OMG!! I spilled water/beer/liquid on my Mac Notebook

This seems to be a popular topic, so I've made this thread a sticky to serve (initially) as an index of all the other spill-related threads, and as a place for members to look for help if they've spilled water, beer, or any sort of liquid on their MacBook, MacBook Pro, or other Mac notebook. All other new threads on the topic will be closed.

If you find other links, please post them.

http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...c-need-advice/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...er-on-macbook/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...cbook-pro-was/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...er-on-macbook/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...lled-water-my/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...d-coffee-onto/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...y-macbook-pro/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...keyboard-what/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...k-g4-titanium/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...t-speaker-mbp/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...w-macbook-pro/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...coke-my-17-pb/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...-wont-confess/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...ke-into-ibook/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...d-water-in-it/
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...led-drink-now/

i just got saved by a griffin elevator stand!! i was opening a soda and the damn thing slipped out of my hand somehow and ended up pouring onto my desk. my alum. apple kb took the bullet but it's okay and now all dried out and not even sticky. that's my horror story for right now.

wow i would have never though that many topics existed

I just spilled water on my 2 weeks old black mac book, it was unplugged and running low on battery at the moment. I thought not a lot of water got on it and that it had died because of the low battery when it immediately turned itself off after the spilled... so for some reason, that I don't know, i plugged it in!

Then the scream started to go all crazy and it made a lot of weird noises i unplugged and turned off. Then i read on the manual to also take the battery off.
Now, after I read this I left it off to dry off...

Do you guys think there was a short cut?!

!!!
Ay!

OMG!! I spilled water/beer/liquid on my Mac Notebook

I saw the sticky and read all the threads about water damage but didn't see anything about my particular situation. I spilled water on my computer during the night when it was plugged in. I didn't realize it until the morning but when I did, I turned it off and let it dry for a few days.

Anyways, the computer itself runs fine now. The only things I've noticed is that it says an airport card isn't installed, the speakers don't work (there's an X over the logo when I try to turn them up or down), and the battery is unresponsive. When I plug it in there's a green light on the powerchord but it's very faint. It also only turns on when the powerchord has been plugged in for a few minutes. Like I said the battery doesn't charge and seems totally dead.

I'm wondering what this sounds like to everyone. Should I just try getting a new airport card and battery? Could it be something else on the inside that I don't know about?

Thanks for any help.

That's why you need a keyboard jimmy. iskin and kbcovers has them for around $30 (http://iskin.com/, http://kbcover.com) and Isis Dei has them for $14 (http://isisdei.com). I bought mine from Isis Dei because of the price and because their jimmy was thinner than the other two and therefore didn't interfere with my typing much. My buddy spilled a coke on my keys last week and it saved me.

Several years ago someone spilled their Coke on my new PB G3 then quickly ran it to the sink to wash it off.... guess what... it didn't work after that? Fortunately the 3rd party warranty did!! Seriously, they fixed it.

I once spilt motor oil on a computer...that wasn't pretty.

interesting stories. I spilled dr pepper on my 7 year old laptop. first thing i did, remove the battery, next wipe up and drain any excess fluids, then i washed it under cold water at first to get rid of any sugary liquid. then i soaked it/flushed it with rubbing alcohol, let it dripdry/evaporate for a day or so in different positions and presto, works like new.

Thanks

I guess I'll have to try that next time

i just let it dry for a couple of days... mine was spilled with milk..

Dishwasher

A friend of mine was successful in cleaning her Diet-Coked PC keyboard in the dishwasher (not with dirty dishes, hehe) and letting it run through the dry cycle (lowest heat, top shelf). The wash was thorough, and the heat dried the keyboard thoroughly and quickly, and didn't damage it--worked like a charm. Some laptops (e.g., Lenovo T60) have a drainage path beneath the keyboard so water flows to two drain holes that bypass the electronics. The worst natural reaction for a person who spills in that case is to flip their laptop over.

Weirdest story on this thread so far

I've always been careful with liquids near computers. But our three month old daughter suddenly vomiting after being breast-fed, and hitting the macbook from over an arm-length distance - had not seen that one coming. The weird part is yet to come.

Proper care for the baby seemed more important at the time than finding a coin to remove the battery. And apparently, the computer kept on functioning undisturbed. But then al of a sudden the computer switched to caps-lock all by itself, and hitting the caps-lock key only made the indicator light go on and off. Restarting went fine but the caps-lock persisted. Weird.

Next good idea proved deadly: turning the computer off. No reaction on pushing the power button ever since. It seems like most of the computer is undamaged (the bigger part of the vomit didn't make it all the way to the laptop) except for a couple of keys, including the power button. Frustrating. I'll try the "let it dry for a couple of days" routine. See if that makes a difference.

Anyway: lets add this advice to the list: use condoms.

(you can put them around you laptop for protection)

I'd like to share this self-repair story:

My Powerbook G3 Pismo suffered from a bright vertical yellow line after I cleaned it too carelessly. I never bothered to change the display panel, used it that way for another year and finally switched to a new machine. When I powered up my old Powerbook these days after nearly one year sitting around without power, I noticed that the vertical line was gone. Nice! :)

Regards
PB.

@swami: LOL@your condom remark. My wife and I have been married for quite a while, and that's the answer to keeping the house nice and tidy (along with our computers).

Ok, so lets start this story... About 2 weeks ago a friend of mines spilled a beer over my Macbook. Corona for those of you wondering. It was on. I didn't realize it until maybe about 30 min. later when I asked what happened to the music and other friends were like oh yea, so and so spilled a beer over your computer. I got it, turned it upside down and I mean beer was &*(^& pouring (about 3 secs) then dripping (while I shook it like mad for a few minutes). I just put it in a V and left it upside.... Now fast forward about 1 week. I tried powering it up and nothing, but did not give up. Battery is still good. But, what does happen is, if I just leave it plugged in with either battery or charger in, it just randomly comes on by itself. I don't think the power button is shot, cause when it does load up, and I press it the "are you sure...." comes up. So, I know there is short going on somewhere. Anyone got any ideas on what's going on?
I can use the Macbook, with NO problems once it's on. Hell you won't even know something was wrong with it, other than the brewery smell. Problem is once it shutdown, I just have to hope it will turn back on when I take out the battery and plug and put them back on. And, thats whats been going on for the week that I have been using it.... I'm using it right now.. :-) Please any ideas....... I know its good, just gotta figure out why it won't turn on when it completely shut down when I press the power button.....
Thanx for any suggestions on where to start looking.... yes this is posted elsewhere, i just need max amount of ideas...

I contract IT support to a small business and one of the high-ranking employees spilled coffee onto their laptop (Macbook C2D). The laptop has since been replaced with, but I am on assignment to do what I can for it (I figure it will be a good opportunity to practice Macbook repair as there are many Macbooks within the company).
When the coffee was spilled the user attempted to make a backup of their documents (which worked) but the laptop then shut off when they tried to back up their applications folder. The battery was removed at this point, but I believe it has been put back in (the laptop is off).
This all happened yesterday, and I won't be receiving the laptop until Monday. I went through the threads posted above and know that with the battery not being removed immediately the chances of recovery are slim, however, I have noted the following tactics are suggested:
-take apart the whole macbook and dry wet parts in a dry, warm environment
-clean circuitry with rubbing alcohol
Any other words of advice?

I once got my notebook wet all over, but I saved it :)
For those who have that problem or might face it in the future, just don't turn on the computer, open the lower case and clean out any dirt that formed on damp surfaces, then let it dry (don't use blowers or anythhing just let it dry out) and after that try turning it on.
Of course if you have Apple Care don't mind about it, let the computer dry and take it to an Apple Store, they'll fix it and you'll have a nice phew-ish smile on ur face :)

wait...WHAT?!

hey i was reading up on this...and i came across your comment. i spilled rum&coke on my MBP:brick:..i gave it to apple and said idk what happened because it DID start up but it would shut down immediately. they called a few days later n said it was liquid damage and it would be $1240 to replace the logic board and other things inside.:censor: i have applecare because i bought this in july. i was wondering, how come you said applecare would fix it when i was told that it would cost the price of a new macbook?:hmm:

There's a difference when rum and Coke dry up -- it gets sticky. If it would have been water, and you would have let it dry up, the chances of Apple fixing it under AppleCare would of been bigger.

You might want to go to an Apple Authorized Reseller to see if they fix it under the warranty.

