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

chscag

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I recommend removing the hard drive as soon as you can in order to avoid any of the wine spillage from getting on it or into it. There are delicate electronics on the drive itself which means you don't want to risk any further problems. Removing the drive is easy. I'm not sure about your model but I believe you may need a phillips screwdriver and possibly a torx driver.
 
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Removing Hard Drive

I recommend removing the hard drive as soon as you can in order to avoid any of the wine spillage from getting on it or into it. There are delicate electronics on the drive itself which means you don't want to risk any further problems. Removing the drive is easy. I'm not sure about your model but I believe you may need a phillips screwdriver and possibly a torx driver.

Thanks again CHSCAG. I miraculously found a phillips screwdrive small enough to remove the hard drive. The label paper and surface of the HD were not wet and do not appear stained, so I am hoping that is a good sign. Do you recommend waiting 72-96 hours for the rest of the circuits to dry out, reinsert the HD, and try to boot it up--or should I just wait for 3 weeks, buy a new laptop, and see if the data transfers? As you might be able to tell, I am a techno-dinosaur with these things.
 

chscag

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I would wait until you get back home and then place the drive back in the machine hoping that it will boot and work normally. However, before you do that, follow what I told you above about copying the data off your hard drive first. You can do all that back home where you'll have access to an Apple store.
 
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Final Thanks

I would wait until you get back home and then place the drive back in the machine hoping that it will boot and work normally. However, before you do that, follow what I told you above about copying the data off your hard drive first. You can do all that back home where you'll have access to an Apple store.

Roger, copy. Will do. Appreciate assistance. Happy holidays and safe flying.
 

chscag

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Read through the entire thread (from the beginning) above your post to learn how to deal with the coke spill.
 
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It seems like a lot of help is being offered here, something which I've been in desperate need of. :\

My story goes a little like this––

Friday evening, I'm surfing away at my laptop with a full glass of Coca Cola just inches away from the MBP. My sister, who was beside me, sort of… flails her arms from excitement, and she accidentally knocks over the glass of Coke. (My fault since I put it there, that much I admit)

As for the spill itself, only a small amount of Coke actually reached the laptop, as most of it spilled onto the table itself. A small pool formed just above the ESC key, the function keys, and the disc eject key. Although I turned it off and flipped it over immediately, I'm certain a minute amount seeped inside the keys anyway.

I've kept it off, disconnected from power sources, and dry for about 3 days now. The spill was last Friday, November 2nd, 10:20PM, and I haven't touched it since.

Judging from the magnitude of the spill, I was kind of hoping to hear that there was minimal to no damage at all.

Is there anything directly underneath the keyboard that could have been compromised? Should I be worried about it?

Please help me, Mac Forums. It's been driving me insane. :\

EDIT: I've taken most of the steps listed here, with the exception of opening up the Mac. It's the only thing I'm deathly afraid of.
 
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pigoo3

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Please help me, MacRumor.

Sorry…but we are NOT MacRumors! If you're going to post the same message on multiple internet forums…at least modify your post! It's sort of insulting!:(

- Nick
 
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Sorry…but we are NOT MacRumors! If you're going to post the same message on multiple internet forums…at least modify your post! It's sort of insulting!:(

- Nick

Oh my Gosh! I am so sorry Nick! No, this is the only website on which I've posted. I was so flustered I'm sorry :( I'll edit it right away!
 

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Oh my Gosh! I am so sorry Nick! No, this is the only website on which I've posted. I was so flustered I'm sorry :( I'll edit it right away!

Thank you very much for correcting that!:)

As far as your liquid spill problem. It's hard to say exactly if anything under the keyboard got wet. It really depends on how much liquid was spilt. I know you said that only a small amount of Coke got on the keyboard…but honestly…in these "freak-out" type situations…it's sort of hard to quickly estimate how much liquid got on/in the computer.

Beneath the keyboard is the logic board…and this is something you DEFINITELY do not want getting wet! The only 100% way of being sure no liquid got on the logic board…would be to disassemble the computer and check (since Coke is very easy to spot).

If there truly was not much Coke spilt on the laptop…most likely the worst damage is going to be some sticking keyboard keys. But if more than Coke was spilt than mentioned above…then the logic board may have been effected.

It's really hard to say. The less liquid spilt on the computer the better.

- Nick
 
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Thank you very much for correcting that!:)

As far as your liquid spill problem. It's hard to say exactly if anything under the keyboard got wet. It really depends on how much liquid was spilt. I know you said that only a small amount of Coke got on the keyboard…but honestly…in these "freak-out" type situations…it's sort of hard to quickly estimate how much liquid got on/in the computer.

Beneath the keyboard is the logic board…and this is something you DEFINITELY do not want getting wet! The only 100% way of being sure no liquid got on the logic board…would be to disassemble the computer and check (since Coke is very easy to spot).

If there truly was not much Coke spilt on the laptop…most likely the worst damage is going to be some sticking keyboard keys. But if more than Coke was spilt than mentioned above…then the logic board may have been effected.

It's really hard to say. The less liquid spilt on the computer the better.

- Nick

It wasn't much Coke, really, most of it spilt on the table. I'm not having any sticking keys, though. Sure, the surface of the keys is sticky, but they don't "stick". There was one time my sister tried to help me disassemble the computer, though we only got as far as getting the cover off—screws and all. The next parts were too complicated to follow. I don't have the steadiest hands, so I fear I might do more bad than good.

