Laptop Water Damage/Repair

Tech Talk
#1

So this weekend a friend accidently gave my laptop a bath, won’t turn on. It’s a less than year old Dell. I think I’ll be able to save the HD but I would be remiss not to at least see where I could get this fixed and how much it would be. Basically if you try to turn it on now, the power light glows for a second before turning off.

Secondly, does anyone here specialize in this kind of repair or know somewhere that does? I’ve been told on other forums that it sounds like a shorted power supply but I wouldn’t know. Water was spilled on it, if that matters.

Any help would be appreciated.

#2

i have had even worse happen to my laptop- The power turned off and it was in front of a mini fridge, the icebox melted. I left it alone for a month or so, and after it was thoroughly dry (inside), it worked fine with no problems. But maybe I was just lucky. I’d say though, whatever you do, don’t plug it in or try to turn it on. Running current through there with all the water would surely short circuit it. That’s about all the help I can afford you.

#3

Just contact Dell, you should still have some kind of warranty.

#4

Was it off or on? If it was on at the time you’re screwed unless Dell honors your warranty (they will). If it was off, you should still get your warranty, but if for some reason you can’t, you need to let it dry for a loooooooong time. Take it apart if you can and don’t touch the power button, even if the battery/AC adapter isn’t connected. :tup:

#5

The thing is, as soon as the water was spilled on it, I was told that it was disconnected, turned over and the battery was removed. This all happened while I was gone. After about a half hour, they plugged it back in but when they tried to start it, it booted up then stopped and now it just flickers.

The windows sticker on the bottom of the computer is wrinkled from the water so should I still bother contacting dell? If so, what should my story be?

#6

Call Dell and be honest. If you lie and they agree to fix it, the water damage will be immediately apparent and they will charge you anyway. You probably have a standard warranty but some Dell models come with accidental damage protection. If you have that the repair should be free.

Ironically, the harddrive is probably the part most susceptible to water damage. Good luck :slight_smile: