12-22-2008, 01:41 PM

I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. About 4 months ago I inherited a dead MacBook 13" Duo. The donor's (my mother-in-law, a trustworthy source of info) story was that a scant few drops of coffee were spilled on the keyboard leading to complete shut-down. The span of time between the spill and the shut-down is somewhere between 4-5 hours during which the computer performed normally. So, not an immediate short-out.
When I got the computer it was as dead as a penny. I took it apart and inspected the logic board for visible signs of damage (e.g. dried coffee spots) but there were none to be found. I looked closely at the underside of the key board for possible infiltration points, but there was nothing. I assumed it was a fried logic board and spent the next few weeks looking for a cheap replacement. Couldn't find one worth the money. So I put it away in my closet and forgot about it for about 4 months.
A few days ago, out of boredom, I took it out and disassembled it and gave the logic board a thorough alcohol bath (ordinary rubbing alcohol). Didn't expect anything. But when I reinstalled the board this morning (after about 3 days of drying out) the thing fired right up! Booted super fast. The only problem now is that the key board is not responding.
So I have two questions:
1. Are there some troubleshooting steps I can go through to revive the keyboard? and
2. Do you think the thermal grease has been so degraded by the alcohol that I need to disassemble and re-apply some? (I didn't do it before because I really didn't expect anything to happen and didn't think it was worth the trip to get some. But I immediately shut it down after it booted to prevent overheating).

I appreciate any advice. Thanks

12-22-2008, 02:04 PM

Update: The power button is also dead. The computer starts itself when I plug it in. The battery is at zero so maybe that has something to do with it. It may also be the reason that this computer presented as a dead logic board. The battery was still at full charge when I was initially trying to start it 4months ago. But now with a dead battery it starts right up (albeit on its own) when I introduce power.