Spilled water on Macbook, 2 seconds later it shut off

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Hi everyone,

Idiot move on my part, but I put my water cup on my Macbook and then knocked it over. I estimate about 1 cup of water went on the keyboard, with most of it going on the top right near the power. The computer went dead about 2 seconds later.

I took it apart and tried to dry it up. I know that sometimes you can wait it out and then try later, but I'm concerned about the immediate shut off. Is it safe to say it shorted out?

Can you estimate costs associated with that type of damage? How extensive is the damage? I know it is hard to estimate, but I'm curious how water damages a computer. It was everywhere and literally dripping out all sides.

Constructive advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
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Thanks Clay. I had the opportunity to read that thread. I guess my main question deals with the immediate shut off. That means it shorted out, right?
 
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Ya I am sorry to say it but....Ya If i shut down before you could power it down you have some serious damage I would bet. wish I could be more optimistic but I just can not.

Sorry
Clay
 
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Thanks for the info. I think my Mac is history. Oh well, live and learn.

Agree but thats a tough way to go about it. And maybe if it is toast there are probably some parts there that some one needs so....might recoup a little bit of cash.

Clay
 

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I know it is hard to estimate, but I'm curious how water damages a computer. It was everywhere and literally dripping out all sides.
It's not so much that water is damaging the laptop (in the short term)...it's basically that water + electricity don't mix!

In the long term...water will cause rusting/corrosion.

Sorry to hear about the accident,

- Nick
 
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Unreal!! My computer is working fine now!! I was using my other laptop to post, but here I am on my Macbook!! I thought it was toast, but for some reason the second try worked. Maybe it was because it dried up since last night?

Keyboard is a little different (sticky), but hardly noticeable. Glad I didn't just waste a great Macbook considering I just bought it OCT 08.

Morale of the story is this......Dump a huge amount of water all over the keyboard, thing shuts down within 2 seconds, and it comes back to life even after a failed attempt.

No more water near this laptop!! Hopefully the rust thing doesn't get me later, but I believe in this laptop now and think it will make it.
 

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Unreal!! My computer is working fine now!! I was using my other laptop to post, but here I am on my Macbook!! I thought it was toast, but for some reason the second try worked. Maybe it was because it dried up since last night?

Keyboard is a little different (sticky), but hardly noticeable. Glad I didn't just waste a great Macbook considering I just bought it OCT 08.

Morale of the story is this......Dump a huge amount of water all over the keyboard, thing shuts down within 2 seconds, and it comes back to life even after a failed attempt.

No more water near this laptop!! Hopefully the rust thing doesn't get me later, but I believe in this laptop now and think it will make it.

Wow...congrats that it's working again! We don't usually hear such positive outcomes when folks spill liquid on a laptop!:)

By the way:

Morale: emotional or mental condition with respect to cheerfulness, confidence, zeal, etc.

Moral: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.

;););)

Again...congrats on the successful resurrection of your laptop!:)

- Nick
 

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No more water near this laptop!! Hopefully the rust thing doesn't get me later, but I believe in this laptop now and think it will make it.

Don't be too overjoyed. Your troubles may just be beginning.... Water damage shows up in many ways, but usually it's a while after the spill. If I were you, I would take the MacBook apart best I could and let it dry out completely for a week. See if you can remove the keyboard as that will expose the logic board and other components to the air for drying.

I don't know if your MacBook was under warranty or Apple care, (you didn't say) but any warranty you may have had is probably voided. Apple can detect water spillage and will refuse to make repairs under the warranty.

Regards.
 

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Don't be too overjoyed. Your troubles may just be beginning.... Water damage shows up in many ways, but usually it's a while after the spill. If I were you, I would take the MacBook apart best I could and let it dry out completely for a week. See if you can remove the keyboard as that will expose the logic board and other components to the air for drying.

Yes...very good advice. I was going to mention that...but I didn't want to ruin the "magical moment"!;)

But the sooner the better this disassembly & inspection is done...so it's great you mentioned it!

- Nick
 
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Yes...very good advice. I was going to mention that...but I didn't want to ruin the "magical moment"!;)

But the sooner the better this disassembly & inspection is done...so it's great you mentioned it!

- Nick
yea, depending on how confident you are in your ability to follow directions (and if you're under warranty/applecare or not) i would open it up and get all the nasty residuals off your board (ie. conductive minerals, sugars, etc)

i'm having problems recovering my own macbook that i spilled wine onto......
 
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Computer is still going strong. I took your advice by opening it up again and making sure it completely dried out. Thanks.
 