Just my two cents ~
Hg+

There's no way they'll fix it under warranty. The technicians are pretty adept at seeing liquid damage and since self-inflicted damages are not covered 2nyce is SOL

In a perfect world, they wouldn't change it. I've found many places in my country where they just don't care what it needs to be done, they'll just do it. I've heard of people who have changed parts of their computers that they were not comfortable with, under guarantee.

A friend of mine changed his entire MacBook Pro's enclosure with no reason -- just because of the normal tearing down caused by time.

I'm not exactly sure what point you're making. 2nyce spilled something on his/her laptop, first off it isn't right to try get apple to foot the bill for him/her negligence, secondly as you easily stated, that both rum and coke will be leaving evidence behind that shows what actually happened. Apple authorized dealers will spot this quite fast, and charge the poster for the repair.

I'm not sure what the point you're trying to make about the reference about changing the entire MBP's enclosure is.

That people here change parts under warranty, even though it's not supposed to be that way. Anyways, 2nyce, sorry for your mishap.

Help!!!

Just want to thank of you who post because I spilled about a drink (as in someone drinking) of water on my macbook and the advice here is invaluable. I did leave it on upside down as I drained it quickly and until the 6 language shut down request appreaed. Turned it off and rebooted..all worked fine then the typical "program unexpectedly quit" box came up and it was for osX. then I shut it off and took the battery out. I then left it upt side down ^ <-- like that on a air vent that was giving warm air.. My questions is, now that it has been 2 days. Should I unscrew it and look at the inside? or attempt to dry it? THe water was pure and it really wasnt that much (ive read alot worse on here)? Im jus wondering. And i now know how dumb it is to have water near the comptuer....NEVER will happen again...

any help is greatly appreciated.

SafeWare protects against this sort of thing. And accidental damage, theft, etc.

www.safeware.com

How long did you put it to dry? It can take a couple of weeks for the water to dry up completely. If you turn it on before it dries up, serious electric damage may occur.

I dried the water off immediately. It was over the low wamr vent from730 am to 330 pm then at home near my radiator. This was on Wednesday morning EST. Its still at home near the radiator.

In case anyone was wondering, the macbook that was deamed "dead as a doornail" is doing quite well. When I received it had been dead for... several days, with dried coffee inside.
Upon receiving it I removed the battery (it was off) and took the keyboard/case off of the inside. Using rubbing alcohol and qtips I cleaned the nooks and crannies of the logic board, including removing the memory and cleaning the bays. I did not unseat the processor but I did remove the shield from around the I/O ports and clean those. There was some visible corrosion but nothing too serious for 91% isopropyl alcohol. To top it off, I gave the laptop a good spraying with canned air. Once finished I plugged the keyboard ribbon back in and pressed the power button. The laptop sprung to life and I counted my lucky stars.
However, the keyboard and trackpad are dead as a doornail and I will be replacing them with a part from ebay for less than $100.
Several days later the laptop is running like a champ (without the keyboard still)
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_X-zeAKzQTzk/SW...0/IMG_0537.JPG

Thank GOD!!! My MacBook is running and there are no signs of slowing down or weird noises. Accident, as described above, happened on Wednesday Morning and today Im on it. Anybody have any personal experience with Safeware? My Mac was purchased in NOV 07. Is it worth it to get a policy? and where is the best place to get those plastic protective coverings? thanks to all.. :)

Windex seeps

omg, i feel so dumb now.
first i used windex to clean the monitor.
Second i let the windex seep the monitor.
third i panic after the accident happened.

Well, first, my sister told me she used windex to clean her PC monitor, so i did it to mine. :S but mine is my baby, MacBook. sigh.. then today when i was watching "macworld 2008" on youtube. (:P just done with 09 and want to watch steve's presentation....) I saw tons of finger prints on the screen. steve was like giving a speech within those prints so i go grab a windex and start to clean ti. and i spray directly to tha monitor , and the nozzle went wrong, a large amount of windex was out, and it's like a tiny river go down the monitor. :( altho i immediately get some paper and wipe it. however, there's still some seep inside the monitor. and I got panic and I close the MB. and after 5 sec, i reopen the cover, and realize i made another mistake. so i the water mark gets bigger, and now. i just turn the MB to sleep mode and let the monitor stands.

anyone got similar experience? will my monitor back to normal?
I pray to God that everything will back to normal as soon as possible....maybe a week?

