How To Handle Water Damaged Electronic Goods

When indoor flooding strikes at your property, your electronic appliances and other goods may experience water damage and severe saturation. The types of appliances that most commonly get damaged in unexpected indoor flooding include:

Televisions
Stereos and speakers
Computers and laptops
Printers
Refrigerators
Washing machines
Toasters
Coffee makers
Microwaves
Power equipment and tools

Although it may be tempting to address the damage yourself and try to restore the item it is highly recommended that you wait for a qualified electrical specialist and the restorer to assess each item and evaluate its restoration potential. If the item is a laptop or phone, the best option is to leave it switched off and place it on an absorbent towel to help drain as much water out of the unit as possible. For all kitchen appliances including toasters, kettles and coffee makers it is best to allow the professional restorer to remove these items safely to reduce the risk of an electrical accident. Each flooding incident is different with varying grades of damage to appliances so we always recommend leaving it to a specialist.

Thunderstorms that can cause large amounts of indoor flooding to your home — When there are large thunderstorms indoor flooding can occur due to overwhelmed drainage systems, blocked gutters and leaks in the roof. Slowly the water will begin to enter the property creating high amounts of humidity and saturating carpets, flooring, personal belonging and electrical appliances.

A qualified electrical specialist or restorer will first identify which electrical items have had water exposure. In addition to this they will remove any appliances away from high-humidity environments as soon as practical to prevent further unwanted damage to otherwise unaffected electrical items. For restorers it is important to remove items away from high-humidity environments as there is a very small time frame between initial water saturation or exposure to high humidity and the onset of damage that would necessitate the replacement of costly equipment. If your laptop has been affected by water the first step is to not try and turn it on. The best way to deal with a water damaged laptop is to turn it upside town over a towel and allow as much water as possible to drain out.