How I Fixed my liquid damaged Macbook Pro 15.4" early 2011. Need advice on whats next

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Hey guys.

I don't really ever post hear, just read, but I wanted to share how I repaired my mac, and ask your opinions on if there is anything else I should/can do.

This process wasn't really hard, so I also want this to be out there as a guide of sorts to help people fix their mac quickly and on a budget. When I started trying to save my mac from this spill, I couldn't really find a guide that was like here's how I fixed mine.

Using the guides at Ifixit.com nearly anyone can save there liquid damaged macbook. I go to school for computer engineering, and I am A+ certified, so again I just wanted to share what worked for me.

I know a lot of people just let their machines dry and hope for the best when this happens. It really isn't that hard to tear it down and clean it up right.
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Well it seems that about 6 oz of Hawaiian punch was spilled onto my keyboard cover. How much of it leaked over the sides and into the keyboard, and how much of it was soaked up with a towel I am unsure. But a good bit of it did leak through the keyboard, all the way to the top of the bottom case. I was told the spill wasn't very bad, so the laptop also never was turned upside down, and was powered on once immediately after the spill. Here's what I did from there:
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First I powered down the computer obviously, and took the bottom case off to allow air flow:

From there I ran out and purchased:
RadioShack Branded "Preision Electronics Cleaner" (This is a very good quality cleaner for motherboards etc. but is not neccasary, you can honestly skip this because it was $15 and the 91% rubbing alohol is just as good)

A bottle of 91% Isopropyl (Rubbing alcohol) and a spray bottle, and a T6 Torx since mine was missing.

Q tips

Other things I needed were:
A dremel (info on which one is below),
Thermal paste (available at radio shack),
various small screwdrivers/ t6 and other torx (Walmart has a nice "44 piece precision screwdriver bit set" that has everything you need for $7)

ifixit.com's guides on removing the heatsink and optical drive were very handy.

If this is your first total laptop teardown, I personally use a ice cube tray, or pill holder, to keep track of where all the screws go.
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Once I had everything I needed, I completely dissembled the machine, everything in the bottom case. This includes the Battery, Logic board, Heat sink, Optical drive, etc.
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The Hawaiian punch became a goo of sorts, so i started with a blast of the electronics cleaner on the Logic board. Then moved onto applying the 91% IP alcohol w/ a squirt bottle and using a Q tip to remove the goo. Next I removed the heat sink and removed the stock thermal paste, in case any liquid had seeped in, and applied Arctic Silver 5.
The ram slots were sticky so i cleaned the w/ the electronics cleaner.
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When removing the battery I encountered these three awful "Tri-Wing" type screws that hold the battery in place.

I did not have a driver to fit these, or time to order one. My warranty was obviously ruined, so what I did from here was (Carefully) use a wireless dremel tool (an inexpensive one that was 19.99 at Walmart, these are not very powerful) to cut a slot into the screws so that they could be removed w/ a flathead.(I uploaded a picture of the finished cut)

I also encountered two phillips screws that I could not budge. They were on a cover that goes over two cables that needed to be unhooked on the logic board, to free the board from the chassis. I used the same process on these.
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At this point I had striped the entire computer, so over the next day, I used the spray bottle of rubbing alcohol, and q-tips(dipping the q tip in a shot-glass of IP alcohol is a good way to apply it to) to repeatedly clean nearly every inch of the logic board, components, and case and especially the connectors, to make sure none of the punch was left inside the case or the components.
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I allowed the machine between 48 and 72 hours to dry (from the initial spill) before powering it on, and now everything is working fine.

However, my keyboard is not responding like it used to. The keys stick, and respond slowly. Anyone have any tips on how to fix this. I think it will get better w/ time. I could not find any tear downs for the keyboard? I would ideally just replace it.

Is there any components I should replace right off the bat after this accident, such as the DC board, or battery? I personally feel I have drastically reduced the life of this machine. Anyone have experience w/ using a liquid damaged machine, what should I expect?

Thanks for reading!
 

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