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Atheist · Sep 10, 2009, 12:09 PM

It's not a minor incident. Water and electronics don't mix. Let it air out for several days and then when you are confident it's completely dry. Try turning it on.

Unfortunately for you, a small bit of water can fry the logic board (or some component thereof). See my post above about a guy on eBay that repairs water damaged MacBooks.

Sometime homeowner's insurance can cover things like this. Check out your policy.

xpsonic · Sep 15, 2009, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by Atheist

It's not a minor incident. Water and electronics don't mix. Let it air out for several days and then when you are confident it's completely dry. Try turning it on.

Unfortunately for you, a small bit of water can fry the logic board (or some component thereof). See my post above about a guy on eBay that repairs water damaged MacBooks.

Sometime homeowner's insurance can cover things like this. Check out your policy.

Serious? homeowners insurance covers things like that? I have never heard of something like that, maybe the next time I read my policy I need to ask about stuff like that. Sounds weird to me though.

Jbroad572 · Sep 24, 2009, 11:27 AM

I am so pissed... woke up this morning after a long night to find dog piss on my brand new macbook pro. Tried plugging it up, no light on the charger. Remembered passing this thread, I said I would never need to look at and now it's outside with a fan blowing on it turned upside down. Had my papers and review sheets on my laptop ready to print off this morning. Going to have to take a 0 or 2 today... (expletive). Who's going to believe the day of a dog pissed on my laptop... mine as well say it aint my homework. Start of a depressing day.

Oh and my school's site for downloading review papers and assignments is down this morning too. Not my day.

hitokaji · Sep 29, 2009, 08:39 AM

im always careful of never putting a glass of anything next to my mac while im in it... but that morning i was a little too tired...to think
i spillede a full glass of water all over mymacbook,
ran to get a towel( i did not turn it upside down) and i dried the water on the keyboard.. and so i thought it was that way so the water couldnt get into the computer.. and so i thought it was okay.. i tried turning it on. and the vent made a bad noise and stopped.. i tried again same happaned...untilli lift it up to see if it is plugged in.. and as i lift it water pours out of the computer.. i freakout..and let the water pour out.. then i put in in a v (iwas told to do that)
now its like 2weeks since...and it wont turn on. my brother is going to check if someone he knows at apple can fix it. but its been 2 weeks..and i need it for school. can apple fix it ? or is it just dead foreveR. ?

MacBookDead · Oct 12, 2009, 03:59 AM

Today, I cleaned my MacBook keyboard just as I usually do, with a wet towel and a little amount of soap. It was turned on (my bad!) and it seems that my towel was actually more soaked than I thought...

So I was delicately cleaning my keyboard and somehow, I realized it had stopped working. My mousepad was still fine at this point though. So I thought I could have touched some wrong key that kind of "locked" my keypad (I had trouble with Mac keypad that stopped working for no apparent reason in past so I wasn't too worried), and proceeded to turn the computer off.

First problem : even if I was clearly clicking on the "Stop" button in the Apple menu, my computer kept restarting. So before going any further, I took a USB drive and saved my important work, which took about 5 minutes during which my computer was working perfectly (except the keyboard - I had an external keyboard plugged at this point).

Afterwards, I tried to shut it off again, and guess what ? It kept restarting (completely and fine though). At this point I started to suspect something was wrong with the power switch on the top case, so I just took the battery off and got the charger disconnected.

Then I immediately went back home and opened the top case very delicately as I have learned to do in a video tutorial. Everything went smoothly and, with a flashlight, I started to examine the internal components to spot any water. Saw absolutely no trace of water anywhere.

Then I reinstalled my top case properly and now, there is NO LIGHT on the charger when it's plugged and of course, my computer won't start at all.

I must say that when the top case was removed (I didn't disconnect the cable that links it to the logic board as a matter of fact, so I moved it very carefully), I took the opportunity to blow the inside of the computer with a hairdryer (set on cold and low force).

Also, I didn't notice if the charger light was working before I removed the top case since I didn't attempt to plug it until I was done with reinstalling the top case.

