Spilled water on your laptop? Do this in the next 60 seconds

We get the call almost every week at our Perth workshop. Coffee, water, wine, Coke — someone knocked a glass over their laptop. The first 60 seconds determine whether the laptop survives. Here’s what to do, in order, before anything else.

Step 1: power it off immediately. Don’t wait for Windows.

Long-press the power button until the laptop fully shuts down. Do not “shut it down properly” through the menu — every second of power running through wet circuits is causing corrosion and shorts. Get it off NOW.

Step 2: unplug everything and remove the battery if you can

Pull the charger. Pull any USB devices. If your laptop has a removable battery (older ThinkPads, some Dells), pop it out. Most modern laptops have internal batteries that need a screwdriver — don’t waste time on that, move to step 3.

Step 3: flip the laptop upside down

Open it to a 90-degree angle, then place it screen-down on a towel, keyboard facing up but tilted so liquid drains AWAY from the motherboard. Most laptop motherboards sit under the keyboard — gravity is your friend here.

Don’t put it in rice. Don’t blow-dry it. Don’t try to turn it on to “see if it still works”. Just leave it draining for 30 minutes.

Step 4: bring it to a Perth workshop within 24 hours

This is the critical step. Liquid spills are race-against-corrosion repairs. Even after the liquid has dried, corrosion starts eating into the copper traces on the motherboard. Sugar-based drinks (Coke, juice, wine) are the worst — they leave conductive residue that causes shorts days or weeks later.

In our Perth workshop:

1. We disassemble the laptop completely — keyboard out, screen disconnected, battery out
2. The motherboard goes into an ultrasonic cleaner with a specialised solvent that lifts contamination
3. We treat any visible corrosion with isopropyl alcohol and a fine brush
4. We replace any components that died (commonly the keyboard, sometimes the trackpad cable)
5. We reassemble and test under load for a few hours

What it costs in Perth

Liquid damage repair starts at $199 in our workshop. The final price depends on what didn’t survive:

• Just the keyboard died: ~$199–$300
• Motherboard cleaned, no component replacement needed: ~$199–$280
• Motherboard cleaned + new keyboard + new battery: ~$400–$600
• Severe spill with multiple component failures: quoted on inspection

We always quote in writing after diagnosis. The $85 inspection fee applies.

Common mistakes that turn a fixable spill into a write-off

• Trying to turn it on to “check it”: powers up the corrosion process, kills components that were savable
• Putting it in rice: marketing myth. Rice doesn’t absorb anything; you’re just losing 24 hours during which corrosion eats your motherboard
• Using a hair dryer: pushes liquid further into components, melts plastic
• Waiting “to see if it dries out”: by the time you see issues a week later, the corrosion damage is permanent

Tell us what spilled

If you’re calling our Perth workshop after a spill, tell us:

• What liquid (water is most forgiving, sugary or alcoholic the worst)
• When it happened
• Whether you’ve tried to turn it on since

That tells us how aggressive the cleaning needs to be and how time-sensitive the repair is.

Spilled water on your laptop? Call 08 9325 1196 right now. We’ll talk you through the next 5 minutes on the phone and book your laptop in the same day.