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I've had a spill last night on my silver aluminium Macbook Pro! A real disaster, a whole full glass of white wine! It went everywhere, all over the keyboard and inside, I turned it upside down and it was absolutely dripping. I panicked, got some tissue to dry off the outside including the keyboard. I'm new with laptops as always used pc's before so I didn't think of removing the battery straightaway but did after maybe 10 mins. In the panick, i started to try to unscrew everything but got stuck with the last 3 screws behind the battery slot, just couldn't take them out, so frustrating! Anyway, I couldn't help but try to switch it back on (I know I shouldn't), did this maybe 10-12 times, and i could just hear a 5 seconds noise then it would go dead. Then later this afternoon i tried it again, I could not believe it booted up! I switched it back off straightaway as i thought i should let it dry longer...But then i switched it on again, it booted up, i logged on, I opened Firefox, and the machine turned itself off again within 1 minute :-( I have decided I will let it dry completely for another 2 or 3 days before I try my luck again. I have read so many positive posts about drink spillage on these forums, I am trying to stay optimistic. My sister just told me that her iphone was dropped into a swimming pool and after 3 days it started working again. Fingers crossed recovery happens for the Macbook Pro too...
 

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Follow the advice above. Open it up (if necessary drill out the three screws that couldn't be removed), remove the keyboard, wipe away all residue in and around the logic board.

Wine is especially damaging because it contains acid which eventually will cause corrosion to the electronic components and the main circuit board (logic board).

You should also realize that you just voided your warranty as Apple will not repair a machine that has spillage - at least not at their expense.

Regards.
 
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Where can i find the right type of tools to unscrew? Sorry, I'm a female and not so much into DYI, have not done this before but I managed to unscrew 14 of them with the tip of a pair of scissors!
I bought my Mac only 3 months ago but it was second hand (although almost as new!) so Apple Care would not be an option anyway. I phoned a repair shop this afternoon and I was told it would be £53 just to open it up and diagnose what has been damaged. The guy also said that if it was the motherboard, I would be looking at £700 to replace it, ouch :-(
 
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hey Research, i stumbled upon your thread after googling what to do after having a major spill on my unibody MBP about 5 days ago. did everything the sticky thread told me to ie; take off the back shell, wipe down, lay on dry rice, waited 5 days etc, etc. i put it back together and initially only the indicator light came on, but after trying again a few hours later it booted up and i'm on it right now. everything works except the backlight on my keyboard.

I was in the same situation as you were where my macbook shut itself off after the accident. i was wondering if you could give us any updates on how your system is doing.

ThANKS and i'll continue to check up on this thread.
 
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Hey

I had a very similar situation to the guy in the original post. I split a cup of water on my macbook, I wiped it off but I didn't turn it off right away. It shut down about 10 min after, I took the battery out and flipped it upside down to dry. Two days later I tried to turned it back on and it worked for about 15 min and then shut down. I left it to dry for another three days and then tried it again, it worked for two hours then I turned it off. When I tried to use it again it would not turn back on right away, I finally got it to turn on but it shut down 10 min later.

I am not sure what to do now, let it dry more and hope for the best or take it in to get repaired? Any help or ideas about what might be wrong with it or how to fix it would be really appreciated!!

Thanks,
Jessica
 
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still speechless

Just like ResearchGuy, I idiotically spilled a glass of water all over my macbook pro (Fall 2010 unibody). Most of it got into the keyboard and into the vent where the monitor meets the main body. The screen went black immediately.

When I picked my computer up off the counter, water was pouring out of it. I quickly unplugged it and opened the back, drying as much of it up as I could with a rag. Then I propped it up in front of a box fan and let it dry overnight and into the next day.

Today, I plugged it in and booted up for the first time. It booted up as usual. I tested each hardware functionality: brightness, key brightness, volume, headphones, usb, dvd drive--no problems. Suspicious, I ran a hardware test, which concluded with no problems as well.

I put in my startup disk and ran disk utilities (repair permissions and repair disk) though I know this won't do much. It completed in a normal fashion.

So far, it has been well over an hour since I booted up my computer, and it shows no sign of ever being spilled on (typing on it now). I consider myself very lucky, and thank ResearchGuy for giving me hope when the outlook was grim. I am aware that long-term corrosion is a possibility (the water was purified drinking water, not distilled). So far, so good however.

This was a scary and valuable lesson for me. Live and learn.
 
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I spilled water on my Macbook three days ago

It shut down two seconds after the water spilled over the keyboard. I mopped up and put it upside down over my bed, I couldn't attend to it as I was conducting a phone interview at the time. It wasn't charging at the time of the spill. My mom took it and turned it on (bad move), it started up no problem. I immediately turned it off when I saw that she did that, it was probably on for about a minute. I didn't turn it on or charge it at all since then. A computer repairman suggested that I leave it and blow-dry it every once in a while for at least three days, so that's what I've been doing. Today, I turned it on very nervously, and it seems to be okay! All my files are still here, and the keyboard seems to be functioning normally (albeit slightly stiffer, but hardly noticeable).

My question now is, should I be treating it any differently now (don't say "don't put any liquids near it" because that's pretty obvious now), and should I be expecting problems in the near future? What can I do to prevent these problems, or overcome them when they happen?

Thanks!
 

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