Here's hoping, you desperate ones!
Hi everyone,
Just created an account today to add my 2 cents here, if this can help anyone manage, or even just make them feel a little better while waiting to turn their laptop back on... Here's my experience so far, and a recap (of everything i've read on here and elsewhere, and figured out myself) on what to do after a nasty spill on their laptop.
The same (stupid) thing happened to me this week as to many others before: i was celebrating my finally successful data retrieval from my dead macbook white after several days of pain. I had just finished reinstalling the bare minimum - osx, a few apps i can't live without, and setting system preferences - in order to start clean (system language on the new macbook kept bugging after logging in as root user on apple's advice to transfer otherwise inaccessible data, even after deletion of that user)... and accidentally spilled half a glass of (coke zero) cuba libre onto my lap - most of it went on the couch and floor, though - where my 2 month old macbook pro was on and plugged!!!
Most of the liquid that got on the mac poured down the screen, straight behind (a few drops barely even touching) the back edge of the computer, but a fair amount landed on the upper half of the keyboard: several rows of keys seemed soaked at the time. Fortunately, since there were not only drinks, but also amuse-gueule nearby and i was with a longtime friend i don't care to impress, i had a roll of paper towel on the coffee table, immediately reachable without my moving. My first reflex was to wipe off the keyboard (not actually making wiping gestures when it was still soaked so i wouldn't move the liquid around, just applying paper towel at first, then throwing it out and gently pressing down fresh one again and again).
Not sure if i turned off the machine in the process or if it did it by itself, but it was off almost right away (from everything i've read, first thing to do during first wiping of the keyboard to avoid lethal short!!!). I then unplugged it, quickly wiped the screen front and bottom edge, spending a little more time at the junction of the screen with the machine (i had a fan between my lap and the computer so even though the keyboard got wet, the laptop never actually sat on the liquid), put a clean paper towel over the keyboard, closed the lid, turned the computer upside down and gently shook it down several times. Was relieved to find out not a single drop came out of the keyboard.
Obviously, in other cases (basic laws of physics, you know?):
- IF YOUR LAPTOP ONLY SAT ON LIQUID THAT GOT SPILLED NEXT TO / AROUND IT AND GOT BELOW IT (if no liquid got directly on the keyboard or edges of the trackpad at all) DO NOT TURN IT UPSIDE DOWN before you try to power up the machine again, just gently tilt it diagonally (corner on the side that was most wet down, if there's any difference) to let the liquid out for as long as it drips, then maybe even let it dry in that position instead of setting it down normally again, especially if the dripping was important.
- IF BOTH THINGS HAPPENED (liquid on the keyboard AND under the macbook, AND YOU'RE THERE TO ACT ON IT RIGHT AWAY) TURN IT UPSIDE DOWN (wiping off the bottom in the process, of course) and keep it that way for the rest of the procedure, just as if only the keyboard was wet: the riskier thing is definitely the keyboard spill (the space between every key means manier and quicker ways for the liquid to get in the machine than the plain side-to-side lower lid that probably protected the bottom part much better during those few seconds).
- IF THAT DOUBLE-SIDED SPILL OCCURRED (on keyboard AND under bottom lid) WHILE NO ONE WAS AROUND (young kid, dog's tail or cat knocking forgotten glass over while you're away?) so the liquid definitely got between the keys and the whole computer sat on the liquid for quite some time before you realized what happened... Sorry, i believe you're scr***d no matter what, but you never know, maybe there actually wasn't that much in the computer, you might be incredibly fortunate (it does happen to some, while others are so unlucky they instantly kill their laptop with just a few misplaced drops), so obviously you should still try to tilt the computer diagonally to let most of the liquid drip out, and then... I don't know, liquid probably had time to get deep inside the machine from both the keyboard and bottom, so just take your pick (i would probably just let it sit diagonally for at least a week, or vertically, always leaving the same side up)...
Anyway, I then put a small amount of alcohol (pharmacy's, as opposed to rum...) on one end of a folded paper towel, which i folded again over the dry part of it, pressing hard to make sure it wasn't too damp, and gently rubbed it on top of and alongside the keys to try and avoid them get sticky in any way, and since alcohol is very volatile i thought it would help getting things dry (not sure if this was useful at all, but at least it apparently didn't hurt). Left the macbook closed upside down with fresh paper towel between keyboard and screen while rushing on my smartphone to find out what to do next (THANK YOU MAC-FORUMS, i am forever in your debt!). Just like anyone in this situation, I was dying to turn the computer back on to see if it worked, but found out YOU SHOULD NEVER TRY TO TURN YOUR LAPTOP BACK ON ANYTIME SOON AFTER SPILLING LIQUID ON THE KEYBOARD, so i painfully refrained my urges...
Tried to open the lower part of the computer to unplug the battery and have better air circulation inside the computer for a more efficient drying, but as it was never opened since i bought it, 2 of the screws wouldn't come off. Since it was past midnight and i was a little tipsy, i got afraid to do more harm than good under all that pressure (like damaging screws, making them forever impossible to remove) so i decided to let it go - but if you can do it, you definitely should.
