10-28-2011, 03:43 PM

It would only let me load up 5 pictures, but it fried the display connector, as well as juice all over the logic board, heatsink, cpu. 6 hours, 38 q-tips, 2 bottles of rubbing alcohol, 1 trip to the kitchen sink, and 4 extra screws later, its up and running back in its prime condition

10-28-2011, 03:47 PM

Congratulations!!! Many liquid spills usually don't have this sort of happy ending!

I'm assuming that "we" will not be consuming beverages near "our" MacBook anymore!

Way to go!

- Nick

10-28-2011, 03:47 PM

I forgot to add, all 9 water sensors were tripped. They quoted me a 900 dollar repair bill, 700 for the logic board and 200 in labor.... I brought it back to show my apple service provider and he was still trying to figure out how I got it in working order.

10-28-2011, 03:48 PM

pigoo3 I have a wife, and yes, after it was fixed, there was a glass of milk sitting next to it... Needless to say, my wife has taken over my 27 i7 imac and loves to play facebook on that than her "old" laptop...

10-28-2011, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by Housekat

I forgot to add, all 9 water sensors were tripped. They quoted me a 900 dollar repair bill, 700 for the logic board and 200 in labor.... I brought it back to show my apple service provider and he was still trying to figure out how I got it in working order.

When this spill originally occurred...was the computer powered on at the time?

- Nick

10-28-2011, 03:57 PM

Yup, I just held the power button and prayed that I shut if off in time. But it fried a few things. I had apple replace the display since the water sensor in that wasn't tripped. The keyboard didn't work, track pad didn't work, or display. With a external monitor, keyboard, and mouse it would run very sluggish and was a nightmare, it was hit or miss if it would pick up the external monitor or boot up into osx.

10-28-2011, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by Housekat

Yup, I just held the power button and prayed that I shut if off in time. But it fried a few things. I had apple replace the display since the water sensor in that wasn't tripped. The keyboard didn't work, track pad didn't work, or display. With a external monitor, keyboard, and mouse it would run very sluggish and was a nightmare, it was hit or miss if it would pick up the external monitor or boot up into osx.

Wow...you really got lucky! I would say consider yourself in the lucky 1% or .1% when a liquid spill like this occurs!

It sounds like some "good" bucks still were spent getting it to work. But since you were able to salvage the logic board...that was the BIG thing!

- Nick

10-28-2011, 04:05 PM

I think alot of cases, they just say the logic board is fried. To be honest, with a liquid spill on these macbooks, it looks like yes, some friege? does occur, but you have to put in hours to scrape it and clean it to get it back into working condition. I think the only thing that might truly happen is cpu may fry, but thats a cheap fix. I would say 99% of mose people wouldn't take it apart to the level I did and take the time to clean each piece. From the picture, you can actually see the corrosion on the board.

10-28-2011, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by Housekat

I think alot of cases, they just say the logic board is fried. To be honest, with a liquid spill on these macbooks, it looks like yes, some friege? does occur, but you have to put in hours to scrape it and clean it to get it back into working condition. I think the only thing that might truly happen is cpu may fry, but thats a cheap fix. I would say 99% of mose people wouldn't take it apart to the level I did and take the time to clean each piece. From the picture, you can actually see the corrosion on the board.

As a big DIY person...I would definitely agree with much of what you said.

But the bad thing about electronics (laptop computers) and liquid...is electrical connections that are NOT supposed to be made...are made...due to the conductivity of the liquid across circuits (especially if the computer is powered on at the time of the spill). Then irreparable damage occurs within "milliseconds"...wayyy faster than anyone can hit the power button to turn the computer off.

Sounds to me that the liquid spill on your computer didn't hit anything vital initially...giving you just enough time to turn it off.

If it was just a matter of cleaning the "gunk" off the logic board...I'm sure we would have many more positive stories like yours!

Congrats again,

- Nick

10-28-2011, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Housekat

I think alot of cases, they just say the logic board is fried. To be honest, with a liquid spill on these macbooks, it looks like yes, some friege? does occur, but you have to put in hours to scrape it and clean it to get it back into working condition. I think the only thing that might truly happen is cpu may fry, but thats a cheap fix. I would say 99% of mose people wouldn't take it apart to the level I did and take the time to clean each piece. From the picture, you can actually see the corrosion on the board.

Yep, as you noticed the corrosion is absolutely apparent. Now, I don't blame them for not cleaning this off and returning it. Why? Well, think about it this way. There's an implied warranty on service work. Would you, as a company, really warranty an item you scraped the corrosion off of? Personally, I wouldn't.

Is it worth it as an individual trying to recover this way? I'd say absolutely. As long as you feel comfortable with the process (personally, I have no problems with that either).

10-28-2011, 04:35 PM

Well, I forgot to add in that I also used a razor blade lol, it was thin enough in some places to slide it in and scrape the burn corrosion from the connector itself, my last option would have been to bake it, but thats a bit annoying to have to do that for 30 minutes to an hour, but better than 900 bucks down the drain.