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thehumanriff · Jan 27, 2008, 12:24 AM

Hi
I'm not sure if anyone can help here but basically my wife and I were watching a movie when I accidentally knocked a beer over and a little beer went on the macbook. It immediately turned off. There was probably 1/4 of a bottle on the mac. We immediately put the macbook on it's side and the beer rolled off. We mopped the rest off and stupidly tried to reboot. There was no response.
I'm sure there is no way to save the working capability of the mac but will the harddrive be ok? She is starting teaching a class on Tuesday and all of her teaching materials are on the computer.

Cold Warrior · 12:05 PM

http://forums.macnn.com/search.php?searchid=1815431

Edit: The link doesn't work. See my post below.

chipchen · Jan 27, 2008, 04:14 AM

The hard drive should be fine.. and it's easy to take out. Just buy a cheap SATA USB enclosure or get a SATA to USB adapter and you can get the files you need off it. The computer though... likely you friend the MLB (logic board... also known as motherboard). That's the main circuit board with all the brains of the computer on it.

Apple will charge about $900 to fix, which probably isn't worth it... or you can sell it broken, as-is... In that case I might be interested to purchase it off you for parts... just let me know.

Good luck with it... let us know how it goes...

Wiskedjak · Jan 27, 2008, 10:20 AM

Quick! Rescue the beer!

Wiskedjak · Jan 27, 2008, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

http://forums.macnn.com/search.php?searchid=1815431

"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

Cold Warrior · Jan 27, 2008, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

ctt1wbw · Jan 27, 2008, 12:16 PM

Can you tilt the macbook over your mouth and save the beer?

jamil5454 · Jan 27, 2008, 02:46 PM

It might work again if you disassemble it and clean it with some rubbing alcohol.

See here: iFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories

thehumanriff · Jan 27, 2008, 09:07 PM

Thanks for all the replies. After drying it out the computer turned on and we were able to get copies of all the files. The only problem is that the keyboard doesn't seem to work. Other than that it is runnig ok for now. Not sure whether to buy a new keyboard and clean other parts or just run it with a keyboard from our old imac.

mfbernstein · Jan 27, 2008, 11:33 PM

Use it for a bit to make sure other things work reliably. No point in spending money on it if there turn out to be other intermittent problems. If there aren't, then a keyboard replacement from eBay for $50 or so is probably a good way to go.

ghporter · Jan 28, 2008, 09:30 AM

And stop wasting beer like that!

As jamil points out, you can clean spills out of parts like your keyboard using rubbing alcohol (I use 90% isopropyl because it leaves no residue and evaporates quickly). If the keyboard is all that seems to be inoperative right now, take it out and clean it thoroughly. See the link jamil posted for instructions on how to get your keyboard off and disconnected. Expect to use a couple of pints of alcohol-be really free with it so that any residue from the beer is dissolved and rinsed out. Then let it sit overnight so all the alcohol evaporates completely.

gunner04 · Nov 4, 2012, 01:30 PM

i was wondering...my ten year old was using my mac book pro last night and spilled water on it...it ran mostly down the screen but some did get on the back part of the keboard...it worked all that night....but now will not turn off. I hae it sitting in rice. Do you thnk my mac is shot? I am borrowing a computer so Iwont be able to see your response right away...if you could text me or call me with your advice. Thanks Gina
406 939 4226

SierraDragon · Nov 5, 2012, 06:04 PM

There is a sticky thread for this with lots of discussion:

http://forums.macnn.com/0/forum/3663...y-mac-notebook

My backup Mac is a 2006 MBP that still works after a bath in hot chocolate, but only with USB keyboard and mouse plus software tricks for the on/off switch.

HTH

-Allen