I don't think putting the laptop into sleep mode is going to buy you any safety since there's still electricity coursing thought the circuits of the computer. You're best bet if you got liquid inside, is to unplug it, remove the battery and let it sit for a while. (a while being a few days based on the posts in this thread).

Quickest, cheapest way to get back online?

So I spilled some cold tea with sugar on my MacBook (2GHz Core Duo). Immediately turned it upside down, wiped it off with a towel, and set it open and upside down to let any residual liquid drip out. This was about Thursday at 4pm.

Friday afternoon I went ahead and took it apart according to the iFixit instructions. No damage apparent to the logic board or memory -- even the accumulated lint inside the case was still dry.

Took the keyboard into the bathroom and rinsed it out with water, then flooded with 91% isopropyl alcohol. Wiped it down with a towel until dry to the touch and left it out. This was about Friday at 2pm.

That night, I got home about 2am and put it back together. Everything went together fine. Pressed the power button and it booted soon enough.

On the first boot, the trackpad worked fine. However the battery indicator would occassionally switch to an "X." Held down the power button for ten seconds to hard shut down. Took out the battery and put it back in.

Booted fine a second time, this time with no bad battery indicator. However, the keyboard didn't work. Did a regular shut-down (trackpad still worked) and it cycled down normally.

Figured I would leave it open and let the keyboard dry out some more, and set it on it's side like an open book when I went to bed.

Since then, it has refused to boot. I left it alone Saturday, though I did plug in an old iMac keyboard with a power button in the hopes that would turn it on, but with no luck.

Yesterday I went ahead and took it apart again. There doesn't seem to be any moisture anywhere, the internals are all still fine as far as I can tell.

When putting the battery in while mostly disassembled there was a spark at the connection terminal which has me really worried that in trying to fix it I may well have made it worse.

It's basically my main work machine, and while I've been meaning to by a netbook for an emergency backup, I'm currently stuck on an old PowerBook G4 that is itself a veteran of a couple of spills, getting stepped on with spike heels and otherwised grizzled (using external monitor and external keyboard) that simply isn't fast enough to get done what I need to do.

From reading this and other forums, I'm guessing that the first step is to try to replace the keyboard, and if that doesn't work, replace the logic board. Unless there's any other suggestions on how to get it booted with an external keyboard -- the sooner, and cheaper, I can get it working again until I can get the hard drive backed up and permanently fix or replace the machine permanently, the better.

reset the SMC as long as you haven't been getting any new sparks or electrical problems.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

Sadly, no luck. Though if the keyboard itself is what's shorted/broken, I'd still have to replace it in order to reset the SMC, right?

ok.
I read this thread and many others and nobody has yet quite described my situation/stupidity and i'm freaking out so maybe someone can tell me if they think i'm boned:
I spilled about maybe a quarter cup of water on my MBP earlier today and immediately tried to dry it off, turned it upside down but LEFT IT ON. It seemed to be fine at the time and so i continued to use it until three or four minutes later it shut down. I tried to restart it and it turned on but only until just before it would normally make the start-up tone and would shut down again. I then took out the battery, unplugged the computer and left it to dry for a couple hours and tried to restart it again. This time is did not respond at all. Ive left it upside down battery out since then, and my question is this: have i fried my computer totally? is it worthwhile to wait and see if it comes back to life in three days, or should i bring it to the repair people immediately and take my medicine?
Thanks so much.
gabe

Let it dry out for a few days... The longer you can stand to wait the better.

You really should have turned it off IMMEDIATELY.

fml

so i spilt milk on my mac..computer worked fine for awhile..got as much out as i could..everything worked..couple hours later the computer changed the language i was typing in from english to some shiz with a bunch of symbols..now i can't log in to the computer..also..when i start the computer up it makes me select my hard drive before going into the log in screen and it hasn't done that before..so ya what's goin on with this milk situation

OMG!! I spilled water/beer/liquid on my Mac Notebook

Well actually it is my wifes new macbook, and it seems the damn pooch let go on the rug and the mac absorbed the moisture up into the bottom around the drive among other places. The indicator light showing the battery is taking a charge will not light, and it will not boot. I was a little late in getting to the scene before I found she already tried to boot the machine before drying the thing out.

Any ideas on the problem? The power supply fried.

Weird, We got the guy about a year ago and I found a cute pic of a little Jack Russel(which he is) peeing on the keys of laptop. Not so cute now.

