crwdns2934243:0crwdne2934243:0 Nate

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crwdns2934241:0crwdne2934241:0 Nate

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I literally just spilled beer on my laptop last night and it wasn't a pretty little dot of beer either on the palm rest. Just picture foam all over my keyboard and touch pad.

Problem: I needed to update a financial spreadsheet last night so I was unable to wait. I had to fix this asap.

These are the simplified steps I took and then below I'll explain why and how you can save your laptop without having to let it sit for days/hours what not if this happens to you.

Beer Spill Save:

1. Immediately unplugged, popped out battery and tilted the laptop forward in an inverted V shape on my table so fluid ran out of the laptop onto the table.

2. Wiped off table and laid down place mats/towels/whatever for a dry work space.

3. Disassembled (hard drive first, keyboard, palm rest) only what I had to in order to access affected areas as quickly as possible.

4. Dabbed everything off with a towel first and cleaned with alcohol on a q-tip. Inspected everything else to ensure nothing else was contaminated.

5. Let sit for a few minutes (mostly to take a deep breath and drink the rest of my beer across the kitchen) and reassembled/tested.

Note: If you submerge something in liquid, or let it sit long enough with the liquid while the power is on, this technique will probably not work for you. The trick is REMOVE ALL POWER AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Also some laptop models are just made so they are impossibly difficult to disassemble / repair.

TIPS TO SAVING YOUR LAPTOP:

Pre-spilling beer techniques:

1. (Obvious) keep your drinks away from your laptop.

2. Have no bones about it. Something will be spilled on your laptop at some point for sure. Maybe not by you, but assume it will happen.  Especially if you have animals or kids or both.

3. Have the tools and manual to disassemble your laptop (either before or right after you buy it). Take it one step further and don't buy a laptop if you cannot find the manual for it. In fact, when I bought this laptop, I did so specifically because it only has two sizes of screws

4. Practice removing the battery and power cord until you can do it quickly (within 2-3 seconds is best). Don't buy a laptop that requires special tools to remove the battery. Laptop fatalities can be greatly reduced if you know this.

5. Know that chances of saving your laptop are greatly increased if the liquid spilled on it is just water. Beer, wine, anything with sugar or milk or what not will be a pain but not always fatal.

POST spilling techniques.

See Beer Spill Save above.

If you aren't home, don't have tools, etc, there's still hope.

1. Unplug and remove the battery as quickly as possible. Removing power reduces the chances you'll arc a connection with whatever you spilled. It's not guaranteed but it's the best shot you have.

2. Dab off the unit as quickly as possible with napkins and paper towels or anything else you can find (other people's clothes, etc) and swap dry towels for the damp ones as much as possible.

3. Keep the unit wrapped in napkins or paper towels. Swap with dry ones when necessary.

4. Follow steps 1-5 (Beer Spill Save) above as soon as possible or bring to a repair shop if you cannot do it yourself.

I've spilled liquids on every laptop I've owned, and it wasn't until I learned my lesson a few times (and a few thousand dollars later) that I learned to avoid fatalities.

Hope this helps.

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