A new client came in to the PRR shop last week, his face awash with worry. Let’s call him Joe. Joe had spilled soda on his laptop, while it was running. And it stopped running, rather suddenly.
Some of you out there are cringing as you read this, and rightfully so. Liquid spills can be really bad news for computers if you don’t deal with them properly.
But Joe did something really important. His first response was to remove the power from the laptop – including the battery – so there would not be any current flowing.
Then he brought it to us. As part of our Free Diagnosis in the shop, we aired the laptop out for two full days before even attempting to turn it on again.
An examination of the laptop then revealed there was a little bit of soda syrup to clean up underneath the only damaged part on the machine – its rather inexpensive keyboard.
Joe walked away a few days after coming in, with a fully working laptop, no lost data, and a modest invoice.
So, if a liquid spill befalls you, don’t panic. As Joe’s story proves, it isn’t always the end of the world. Especially if you stay calm and use common sense right after it happens.
