3 Laptop Repairs You Can Swing Yourself

Your laptop takes a lot of use and abuse. Even if you try to treat it with care, chances are because your laptop is portable, it will be spilled on, dropped, or worse. While this may seem like a bleak outlook – don’t despair.

You don’t have to drag your notebook into the laptop repair shop to fix many issues. Some issues are totally DIY fixable, provided you have the right tools, parts, and a little motivation. This is true if you’ve got an older laptop that is easy to crack open. If, however, you can’t see any screws on your device, you might want to bring your laptop to a professional for a fix.

How to Fix a Mangled AC Adapter Cord

You probably plug and unplug your laptop’s charger all the time, and we know that wear and tear can beat up an electronic component. With enough use, you might wind up with a damaged power cord. When your cord is frayed or damaged, you should attend to the issue right away by either fixing it or buying a replacement because broken power cords can pose fire hazards.

Here’s how to fix a mangled power cord on your own:

You can take the quick-and-dirty route, wrapping duct tape over the cord. While this might prevent your power cord from getting damaged more, this isn’t a fail-proof method – the duct tape is going to come loose eventually.

A better approach is to grab some silicone sealant at the hardware store which can insulate and protect your power cord. Squeeze out sealant onto the area that is frayed, working it into place and covering the damage with a good coating.

Allow an hour or two for the sealant to dry. Congratulations – you basically have a new power cord ready for more years of active use for the price of a can of silicone sealant.

How to Fix a Cracked Laptop Case

Somehow when you drop your laptop, it always seems to land on the corner, which is incidentally one of the weakest parts of the case. This corner might get cracked, or completely broken.

Find some epoxy putty at the hardware store or online for a nominal fee. Make sure that the area you are about to work on is clean and free of any dust or lose particles.

Get the putty ready – it will come packaged as a cylinder with two components. Cut off a section and twist these two parts together.

Blend these two components together in your hands, because the putty will harden as a result of a chemical reaction between these two. When the putty has become white or grey, you’re ready to work with it.

Work the putty into the damaged area, placing it firmly into where your case is broken, and use your finger to shape it to follow the outline or your laptop case. When you are satisfied with the way your laptop looks, wait an hour or two until your epoxy putty has hardened – it will be as strong as the plastic case.

Fix Spills On Your Device Without a Trip to the Laptop Repair Shop

If a cup of waterfalls on the table and there’s not a laptop for it to fall on, has it really fallen?

We ask this question because where there is water, soda, or liquid around a laptop, it always seems to tip over and spill onto the unlucky device.

If you find yourself in this all-too-ordinary situation, pull the power to your laptop as soon as you can. Take out the battery and unplug the power cord. If you were able to “pull the plug” on your laptop and shut it down before it shut off on its own, chances are you can save it.

Your approach is going to depend on what type of liquid you spilled onto your laptop. If you’re dealing with a sticky substance (like soda) you’re going to want to clean off your laptop ASAP. Unfortunately, you’ll have to disassemble your device and clean each piece thoroughly and separately.

If you’ve got a can of electronic component cleaner on hand, use that to clean your laptop parts. If not, use soap and water – but as little as necessary.

After washing each piece, dry the device with a blow dryer on the low setting, placing it in front of a fan or use compressed air. Wait for your laptop to dry for at least 24 hours, but 72 is better. That’s because the less time your laptop has spent drying, the higher the chances are that the liquid you spilled is still hanging around. If you power up your laptop too quickly, you’ll end up killing it.

Laptop repair can be expensive, inconvenient, and undependable if you don’t go to the right shop. That’s why doing these simple repairs on your own can be so rewarding. Plus you’ll feel accomplished from fixing something on your own. What’s more, if you botch these repairs, you can bring them to a professional to fix them after your attempts, provided you’ve powered off your liquid-filled laptop before it shuts off on its own.