As i had no plastic box big enough to hold my computer open upside down, i got a big plastic bag, laid it on a flat surface, put all the rice of the house inside and flattened it, and opened the mac's top lid (aka the screen) as far as it would go (so the keyboard would be as close to the rice as possible), stuck the computer lid fully open, upside down in the bag on top of the rice and slid the bag opening under the edge of the computer.
Over the next 2 days, i spent an awful lot of time reading every single post on this thread (and on other sites, but this one was the most helpful, by far) to find out if there was any more i could do at the time, how long i should wait before turning the computer on again, and what to do afterwards in case it acted funny (or even if it seemed ok). After 24 hours with the rice (OVER IT, NOT IN it, unless you want your computer to swallow some), i thought it was time to let some fresh air inside the mac so i took it out of the bag and placed it (lid opened at a 90° angle, still upside down) in my room next to the heater - but not too close! - switching sides from time to time so both would get to be close to the heater. At some point, i finally thought of my little Kärcher machine that vacuums water off the windows (if i had thought about it from the beginning, i would've used it straight away before the rice bag). Its vacuuming seems milder than that of a handheld vacuum cleaner (which i was afraid would be too strong), plus it was made for vacuuming water, so... Since its flat tip turned out to be almost exactly the length of my 13 inch macbook pro keyboard from side to side I thoroughly cleaned it with alcohol, let it dry and carefully ran it between each line of keys and on the junction between screen and computer. Just like the initial alcohol wiping alongside the keys, not sure it did any good but it obviously didn't hurt. About 40 hours after the initial incident... I know it's not really enough - they say it's 72 hours at the very least, and i strongly believe you should respect that delay, should your keyboard spill a few drops when you first turn it upside down, which was not the case for mine - but i couldn't take the wait anymore, i hadn't slept and barely eaten (one pizza, not american sized either, waaay smaller in almost two days, that's right, and that's it: no breakfast or anything) since it happened, giving up more hope after each post i read... I decided it was time for the moment of truth.
I first pressed the battery button on the left side to get a first clue as to whether or not the liquid had gotten to it, all the lights turned green (it had just gotten fully charged right before the accident). Just to be clear, if the lights hadn't seemed right i would have NEVER tried to turn the computer back on before it got opened and properly inspected.
So I said a little prayer (ME! - if you knew me at all, this would definitely crack you up), told my macbook pro how much i loved it and how grateful i would be if by any chance it decided not to act out... turned it over, pressed the "on" button... and the miracle happened: it turned on normally, even opening the windows that were up at the time of the spill!
After closing all the applications i turned the mac back off, and then on again holding cmd+D in order to run the hardware test, which it passed successfully. Again: if it hadn't, i would've just written down the error message(s) to give it to apple and DEFINITELY WOULDN'T have turned it back on.
I then turned it back off and logged into my account, opened a blank word document as well as the keyboard viewer (two keys on it were orange, which kind of scared me, but turned out to be normal on my keyboard - fyi, the number of orange keys varies depending on the language), and went through the process of testing every single key. Not only did they work fine, but none of them felt even sticky at all, and the backlight under them enabled me to see there was no brownish residue, as far i could tell. So i called apple and explained what happened, told them i was unsure if any liquid got inside at all but wished to have the macbook fully checked, which they agreed needed to be done. They said my chances were pretty good though, as the computer acted normal for now and i fortunately did everything right after the spill happened, which is why i wrote this very detailed, lenghty post. Anyway, i know it's pointless (and dishonest, btw) to try and hide a liquid spill on a laptop, and if i voided my warranty, i'd rather know now than have the "surprise" if my computer needs to be repaired during supposed coverage. And most of all, if it IS void anyway because liquid actually got in, i am definitely gonna take the macbook to a different store asap in order to have every single component taken out and cleaned (as i understand apple doesn't offer that service even if you're willing to pay, and i don't have the right screwdriver or experience to do anything other than take out the hard drive and memory chips or unplug the battery).
It's been 2 days now since i turned my macbook pro back on, and after several times letting it turn off the screen, go to sleep, restarting it, turning it off and on, i spent several hours on both days doing different things on it (better part of the day yesterday: even downloaded, installed and played a game on it for several hours), and it behaves exactly the way it should every time, didn't do anything weird as of yet. Still, i am watching it closely, ready to turn it off any minute until my appointment at the apple store on friday, which is mandatory for my peace of mind. I'll let you guys know the verdict (in just two sentences this time, i swear, lol).
Anyway, those of you who are going through that horrendous wait before turning your laptop back on, i feel for you guys... And even though you definitely shouldn't get your hopes up, don't give up just yet either, some of us are lucky enough to have their computer act normal after spilling sticky acid liquid on half its keyboard.
Hoping for the best (for your beloved mac laptops, as well as mine)!
Peace.
Don't drink or allow anyone else to drink around a laptop/notebook computer! And liquid spill fears will be 0%!
![:\](/mac_images/images/smilies/Undecided.png "Undecided :\")
i guess i just don't trust my apple store!
