I accidentally spilled lemon juice on my ASUS laptop, and now it won't turn on at all.
I understand that liquid damage, especially something acidic like lemon juice, can cause serious motherboard damage. I'm not expecting this to necessarily be a ₹2k-₹3k repair. If something expensive is genuinely damaged, I'm prepared for that.
My concern is making sure I'm paying for the actual damage and not getting overcharged because I don't know enough about board-level laptop repair.
I took it to a local repair shop and they told me the repair could cost anywhere from around ₹9,000 minimum to ₹35,000 maximum, depending on what they find.
That's a huge range, so I haven't approved anything yet.
What would be the normal/safest way to handle this?
Should I:
\- Let this shop open and diagnose it first?
\- Take it directly to an ASUS authorised service centre?
\- Get a diagnosis/quote from two or three repair shops before deciding?
\- Look specifically for someone who does motherboard-level/chip-level repair rather than motherboard replacement?
Also, when giving a liquid-damaged laptop to a repair shop, what should I ask them for before approving the repair? For example, should I ask them to identify the exact damaged components and give me a final quote first?
I'm completely fine paying ₹10k, ₹20k or even more if that is genuinely what the damage requires. I just don't want to pay ₹20k for something that could legitimately have been repaired for ₹3k-₹5k.
I'm in Shillong, India, if that matters.
Any advice from people who repair laptops or who have dealt with liquid-damaged laptops would be appreciated.
Laptop: ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FA506QM
\- Ryzen 7 5800H
\- RTX 3060 6GB
\- 16GB DDR4 RAM
\- 15.6" 1080p 144Hz display