Specific Liquid Spill Problem

Hi guys,

I'm new here but I've been reading through many of the posts. I spilled some sugarless tea on my macbook and the screen immediately turned off. The amount of liquid that spilled was small.

It spilled in the top left corner of the macbook, what exactly did it spill on?

I dried off the macbook, took out the battery, and used a blow dryer on cool for about 10 minutes. After this, I followed the sticky post's instructions and stuck in a sealed box with rice for 24+ hours.

When I plugged it in, the macbook turns on and the screen flashes for a split second. It continues to boot up (you can hear the normal whirring), but the screen stays black.

Did the screen fry? If so, why will it still flash for a split second on turning on? Any thoughts on what may be going and possible costs of repair?

Thank you so much for the help; I haven't been able to find any posts that have this problem.

-Pierre

pelias1525 said:

I haven't been able to find any posts that have this problem.

-Pierre

Click to expand...

There's an entire sticky thread devoted to this:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ap...d-my-macbook-what-should-i-do-now-thread.html

pelias1525 said:

After this, I followed the sticky post's instructions and stuck in a sealed box with rice for 24+ hours.

Click to expand...

I'm well aware of the sticky, as I followed it's instructions in taking care of the macbook after the spill. I'm asking specifically about my screen problem, which is not in the sticky nor in any post I know of in these forums. Thank you for the advice though.

Did you say the Tea got into both the Top Left Corner of the Macbook and also the screen? If it got into the screen area it could have hit the Inverter which could cause what you are seeing. Just a guess.

If you don't know this, the Inverter is what powers the screen backlight. Is your Macbook a brand new model or an older one? White plastic or Aluminum?

dtravis7 said:

Did you say the Tea got into both the Top Left Corner of the Macbook and also the screen? If it got into the screen area it could have hit the Inverter which could cause what you are seeing. Just a guess.

If you don't know this, the Inverter is what powers the screen backlight. Is your Macbook a brand new model or an older one? White plastic or Aluminum?

Click to expand...

It is a white plastic model. It didnt hit the screen, just the top left corner of the macbook keyboard. Still, the screen immediately turned off. Is it likely that only the inverter was fried, and that is why the screen can still light up? Thank you so much for the help thus far.

pelias1525 said:

I'm well aware of the sticky, as I followed it's instructions in taking care of the macbook after the spill. I'm asking specifically about my screen problem, which is not in the sticky nor in any post I know of in these forums. Thank you for the advice though.

Click to expand...

Liquid + Laptop = Trouble!!

Regardless of what's wrong with your laptop, you're probably not going to be able to fix it yourself.

Get in your car...and head to the Apple Store for repair.

Sorry to be so blunt...but we all know that we are taking a risk when we eat or drink near our laptops!

- Nick

If your model has the non LED screen, the Inverter is in the screen casing so I doubt the liquid got in there if it hit the top left keyboard.

Thank you for the help so far. Will Apple actually figure out what the problem is for free? I'm hoping they can tell me something like, "only your screen went kapoot, everything else is fine" and then I can get a 3rd party to properly repair it for a better price. Thanks again.

pelias1525 said:

Thank you for the help so far. Will Apple actually figure out what the problem is for free? I'm hoping they can tell me something like, "only your screen went kapoot, everything else is fine" and then I can get a 3rd party to properly repair it for a better price. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I'm assuming that you now longer have any warranty left on your MacBook.

As far as "will Apple actually figure out the problem for free?"

Good question...but then do you really think that it's fair to go to Apple, have them diagnose it for free...and then you take it to a 3rd party to do the repair??

Why not just go directly to the 3rd party that you think will do it "for a better price"...then let them diagnose it & do the repair.

That would be the honest thing to do.

- Nick

pelias1525 said:

Thank you for the help so far. Will Apple actually figure out what the problem is for free? I'm hoping they can tell me something like, "only your screen went kapoot, everything else is fine" and then I can get a 3rd party to properly repair it for a better price. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Forget about Apple figuring out what the problem is for free. They will charge you labor regardless if you wish to have them repair it or not. Only fair.

I doubt that your screen was damaged in any way. It sounds more like it may be a power supply problem - possibly shorting something out. Reason I suspect the power supply is that the top left corner of the white MacBook is where the power adapter circuitry is and where power enters the machine.

Of course I could be wrong since liquid has a bad habit of traveling along the path of least resistance.

There are third party authorized Apple repair service centers you can contact for a repair estimate. Several of them advertise on the web. If you want a list rather than deal with your local Apple store, post back.

Regards.

That is true. If the problem was fixed affordably by Apple, I'd be happy to have them take it on. I was doubting that Apple would tell me anything before I started forking over cash.

I'm simply afraid that they will tell me that the monitor is broke and it will cost $600, whereas other websites will repair that specific problem for around $250.

I've never had Apple look at my mac before, so I'm afraid they may refuse to tell me anything about the repairability of the laptop until I fork over huge chunks of cash. The faster I can get my macbook working again the better.

Thanks,

Pierre

EDIT: chscaq, I'd love to know if there are any around Houston, TX that would take it on. As for the power supply, the laptop still powers up (hear normal whirring and see light on bottom right of computer); is it possible for the power supply to have been shorted out just for the monitor?

Pierre,

Regardless of my comments above...I'm very sorry to hear that this happened to your MacBook.

I hope that you find out what the issue is...and if repairs are necessary, that they be as least costly as possible.

- Nick

pelias1525 said:

chscaq, I'd love to know if there are any around Houston, TX that would take it on. As for the power supply, the laptop still powers up (hear normal whirring and see light on bottom right of computer); is it possible for the power supply to have been shorted out just for the monitor?

Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the Houston area. There are places up here around Fort Worth and Dallas plus several Apple stores. Check out your local yellow pages and Yahoo Yellow page search on line.

As for the power supply short - yes it's possible for it to only have an effect on the display. For example: If the power to the inverter is out, the backlight won't work. No backlight, screen doesn't light. But that again, is only a supposition on my part.

Regards.