How does that look ? Have I toasted my Mac ??

passion4theworld · Oct 12, 2009, 02:47 PM

so i was my desk drinking my water, put it down, went to get something and it tipped over spilling a decent amount of water on the macbook. so i got a paper towel and cleaned up what i could. so i went along with everything and it was on and a minute later it turned off. so i turned it back on and then it turned off and the screen was black but the little light on th emac kept going on and off. so i tipped it to get more water out, which to my surprise, there was and then i took out the battery. frantically called the apple store, went there. not covered cause apparently water damage aint covered so we kept the battery out and ive had a fan on the keyboard and on it since 8pm on sunday. NEED TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE THIS THING WILL LIVE TOMORROW!!!! i worked at american eagle unfortunetly for 2 yrs and paid 2300 for the printer, microsoft office and the warrenty all by myself and i dont want my efforts for this thing to be in vain. it's a year old so im just praying. PLEASE, ANY FEEDBACK IS POSSIBLE!

Charlie Tuna · Oct 12, 2009, 05:57 PM

So I've got my own story to share.

Just bought a MacBook Pro 13in on impulse. Not more than two weeks later I am sitting on the porch of my friends place with a bottle of good wine. One thing leads to another, and my lady friend spills a glass of wine directly onto the lappy. Once I got done cursing (not at her), I immediately mopped up everything that I could. From an external perspective, everything looked fine. The lappy still works just fine, and I've taken off the shell on the underside to see if there was any obvious dark Merlot colored stains anywhere. Other than a small amount of dust, it was impeccable.

However, I was unable to get any deeper in there due to the fact that the battery is held in with those wacky tri-wing screws. I've got a tool on order to remove those, and once I can get the battery out, I can continue dismantling the lappy to see if there is any possible dried wine on the top side of the motherboard.

The point of the story being, does anyone else know for a fact if the newer Unibody MacBook Pros have moisture tabs inside of them? And if so, where are they? A quick Googling showed that there are two located underneath the keyboard, but I haven't seen any other mentioning of them.

Thanks!

tman1733 · Oct 19, 2009, 12:15 AM

yesterday spilt a whole cup of dd's on my computadora (07ish 15 inch mbp 2.33 ghz 1 gb ram), and immediatly it shut off. this is the fourth spill on the computer (water, juice, water, coffee) so I felt like a pro at saving it. I put it out to dry with a hair dryer on low and cool, for about 5 hours, when i switched it so that the computer was next to both the intake of the hairdryer and a de humidifier. this morning, around eleven (24 hours after) i put the battery back in, and it turned on, with no difficulty, even restoring my firefox session. everything works perfect, except for coffee smell and a little stickieness. the speaker, ports, and keys that the coffee got on are all working fine, as i am listening to music and typing right now. im not religious at all, but i was praying pretty hard this morning. wow that was a close one.

tman1733 · Oct 19, 2009, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by passion4theworld

so i was my desk drinking my water, put it down, went to get something and it tipped over spilling a decent amount of water on the macbook. so i got a paper towel and cleaned up what i could. so i went along with everything and it was on and a minute later it turned off. so i turned it back on and then it turned off and the screen was black but the little light on th emac kept going on and off. so i tipped it to get more water out, which to my surprise, there was and then i took out the battery. frantically called the apple store, went there. not covered cause apparently water damage aint covered so we kept the battery out and ive had a fan on the keyboard and on it since 8pm on sunday. NEED TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE THIS THING WILL LIVE TOMORROW!!!! i worked at american eagle unfortunetly for 2 yrs and paid 2300 for the printer, microsoft office and the warrenty all by myself and i dont want my efforts for this thing to be in vain. it's a year old so im just praying. PLEASE, ANY FEEDBACK IS POSSIBLE!

try a hair dryer face the other way.

AKcrab · Oct 19, 2009, 05:10 AM

Originally Posted by Charlie Tuna

The point of the story being, does anyone else know for a fact if the newer Unibody MacBook Pros have moisture tabs inside of them?

I can confirm for a fact that liquid sensors are in the machine.

ghporter · Oct 19, 2009, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by AKcrab

I can confirm for a fact that liquid sensors are in the machine.

I can't think of a reason for Apple to delete them. After all, the warranty doesn't cover damage from liquids.

Rex32 · Oct 19, 2009, 06:38 PM

Hey Guys,

EDIT: I'm reading the sticky now guys, I'll see if I can find all the info I need there. I'd still really appreciate any input you guys might have...

My buddies girlfriend is having a pretty serious problem with her Macbook. A cat knocked over a glass of water and a small amount of the water got on the mouse of her computer. She did not shut it off right away and instead tried connecting a USB Keyboard/Mouse - which worked at first, but then that stopped working as well. She then left it off all night (not in the desired A shape though) and now it won't turn on/charge/anything.

