The Official "I spilled liquid in my MacBook, what do I do now?" Thread

SurReality89 said:

...maybe some part of the board can be fried and other parts can still work, i don't know.

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Ding, ding, ding, ding…you hit the nail on the head! There are 1000's and 1000's of micro circuits on the logic board…and if only one of them is not working…guess what…dead computer. And in this case…there's probably multiple micro circuits not working. For the average person…this cannot be tested, identified, or repaired.

SurReality89 said:

i know that parts of the computer are dead and parts work, i am just wondering if it is possible for me to tell that the logic board works or not, and what needs to be replaced.

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Yes it is possible to see if the logic board works or not…it's called the "replacement process". You replace known good parts for bad or possibly bad parts. But guess what. A replacement logic board for this computer will most likely cost MORE than this computer is worth. And that's more than the computer is worth if it was working 100%…not its value in its current non-working state.

Like I said before…this situation is not any different than many of the situations in this thread…in fact it's actually probably worse (more liquid + more contact time). Liquid + Laptop = Dead Laptop. It's an expensive lesson!

- Nick

yea i'm looking at getting a replacement computer of the same model, i watching one being auctioned for possibly less than $200 in 4 hours... but i up and spent all the disposable money i have on a bitcoin mining processor... but it actually is pretty difficult to find these computers in working condition for cheaper than a brand new logic board costs, generally they are more than 300 bucks which seems insane for a 5 year old computer.

(Not that I've read every page of this forum) but from reading this and MANY other forum posts, I must present my unique case.
First, we have a basic scenario. Spilled a glass of water, got the MacBook upside-down, wiped it off, wiped the insides off, unplugged it, left it upside down over night in a teepee formation, ETC
HOWEVER, before I read any forums, which strongly discourage doing this, I tried turning the device on after it shut off. This morning, after about 13 hours in a very warm room, I attempted to turn it on, and the fan turns on every time, (I only tried once, but a few more times the previous day) and the computer makes a few noises like it would when it runs. The fan goes from low to high, but the screen never turns on. I'm aware that the situation is yet young, and I am going to let it dry some more days, but since the internal parts seem to be turning on (And just minutes after the spill when opening the back, there was very little sign of water, although a lot was spilled) does this mean that the hard drive, battery, other internal parts ETC are still intact? I would love to have any other help, thanks!

York said:

(Not that I've read every page of this forum) but from reading this and MANY other forum posts, I must present my unique case.
First, we have a basic scenario. Spilled a glass of water, got the MacBook upside-down, wiped it off, wiped the insides off, unplugged it, left it upside down over night in a teepee formation, ETC
HOWEVER, before I read any forums, which strongly discourage doing this, I tried turning the device on after it shut off. This morning, after about 13 hours in a very warm room, I attempted to turn it on, and the fan turns on every time, (I only tried once, but a few more times the previous day) and the computer makes a few noises like it would when it runs. The fan goes from low to high, but the screen never turns on. I'm aware that the situation is yet young, and I am going to let it dry some more days, but since the internal parts seem to be turning on (And just minutes after the spill when opening the back, there was very little sign of water, although a lot was spilled) does this mean that the hard drive, battery, other internal parts ETC are still intact? I would love to have any other help, thanks!

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a) I would take it somewhere where you can get a free assessment.
b) I literally did the exact same thing you did. Actually, after a few days of drying in rice, the display turned on. Eventually, this did not last and the display never turned on again. However, the internal aspects seemed to be working fine. Going back to point (a), I took into a place for a free assessment. I was told that the LVDS cable or something was oxidized and so were other areas. They tried a fresh part, but it did not work. I'm actually working off that macbook right now, but I have to use an external display. Just in case, definitely back up your stuff to an external HD asap.

Hope that helps.

@York

I wish I could be the bearer of better news for you. However, a spill of that nature when the machine was on very likely caused a short on the logic board that's not going to cure itself after drying. But who knows? You may have gotten lucky. Let us know how it turns out.

@chscag

What are your thoughts on the extent of water damage? Does the corrosion stop immediately after the machine is dry or will it be forever spreading? I only ask, because the tech I was talking to said that my MBP might die in the next few months or so.

Don't believe everything you hear. I was in the computer and electronic repair business for many years and have seen my share of spills. Even several in salt water!

Provided you thoroughly clean the moisture (and I mean thoroughly) and allow it to adequately dry, the corrosion will not spread. That's for water spills. Other types of liquid spills may require a different approach and the use of special chemicals to ensure corrosion removal.

If, however, the moisture is not completely removed (and sometimes it's difficult to do so) then, that may lead to other problems in the future. A large spill of water almost always requires the complete disassembly of the machine - logic board, etc. in order to dry everything out.

For disassembly instructions see iFixit: The free repair manual and find your model. They have excellent step by step procedures that you can follow.

alexroussos said:

@chscag

What are your thoughts on the extent of water damage? Does the corrosion stop immediately after the machine is dry or will it be forever spreading? I only ask, because the tech I was talking to said that my MBP might die in the next few months or so.

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What you need to remember is…the corrosion can be an after-effect of the liquid being in contact with the metal parts (oxidation).

