Water damage and what to do first

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October 18, 2026

On August 30, 2026

Get your phone or laptop to us switched off, as soon as you can after a spill. Don't try to dry it with rice or a hairdryer. Remove the battery if you can safely, and bring it in before corrosion sets in.

The sooner we open it up and clean the contacts, the better the chance of saving it. Wet devices left for days are much harder to fix.

Avoid rice

Water-damaged phone in a bowl of dry rice beside a towel, a small screwdriver set and a cotton swab on a clean white sur

The rice trick will not help. Rice does not pull moisture out of a sealed phone or laptop, and loose grains tend to end up stuck in the charging port or speaker holes, which just gives us another problem to fix.

A hairdryer is just as risky. Heat can push water further into the board and warp the plastic clips holding the case together. Leave the device switched off, pat it dry on the outside and bring it to us as it is.

Act quickly

Tidy repair workshop corner with a laptop being serviced on a glass table, parts shelf and tool pots, in a blue-walled r

Corrosion starts forming on a wet circuit board within hours, and once it sets in, parts that were fine to begin with start failing one by one. Getting the device to us on the same day gives it the best chance of coming back to life.

When it arrives, we open the case, remove the battery and clean the board with the proper solvents before any power goes near it. Only once everything tests clean do we switch it on, which is why a rushed repair at home almost always does more harm than good.