
Home or work, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or you can arrange to drop it to us. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.
Questions
The things people ask
I spilled water on my laptop but it still works. Am I in the clear?
Not yet, and this is the trap with liquid. A laptop can run for days or weeks after a spill while the liquid left inside quietly corrodes the board, and then fail well after the event. Working today does not mean dry inside. The safe move is to power it off, unplug it, and have it opened and checked, so any liquid still sitting on the board is cleaned off before it does lasting harm. The diagnosis is free, so checking costs you nothing.
Should I put it in rice?
No. Rice is a myth that refuses to die. It cannot reach the liquid inside the machine, it does not stop corrosion, and it costs you the days when a proper clean would have made the difference, which is the one resource you do not have after a spill. The things that actually help are simple: power off, unplug, disconnect from charge, tip it so liquid can drain out rather than deeper in, and get it opened and cleaned properly, soon.
Can I charge it, or press the power button to test it?
Please do not. Electricity flowing through a wet board is what turns a spill into a dead laptop; the liquid itself is only half the problem. That covers the charger, the power button and leaving it running because it seems fine. Keep it off and unplugged until it has been opened, checked and cleaned. It is a hard instinct to resist, everyone wants to know if it still works, but testing it is the single most damaging thing you can do at this stage.
How long do I have before the damage is permanent?
There is no honest number of hours, and we will not invent one, but the direction is simple: the sooner the liquid is cleaned off the board, the better the outcome, and every day it sits there the corrosion spreads. A spill dealt with promptly is routinely fine; the machines that arrive weeks later, having been dried on a radiator and put back to work, are the ones where the damage has had time to take hold. Ring us the same day if you can.
Does it matter that it was coffee, not water?
It does. Clean water is the kindest spill, because once it dries it leaves little behind. Coffee, tea, juice, beer and anything milky or sugary leave a sticky residue that conducts and corrodes after the liquid has gone, so a machine that dried out fine from water can keep failing after a coffee. Sugary spills are exactly why drying is not enough and the board needs properly cleaning. Tell us what went over it when you call; it changes how we treat the job.
Will my photos and files survive a spill?
Usually, yes. The drive that holds your files is one of the parts a spill reaches last, and it survives most liquid damage even in machines where the board does not. If the laptop cannot be saved, the drive can normally be read on our equipment and your photos and documents recovered from it. So do not power the machine on to rescue files, that risks the board for data that is almost certainly safe where it is.
Other problems
Sound more like one of these?
Tell us what is wrong.
Call and describe the fault. We will diagnose it for free, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.