MacBook Waterlogged -success story / question

I thought I would share this story to add to the list of success stories where MacBooks and water are concerned.

A week ago, I spilled quite a bit of water on my MacBook. The details are painfully embarrassing so I'll leave them out. But I will say that a considerable amount of water landed on the left side of my MacBook (where all the ports are) and seeped under the laptop where the battery is.

I immediately got it toweled off and removed the battery. It didn't appear that much water actually got into the keys or the ports but some did I'm sure. To be safe, I left it in a "v", next to a fan, in a dry room for 3 days - with the battery out of course.

When I was satisfied that any water inside would have evaporated, I plugged her in (without the battery) and booted up. It worked!! Everything was still intact... SO lucky... I thought.

I next powered down and put in the battery and powered back up (AC cord still plugged in) That's when I noticed a problem. The AC light stayed green (even though the indicator lights on actual battery showed only one light of power) and the battery icon on the screen is just showing an "x". It seems my MacBook is not recognizing the battery is connected.

Now here is where it's strange - The battery won't charge and the MacBook isn't recognizing it BUT, if I unplug the AC cord, it still draws power from the battery. This tells me the battery works but that there is a communication problem of some kind... Logic board issue perhaps?

I've reset the PRAM and PMU and I've re-seated the battery as well but it's not working.

Can anyone suggest something else?

Go to the apple store and ask them, if you have applecare see if they cover this sort of stuff.

Blade753 said:

Go to the apple store and ask them, if you have applecare see if they cover this sort of stuff.

Click to expand...

Don't bother taking it to Apple.
They don't cover any damage caused by liquid or any other accidental damage.

They won't cover it, but you can probably pay for them to look at it.

Can I piggy back on this tread?

Back story: It was close and asleep when a cup of water spilled over the top and didn't get noticed for a while. When I finally saw it, I turn it over to pour off the water. Then left it upside down in the sun for a few hours. It wouldn't boot. I took it to Apple and they said it would start at $750. So while I debated trying to fix it myself and just buying a new one a few weeks passed.

The other day I plugged it in and got it to power on! But it won't stay awake. I hit Return and the computer wakes, then almost immediately goes back into sleep mode. (I can actually get it to completely boot if I keep hitting Return every minute or so)

I just realized that it doesn't wake up when I open it. Could it be the "is the MacBook closed" sensor?

If so, how can I fix it?

It's not covered (my warranty just expired last month and I didn't purchase Applecare). I know that water damage isn't covered and I took it into a Mac Genius the day after it happened - she told me if water damage was detected, they would send it out and the fee would start at $755.

I'm prepared to buy a new one (probably will actually) or even pay to have this one fixed but I obviously want to try and see if I can get it working properly on my own first.

Ask them if you can put in one of the store's Macbook batteries and see if it's the battery or the power board...