What To Do When You Spill Liquids On Your Keyboard

Have you ever ruined a keyboard - or even worse, a laptop computer - from accidentally spilling liquids on it? If so, you should know that this is very common and happens to everyone. There's really no use in putting yourself down, since these kinds of accidents have a way of happening no matter how careful you try to be.

What's important though; you need to know there are simple strategies you can rely on to minimize damages the next time this kind of accident happens to you. In fact, you'll probably be surprised with how simple dealing with such an issue can be.

After reading this article, you will know exactly what to do next time you spill liquids on your keyboard. Armed with this knowledge, you will yet come to save many keyboards, indeed! Are you ready?

You just spilt a drink on your keyboard... now what?

Ok, the first thing you need to do in a crisis situation is to stay calm and act quickly! No matter if it's a big crisis (such as a tsunami flooding in your house) or a comparatively smaller crisis (such as spilling a few drops of tea on your new laptop)... staying as calm as possible and acting quickly will vastly improve your chances of overcoming any adversities that you come across.

1) Turn off the power: If you're using an external keyboard just plug it off from the computer immediately. If you're using a laptop computer you need turn off power from the laptop and remove the battery immediately. Liquids and electricity just don't go together, so your first reaction should be cutting power from the keyboard, as fast as possible.

2) Evacuate all liquids: After cutting power from the keyboard, you should immediately proceed to remove any liquids that may have seeped behind the keys. To do this, just flip your keyboard or laptop upside down, and gravity will do the trick. Make sure every little drop of liquid is removed; ideally, leave the keyboard in a reclined position overnight, to ensure that it dries completely.

3) Wait until the keyboard dries off: This is a crucial step to ensuring you get to use your keyboard again. It may sound surprising to you, but most keyboards don't immediately get destructed when the liquid is spilled, since most people do tend to shut down power from the keyboard instinctively (a good move!). The real damage tends to occur when people plug in the keyboard once again before it has completely dried off. If you make sure not to be in a rush to see whether the keyboard was damaged from the accident that will vastly improve your odds of a happy resolution.

What do you do when you spill soda or a sugary drink?

If you spilled soda or sugary drinks, the proceedings could get trickier. The thing about said drinks is how they will make the inside of the keys stick together even as it dries off, in which case many keys will stop working even if the keyboard itself happens not to get damaged.

In this case, recovery is a bit trickier and may even sound counter-intuitive. The thing is, you'll have to rinse off the liquid to keep the keys from sticking together and becoming useless. How do you do that? With water, or course!

That's right: if you happen to spill wine or soda on your keyboard... you will have to wash it off immediately after turning off the power. As long as there is no electricity in the device, the water won't do any damage to the components. It may sound like a crazy thing to do... but in this situation, putting your keyboard under a stream of water may end up being the only way to save the day. Desperate moments call for desperate measures!

A word of caution: most modern laptops are assembled in a way that keeps fluids split on the keyboard from seeping inside to the motherboard. As such, you do NOT want to put your laptop underwater. Detach the laptop's keyboard and rinse the keyboard separately, not the actual laptop.

Hint: Most keyboards on modern portable computers can be removed without any trouble; look for two or three springs behind the F1, F6 and F12 keys. Release these springs and the keyboard will detach effortlessly. Try it right now, so you can be prepared for an emergency! In any case, always remember the golden rule.

The golden rule of recently flooded keyboards

If there's a golden rule that will keep you from damaging keyboard by spilling liquids on them... that would be: "do not drink liquids while using your computer!".

However, we all know that forbidding liquids in the vicinity of your computer is not practical or realistic thing to do. Right? In any case, there are actions you can take to minimize the chance of unwanted spills. For example, if you keep your cup out of range from the sweep of your arm, and placed on a flat, non-cluttered surface, that will reduce the odds of an accident.

Also, keep in mind the potential harm depends on the liquid you spill. If you just pour over some water and cut off the power immediately, dry off the keyboard and wait a while before connecting it again... you'll have a good chance of success.

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-By Dominic

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