Where the real damage may have occurred is the liquid touching parts that were "energized" with electricity. If this was the case…then some electronics may have shorted out (dead parts). If there are shorted-out parts…removing every spec. of corrosion won't make a bit of difference…since the parts are already gone/dead.

But…you could still try removing the corrosion…who knows…maybe a miracle will occur!

Good luck,

- Nick

Hi so here's my story.

I knocked a glass water over and spilt like maybe a max of one inch and a half of water on to my MacBook Air 13" It spread from the left side diagonally up and just about reached the QWERTY keys. Luckily I had a bunch of paper napkins on hand and after yelling an appropriate expletive I piled them on. I think I wiped up most of the water. Once I was done you couldn't really tell any had spilt at all.

I didn't have any prior knowledge of this sort of thing and it seemed to be working fine so for the next 15 minutes or so I look up stuff on forums and tested all the keys. All the buttons seem to be working, I just haven't tried the arrow keys. After reading various posts I realized I need to turn it off which I did about 15 minutes after the fact. I turned it upside down for a couple of minutes and then looked again. I can't see any water anywhere. Maybe ten minutes later I dried with a hairdresser for a few seconds every few minutes. It's still powered off and I plan to leave it like that for the next couple of days. I live in Pakistan and the apple dealers here are VERY unhelpful. So I don't plan on taking it to them, and there isn't anyone else that I trust taking it too.

So my question is, how much damage do you think has been done? After things dry out, what are the chances of a relapse? This whole corrosion thing that's been mentioned in earlier posts, when does that occur? Only when water has been left behind? What do you think my air's chances are? I hope you can help me, I really need to put my mind at ease. This laptop's barely a year old, and I do not look forward to telling my father that it's busted

Spillage

Sorry to hear about your accident.

Some months ago, I used an overdamp Kleenex to clean the screen of my MPB and then on the flat surfaces next to the trackpad and (alas!) on the trackpad itself.

The trackpad became oversensitive and developed a mind of its own: when I touched it, all kinds of strange things would happen on the screen. However, the MPB did continue to work fine via a mouse. The fault did not inconvenience me too much because I hardly ever use the MPB away from my desk and, in any case, much prefer the magic mouse.

I had also not read the advice on this forum and assumed the best thing would be to leave the MPB on charge.

Anyway, the trackpad is now working more or less normally: the only thing I would say is that it may be a bit oversensitive. Because I'm not used to the trackpad, I'm unsure whether the following is normal or not: when I go to 'Preview Post' on this forum, I just need to gently touch the 'Preview Post' tab via the trackpad; I don't need to click it with the trackpad. I suspect that this is not normal because I need a positive click when I use the magic mouse. (I'd appreciate a comment from someone about this point.)

I hope that your Air will recover as least as well as my MPB has done.

M

So my question is, how much damage do you think has been done? After things dry out, what are the chances of a relapse? This whole corrosion thing that's been mentioned in earlier posts, when does that occur? Only when water has been left behind? What do you think my air's chances are? I hope you can help me, I really need to put my mind at ease.

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It's hard to say. Most folks react the way you did when the proper reaction should be to immediately turn the machine off, turn it upside down, and remove the battery. (If it's the removable type.)

Since it's approaching Winter in Pakistan and it's a fairly dry climate, you might get lucky and no damage will occur. Only time will tell.

chscag said:

It's hard to say. Most folks react the way you did when the proper reaction should be to immediately turn the machine off, turn it upside down, and remove the battery. (If it's the removable type.)

Since it's approaching Winter in Pakistan and it's a fairly dry climate, you might get lucky and no damage will occur. Only time will tell.

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Hey thanks for the reply. Funny thing was that morning we had our first proper storm of the year! So it was a bit humid, but it's cool and dry again today. I'll keep these vital pointers in mind, but I hope I don't ever have to put them to use again. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope (and pray like crazy ;D) for the best.

Thanks Mikeo1938 for the good vibes. Hope your trackpad gets back to 100%

Hey everyone! After 72 hours f drying my MB Air appears to be A-okay! Phew I hope it stays this way. Nothing seems to be amiss, all the buttons are working, it powered on fine and even reopened all my windows! Thanks for the advice everyone and the encouragement. I AM NEVER EVER EVER TAKING LIQUIDS NEAR MY POOR BABY AGAIN. Good luck to the rest of you! I hope your laptop makes it through!!

Famous4it said:

I AM NEVER EVER EVER TAKING LIQUIDS NEAR MY POOR BABY AGAIN.

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I couldn't agree with you more (a great strategy)…pass the word around to all your friends!!!

To anyone reading this thread…or any new members who I'm sure will be posting in this thread in the near future…DO NOT DRINK LIQUIDS NEAR YOUR LAPTOP/NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS!!!