From what I saw, though, the inside was dry and devoid of any Coke stains. That did nothing to calm me down, though, I still feel uneasy :(

I'm so sorry for the MacRumor thing!
 

pigoo3

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There was one time my sister tried to help me disassemble the computer, though we only got as far as getting the cover off—screws and all. The next parts were too complicated to follow.

If you're REALLY concerned about this…you can go to:

- iFixit: The free repair manual

…for some really good disassembly/assembly instructions (with photos).:)

- Nick
 
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Yeah you SHOULD be fine to turn it on and see if it works, I spilled half a bowl of cereal in that same spot and I didn't really do anything besides turn it upside down and wipe it off and mines has been fine, I had to break the keys lose the next morning but ever thing worked.
 

pigoo3

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Yeah you SHOULD be fine to turn it on and see if it works, I spilled half a bowl of cereal in that same spot and I didn't really do anything besides turn it upside down and wipe it off and mines has been fine, I had to break the keys lose the next morning but ever thing worked.

No two spills are exactly the same...and different laptops have different designs (13", 15", 17"...and different generations). Add to this different quantities of spilled liquid.

So predicting the path spilled liquid will follow is almost impossible...and impossible to know exactly what parts in the laptop are effected. And when someone picks up the laptop after a spill...it can be picked up & tilted in any of 1000+ different ways. So again...difficult to know what has actually been touched by the spilt liquid.

What I'm trying to say is...when it comes to liquid spills & laptops...it's really difficult to say when a situation is "fine" and "not fine". Statistically...spilled liquids + laptop = :(

In your case...you're one of the lucky ones!:)

- Nick
 
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Well, I may just have a new 'liquid' to add to the list for you guys. I spilled spaghetti sauce on my keyboard. I was actually hoping, since there wasn't a lot, that it wouldn't hurt it, but it did. First my arrow keys had issues, then the enter key went berserk. After a while, the shift key wouldn't capitalize any of the letters, so I decided to try shutting down and cleaning off the keyboard. Sadly it seems it's gotten so bad that it affected my power button and now the computer won't turn on. It still charges, funny enough, but it just doesn't turn on at all.

I'm pretty much taking the advice I got from this thread, so I'll just wait for a while and let it sit upside down and hope that maybe it'll turn back on after a while. If I need a new one, it's not a big deal though. I've had that computer since, I believe, '08 and firefox won't let me update on it anymore. (They pretty much said I'm just better off getting a new one.) I do hope I can get a lot of my files off of it though. I have a lot of works I've done in the past and it would be a shame to lose the original documents.
 
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MacBook core duo (1 or 2 idk) beer damage...

ok so i am trying to see if i can fix my computer, beer got spilt on it and it sat in the beer for maybe 8-12 hours while i was sleeping. i turned it on not knowing it was sitting in beer and the screen turned on, i realize after the screen came up with the apple and it was taking forever to boot that the table was soak and a beer had been knocked over so i immediately turned it off and unplugged it and removed the battery. i tried turning it on several days later, same thing apple came up on the screen but stayed at the apple screen.

i left it off for several weeks and then the screen wouldn't even come on. so now when i turn it on while its plugged in it seems to charge and when i unplug it shuts off when the charge is out. it makes a sounds when it shuts off too, so sound works. i have the keyboard off and can see the fan runs as well when the computer is on, its very quiet so i couldn't really tell until removed the keyboard and turned it on.

any suggestions as what the problem might be considering sound works and the fan works, screen worked at first and then stopped? i wish i had similar computer so i could just switch out components until i found one that didn't work but i can't do that.

also hard drive works, i salvaged all the data off it. plus it needs to be plugged in to turn on anyway.

i'm not sure if its a 1 or 2 but i got it in 2008 straight from apple.com
 

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ok so i am trying to see if i can fix my computer, beer got spilt on it and it sat in the beer for maybe 8-12 hours while i was sleeping.

Post moved to the "Official Spill Thread".

Regarding the question. If you read all pages of this thread…I think you will find all possible solutions that relate to this issue. I think that you will also find that this situation is far worse than almost anything so far mentioned in this thread (sat in beer for 8-12 hours).

Usually we say…"liquid + laptop = dead laptop!" In this case…"8-12 hours in beer + laptop = dead laptop!!!":(

- Nick
 
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its not dead though. battery holds a charge, sound works, fan runs and honestly i can't see any sign of water damage under the keyboard. it doesn't sound like the logic board is fried (which is a bit of a relief) i'm thinking its just the monitor and something around it.

(outdated links removed)
 
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pigoo3

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its not dead though.

"Dead" doesn't necessarily mean that it does nothing. "Dead" means that it does't work as it should. How can you tell that the logic board isn't fried?? Perfectly "good" & perfectly "bad" logic boards can look the same.

"8-12 hours in beer" is not good!:(

Read the thread…and try what has been suggested previously. This situation is no different than many of the others in the thread.

- Nick
 
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i can't tell for sure the logic board isn't fried. as i am not a computer professional, but the reason i believe it might be ok is because the sound works, battery charges, and fan works. to my understanding from looking at the guts of my computer all of these components that work are connected to the logic board. maybe some part of the board can be fried and other parts can still work, i don't know.
thanks for the reply though, i have looked through most of this thread and have done pretty much everything before reading it out of natural instinct as soon as i was aware of what happened. of course i know i am in this situation primarily because my computer sat in the liquid for so long, there is no reason to repeat the fact. i know its not good.

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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