She took the laptop to Apple and they said she needs to have the motherboard/logic board replaced... Now they want $900 to do this - the computer is nearly 3 years old and is simply not worth that much. Can I source a new motherboard online (ebay perhaps?) and swap it in myself? I'm pretty tech savy, I build my own PC's and what not - just never done a Mac before.

From my little research that I have done, I have found that I need a specific motherboard to work with a certain Macbook - how can I figure out exactly which one I need?

As for the data, Apple says the HDD is fine so I am going to order an external 2.5" SATA USB enclosure and put her HDD in that to recover and backup her data before messing with the motherboard...

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

-Mike

turtle777 · Oct 19, 2009, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by Rex32

My buddies girlfriend's [...] cat knocked over a glass of water

Hey, that's a new one. Usually it's the room mate or the GF herself.

-t

JCP21 · Oct 22, 2009, 01:02 PM

I have suffered exact same proble came home on night slight drunk, knocked some soda on my mbp, lets just say im lucky it still works [IMG]http://**************************signature_smiley3.jpg[/IMG] moral of the story dont come home drunk and go on mac!

Brez · Oct 28, 2009, 04:13 PM

Alright, Sunday afternoon I spilled a glass of water on my new aluminum unibody macbook pro. I immediately turned it upside down and wiped it clean and tried to get any water out of it (that went in) that I could. The computer shut off right away when the water went in it.

It's now Wednesday afternoon (3 full days) and the macbook has not been turned on or plugged in.
I have had it sitting in an "A" position upsidedown letting it dry out for these last few days.
Now, my question is, what should I do at this point?
Should I try to turn it on? Wait a few more days?
When I try to turn it on should I plug it into the AC adapter?

I'm just looking for any tips at this point!!
Thank you!

seanc · Oct 28, 2009, 04:22 PM

Is this a MacBook Pro with a removable battery? If yes, remove it,

Keep it upside down, drying for the next 4 days (to make it a week), I would say.
If you could find somewhere warm to put it, that would be good.

Brez · Oct 28, 2009, 04:24 PM

No, it doesn't have the removeable battery.
I'll let it sit in a warm spot.
Do you suggest the use of a hair dryer? I've heard that one but I don't know.

seanc · Oct 28, 2009, 04:28 PM

I wouldn't use a hair dryer, you can only heat certain spots, not evenly heat it - so there would still be damp parts.

Brez · Oct 28, 2009, 04:30 PM

Alright, that's what I figured.
Also, I don't know if this is on the other MacBooks... but my battery indicator still works.
I push the button and it blinks green as if the battery was "dead" and needed to be charged.
I don't know if that means anything at this point, but when I go to turn it on should I attempt to power it on without my AC adapter?
And if that doesn't work should I then plug it in?

Cheyanne · Nov 10, 2009, 09:02 AM

I see a whole lot of horror stories but I'm not sure if I am understanding the solutions. Granted I am new to macs altogether, maybe I am just too ignorant to see what the answers are

My macbook has some liquid damage, I let it dry out but did not remove the battery because I wasn't sure if taking off the bottom would void the warrenty or not. so i assumed letting it dry out tipped over would do the job. It worked for 2 months after that and then stopped booting up. Since I wasn't sure if the issue was in fact the spill I took it back for repair. Unfortunately for me there was one dried splash that the tech found and they refused to fix it telling me I would have to foot the bill for $1100. Honestly I can't afford that right now. When the macbook came back, it worked fine for 2days and then stopped booting up again. All I am getting is the grey loading screen.

so at this point should I take the macbook apart and used rubbing alcohol to clean the interior with a qtip or should I just basically suck it up as being SOL?

Also it was mentioned that on ebay there is someone who fixes liquid damage. Has anyone used the service? what was your experience?

If someone can take time to walk me through what options to try I'd appreciate it.

seanc · Nov 10, 2009, 01:56 PM

When the MacBook stopped working before it went away, was it just stuck on a grey screen as well or does it not turn on?
Cheapest bet is to see if it will boot from your install DVD, then in Disk Utility, can it see the hard drive?

You could try removing the HDD in case the connectors have gotten damp in the spill and need cleaning.

Cheyanne · Nov 10, 2009, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by seanc

When the MacBook stopped working before it went away, was it just stuck on a grey screen as well or does it not turn on?
Cheapest bet is to see if it will boot from your install DVD, then in Disk Utility, can it see the hard drive?

You could try removing the HDD in case the connectors have gotten damp in the spill and need cleaning.

when i sent it away it would turn on and then turn off. thats why i was amazed when it came back and booted up and was working for 2 days. now it is just the grey apple screen like its loading but it never makes it past that screen.