- Nick

Water Damage to MackBook (read details please)

I don't personally own a Mac, this is my step-dad's Mac, but he refuses to ask for help...
Apparently the other night the Mac he has had water spilled all over it, however my nephew, who spilled the water, didn't tell anyone about it so it sat for about 6 hours allowing the water to fully seep in, as no attempt to dry it was made.
As I don't own a Mac I don't know what details are significant, so I'll put in all the details:
1. At the time the water was spilled onto the Mac Book the Mac should have been on (it is usually left on all night).
2. The water stayed set on the Mac with no attempt to dry for approximately 6 hours or more.
3. As no one knew the Mac was damaged the Mac WAS attempted to be powered on multiple times (I looked it up afterwards and read that you SHOULD NOT try and power it on after water damage).
4. When my step dad put a toothpick in one of the USB ports (I guess he saw something in there) a blue "gunk" came out that almost looked like gum, but when rubbed between the fingers it shows it is a liquid metallic substance, and loses the blue color.(don't know if that's okay or not, again I don't really know anything about Macs)

-I know many of you will recommend taking it to an apple store, but I did some research on that, and apparently they will void your warranty and typically will cost you as much if not more than just getting a new machine, even if it is fixed.-- Which obviously he would want to avoid-- Storage isn't an issue because I work with computers and if it comes to getting a new machine I can get it off of the machine without any power available to it (I'm certain all his stuff is backed up either way).

Mukakruda said:

I don't personally own a Mac, this is my step-dad's Mac, but he refuses to ask for help...
Apparently the other night the Mac he has had water spilled all over it, however my nephew, who spilled the water, didn't tell anyone about it so it sat for about 6 hours allowing the water to fully seep in, as no attempt to dry it was made.
As I don't own a Mac I don't know what details are significant, so I'll put in all the details:

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Thread moved to more appropriate location.

Basically there's a 99% chance that the logic board is fried. Depending on the model a replacement logic board with coat between $500-$750 bucks...which usually means (in most cases)...it is not financially worth it.

If you need more info...please read this "Sticky Thread" (the thread your post is currently in).

- Nick

three keys not working

hello all. i spilled some water on my macbook pro, let it dry and am typing from it now. i'm really glad it works at all BUT three specific keys do not work... so i remapped them and it is annoying... maybe i will get used to it but i'm wondering if the keys are permanently damaged. the keys were the 9, o, and delete key. i do a lot of writing so i'm planning on using this old g4 keyboard that's laying around when i'm at home but that's not always convenient. my model is MacBookPro3,1.

thanks!

Water damage

Well, i've read about all i can about water damaged Macbook Pro's and I've learned at least that every situation is different. My situation is similar to most, water spilled on the mac. My son dabbed it dry and it was used again shortly after the spill, it worked fine for about an hour then shut down completely. Being a Mr. fixit i have been reading up and researching what to do. Obviously the proper steps were not taken from the begining so I don't need a lecture on the proper procedure, what I would like is some help sorting out what is damaged and how to fix it if possible.
We left the Mac to dry for 2 weeks while we were on holidays. I tried to boot it up but nothing. I openened it up and looked for any water or corrosion, nothing. I removed the battery connector and reconnected it. It will start booting up after this, but will get to the point of a status bar about 1/8th and then shuts down. I have removed the HDD and it will boot up to the point of the ? on the screen. The water indicators I can see are all still white and it looks clean and no signs of damage. I will let it dry out more and cross my fingers but if anyone can offer any further ideas that would be appreciated.
BTW- can anyone tell me why the battery is "not to be removed" from this model? The track pad was cracked previously and obviously the battery needs to be removed to replace it right?

Phototrekker said:

Well, i've read about all i can about water damaged Macbook Pro's and I've learned at least that every situation is different.

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The "back-story" may be different...but two things are very very common:

1. Liquid was spilled on the computer.
2. In almost all cases (95+%)...the computer is not working...and will continue not to work.

Phototrekker said:

Being a Mr. fixit i have been reading up and researching what to do.

...what I would like is some help sorting out what is damaged and how to fix it if possible.

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In most cases the main part that is damaged is the logic board. In the U.S. this is usually a $500-$700 part/repair...which usually means the cost of the repair is financially not a wise decision compared to the current value of the computer.

Phototrekker said:

BTW- can anyone tell me why the battery is "not to be removed" from this model?

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It's not that the battery is "not to be removed"...Apple just calls it a "non-user replaceable battery". It most certainly can be removed & replaced buy an owner if they have the tools & confidence to do it (which is not that difficult).

To be very honest...this situation is not different at all compared to the myriad of posts currently in this thread...and the many others that have been posted on Mac-Forums over the years.

Liquid + Laptop = Dead Laptop

HTH,

- Nick

Retrieving Files From Machine

Here we go again...my second MacBook to have bitten the dust thanks to a liquid accident. the culprit this time: a glass of Bordeaux.

I've cut my losses and decided to get an iMac that I've been wanting for some time anyways. However, I would like to know what options I might have in accessing any potential files that might still be able to be accessed in order to put them on my new machine. I'm not terribly tech saavy when it comes to hardware but I wouldn't say I'm at ground zero. Anyways, I know there is the potential that files are corrupt and thus lost forever but if there is any way to try transferring files off the machine to the new one that'd be great, but it probably would involved removing the harddrive since the machine does not power on.
Is the best bet to take it to an Apple genius and let them see if anything is recoverable. If so, any estimates about what such a thing might cost?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Hopefully I've learned my lesson!