Laptop + water advice please.

[Timbo66]

Just got home to find Mrs T spilt water over her laptop in the night. It was laid flat, right way up and closed. The water seems to have pooled underneath it. She tried switching it on with no result this morning, running it on the battery only. I`ve just had the back off to find one drop on the fan casing and one under the battery, which I`ve unscrewed and lifted up. Its currently propped on its side with the back off hoping it`ll dry out.
She`s not sure if the battery has any charge left in it and I really don`t want to use the power lead until I`ve had some advice about what to do next.
Many thanks.

 

[JacquesC]

Since you've opened it up, give it a go over with a hairdryer on cool setting.
Do it for a loooooong time.
Let it complete it's dry-out overnight standing on one side and it'll probably be Ok.

Batteries are usually replaceable (Thanks A.z..n) if need be.

 

[Wizzygoth]

It is difficult to assess from her...water can cause damage, but not always.
I would recommend you take the back off and use a hair dryer to get rid of any water inside.
You can then plug the power cord and see.
The charger/adaptor is isolated from the mains, so it's not going to cause shock/electrocution risk
If you are lucky, you would have got away with it.

 

[Timbo66]

Since you've opened it up, give it a go over with a hairdryer on cool setting.
Do it for a loooooong time.
Let it complete it's dry-out overnight standing on one side and it'll probably be Ok.

Batteries are usually replaceable (Thanks A.z..n) if need be.

Thanks for that, I`ll try it.

 

[Timbo66]

It is difficult to assess from her...water can cause damage, but not always.
I would recommend you take the back off and use a hair dryer to get rid of any water inside.
You can then plug the power cord and see.
The charger/adaptor is isolated from the mains, so it's not going to cause shock/electrocution risk
If you are lucky, you would have got away with it.

Ok, thanks. Finhers crossed!

 

[Brooksy]

My work laptop was full, and I mean full of water after the office ceiling collapsed one Easter. I placed it on a radiator for two days. Looked at it, and there was literally lime scale in the heatsink outlet. It worked perfectly for another 10 years.

 

[OldStock]

Remove any power straight away.
Most have a battery disconnect connector, pull that, we don't want any electrolysis going on where there is power.
Dry it out as best you can but disconnect the battery and do not connect any power until it is bone dry.
If you can see a cmos battery (small round lithium, normally heat sealed) use tissue to dry around that ASAP, as that too can cause issues, but to avoid resetting the bios good to leave it connected, if you can dry out around it.