Water spilled on my power bank and the power drained completely. What do I do?

Water is a good conductor of electricity so it would have short circuited your power bank. That’s why “the power drained completely”.

How to Dry a Power Bank

Here are some things you can do to quickly to save your power bank.

1. Dry it as quickly as possible with clean soft cloth or tissue paper
2. Position it to drain any water that may have collected inside the power bank
3. Wrap with a piece of cloth or kitchen roll. Leave in a warm place to ensure quick evaporation.
4. Place it in a container of rice, garri, couscous or any high absorbent grain. Position the power bank to ensure the grains don't penetrate the power bank and cause other problems. It might be best to place the container is a warm and well ventilated area. The warmth and breeze will ensure quick evaporation. The rice or other grains you use will facilitate the process because of their high fluid absorption capability.

I’m not exactly sure how long to dry it for. Or if it will work again. But I guess it depends on a combination of factors like

1. How much water got into your power bank
2. How long the waster has been in the power bank for
3. If the process of recovery caused other damage
4. How quickly the water actually dries out
5. Ambient temperature. For instance, if you are in a cold region and the season is winter, it will take longer to dry than in warm regions. So you might want to leave it next to a room radiator/heater. If you are in the tropics and its rainy season or monsoon season, you can expect it to take longer to dry. The higher the temperature the faster water evaporates. I’m sure you get the point now!

Depending on these factors I suppose you might want to check it very often. I can’t say at what intervals exactly. But if you live in a warm climate like, Northern Nigeria where we are blessed with high temperatures due to abundant exposure to the sun, I’ll suggest you check it every 2 to 3 hours. Gently tap the power bank on your hands with the USB ports facing down to see if you still have water in it. If you are confident its dry, try to switch it on. It probably won't come on. So try to charge it for a few minutes and see what happens. It should works and if OK, progressively charge and check it till fully charged. If after trying and it doesn't work, then it's probably damaged. Safer to buy a new one.

If you buy a new one, perhaps try and get a water and dust resistant one as depicted in the picture below. If water spills on it, just wipe off with a soft clean cloth/tissue paper or cotton buds. And continue using as normal.

Solar power bank shop: Buy power bank chargers for smartphones, tablets, iPad, etc