wet macbook. is it broken?

Muleartist · Feb 15, 2009

I had a cup of liquid ( apple juice ) lying near my bed and MacBook g5 and the apple juice tipped over. I quickly moved it after the juice spilled and dried it off. The macbook would not light up or run. The case covered all of the laptop except the back where a little applejuice ran in. I then tilted the laptop to an angle where the liquid could fall outward and left it there for a night to dry. My question is,

1. Is it possible for it to still work? ( there is a small button to the side where when I press it, 5-6 little green lights turn on)

2. How long should I dry it?

3. What are the Green lights? (mentioned in no. 1)

Please bare with my literacy, I am very young.

scathe · Feb 15, 2009

the green light are indicators of how your battery is charged, so if they light up at least your battery is ok

in cases like this it's a lottery, leave it for a day to dry with the battery out and unplugged from a power source, if it doesn't help you can try and take it to an apple store and hope only something small got fried ... sometimes it's ok and you nothing happens when you spill liquid in the keyboard, sometimes it's not

the important thing is to turn your computer right away and let it dry

Khris · Feb 15, 2009

scathe said:
in cases like this it's a lottery, leave it for a day to dry with the battery out and unplugged from a power source

It sure is a lottery if you're only going to let it dry for a day. Personally I wouldn't want any part of those odds.

Seriously......let it dry for a week. You might think that extreme, but the longer you give it, the better your odds are.

Also, since it's apple juice, you're going to have sticky crap inside which could end up making things worse as time progresses. If your machine is out of warranty (or if you're extremely careful) I would pull it apart completely and wash all the parts to get rid of the juice with demineralized water. Then leave all the parts out on a towel under a little desk lamp, or other low heat source, for a few days.

The more care you put in before powering up again, the more likely you will be to save it.

Muleartist · Feb 15, 2009

Water never touched the keyboard there is a case around it and the apple juice only came in contact with the back x:

True Bassist · Feb 15, 2009

If it's only been spilt on the actual casing then you shouldn't have a problem with liquid inside the Mac but just to be sure leave it to dry for a few days / week.

jskit · Feb 16, 2009

Khris said:
I would pull it apart completely and wash all the parts to get rid of the juice with demineralized water. Then leave all the parts out on a towel under a little desk lamp, or other low heat source, for a few days.

i would suggest you not to wash it. but use a moderated wet towel (for a finer work, use cotton tool tip to do it nicely) to rub off anything sticky throughout parts, then as Khris said, leave it for like week or weeks. i haven't had such unfortunate experience with my macs but i do have had cases like this with my other gadget, the worse case i have was once my phone dropped in salt water completely. just clean it, prey while it drys. Good luck~

AirAddict · Feb 16, 2009

put it in a ziplock bag of white rice will take out the moisture

Khris · Feb 16, 2009

jskit said:
i would suggest you not to wash it.

And your reasons are? It's fine if you don't agree, but don't just dismiss my point without a valid argument.

I've saved quite a number of wet electronics by washing them in demineralized water, and then air drying for a number of days. One laptop that had a cup full of coffee with sugar spilled directly into the keyboard 2 years ago, is still running strong today because of quick thinking to pull the power and battery, and then completely cleaning all the sugar mess out by washing it.

AirAddict said:
put it in a ziplock bag of white rice will take out the moisture

This also works well if you don't feel comfortable taking the device apart, and assuming it's small enough to get into a ziplock. It may take a little longer though to ensure that there is no moisture left inside the device.

DauntlessEagle · Feb 16, 2009

Ohh god .. hope it gets better for you m8

vansmith · Feb 16, 2009

It is possible that it will work again. My old roommate spilled what I think was juice (could have been pop) all over his old laptop. It didn't turn on right away but did a few days later after letting it dry thoroughly.

Don't take any chances - whatever you think is long enough to let it dry, do it a little longer just to be safe.

AirAddict · Feb 16, 2009

Khris said:
It sure is a lottery if you're only going to let it dry for a day. Personally I wouldn't want any part of those odds.

Seriously......let it dry for a week. You might think that extreme, but the longer you give it, the better your odds are.

Also, since it's apple juice, you're going to have sticky crap inside which could end up making things worse as time progresses. If your machine is out of warranty (or if you're extremely careful) I would pull it apart completely and wash all the parts to get rid of the juice with demineralized water. Then leave all the parts out on a towel under a little desk lamp, or other low heat source, for a few days.

The more care you put in before powering up again, the more likely you will be to save it.

you are correct, anything that has suger or acid needs to be cleaned out with distilled water

wet macbook. is it broken?

Muleartist

scathe

Khris

Muleartist

True Bassist

jskit

AirAddict

Khris

DauntlessEagle

vansmith

Senior Member

AirAddict

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