Thanks

Try this thread:

http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...r-beer-liquid/

However, if she booted it up before it dried, it's completely dried out at this point, and it still won't boot, chances are high that you're SOL. Once two points of a motherboard come into contact and short something out, the board is permanently dead.

I'm amazed that the plastic on the MacBook is so porous that it would absorb liquid that easily.

You could always just take it to the Apple Store and tell them it quit working. If there aren't moisture indicators on the motherboard (like on the iPhone), you might get them to replace the board for free. If that idea makes you uncomfortable or whatever, you just got yourself a $1200 paperweight. Congrats!

(Also: this is where those accidental damage warranties that Apple refuses to sell sure come in handy...)

Is this a Unibody MacBook? I'm sure I remember seeing something which mentioned the Unibodies had moisture indicators inside.

It's also where those comprehensive contents policies that the insurance companies sell come in handy... ;)

She bought it about four months ago, and is the aluminum case version. Lets see what we can see.

Thanks

I found a guy on eBay that repairs liquid damaged MacBook's for $195 flat fee plus shipping (he's in the Greater Toronto area). If he can't fix it he'll refund the price so you just lose the shipping. May be worth a try. I just sent him my partner's Black MacBook last week. Haven't heard yet if he's able to fix it but they guy has a 99% positive rating and gets glowing reviews. PM for info if you like.

I don't trust that - it's too easy for an insurance company to raise the premiums whenever they want, whereas an accidental damage warranty is a one-time fee and covers anything and everything for the duration of the warranty.

Plus it means you can get next business day onsite service for anything that happens.

Even if Apple wasn't so overpriced (and I didn't feel the way I do about the company in general...hah), I still wouldn't buy their hardware, because their warranties are atrocious. I realize that if your machine has problems more than five times or whatever, they'll replace it with a better one for free, but that doesn't make up for the fact that you have to physically take your machine to an Apple store or certified repair center to get it fixed (sure sucks for people who live in small towns), when every Dell I've owned has had an onsite NBD warranty. I'd much rather have a guy show up at my office and fix my laptop right after something happens, rather than wait two weeks to get my machine back.

hey, i started my own thread about this but didnt realize i should have just posted my question here. sorry, but here goes again.

On tuesday in the middle of the night, i was watching breaking bad on my mbp. i had a small cup of water and i slipped on my bed and little bit of water popped out of the glass and onto my keyboard. This happened a few years ago on my powerbook and because there was so little water i just got a towel and placed it on top of the keyboard and let it soak up the water. everything worked the last time this happened with the powerbook so i did the same thing this time with a towel and it worked fine for the rest of the night (stupid i know!). woke up in the morning and moved it back to my desk. everything was working fine for an hour or 2 and then 2 keys stopped working. the keys werent physically sticking but they just wouldnt respond. 1 of the keys would sometimes just keep repeating itself (ie. "iiiiiiiiiiiiii"). then 2 more, then 2 more and now a whole row of keys stopped working. once that happened i immediately turned my mbp off and it has been under a lamp ever since. I looked up some different strategies for letting it dry and a few hours ago i flipped the mbp over so that the keyboard is on a towel and the display is hanging off my desk. the battery was taken out a while ago. anyways, i know that the flipping it over was probably done too late as i assume the water has dried already.

what do i do now? it has been off and drying for 2 days now. should i keep it under a lamp right side up or should i continue to let it dry upside down with the keyboard on a towel and the display hanging off the table?
i searched on the net (with a friends comp) and this forum seemed to be filled with very knowledgeable people and so here i am. THANKS so much for any advice you can give me. I already know applecare will not cover any potential repair as it will probably be quite obvious it is water damage. thanks again! it was idiotic of me not to turn it off immediately but it seemed like such a small amount of water and that i had been able to dry it without it penetrating below the keys...

Spilled Water on Macbook Pro

The water was 1 foot away from the macbook, but my girlfriends cat must've hit it hard enough to fling it that far, because I found water on the keyboard. I immediately unplugged it, but panicking, tried to turn it on twice. It kept sticking at the loading screen, so I thought it was a bad idea to continue. I immediately researched similar incidents, and followed their instructions, took out the battery, flipped it over with the screen hanging off so that the keyboards flat, used a blow dryer on it, put it in the room with the AC...So I'm wondering, is there anything else I can do? There's some moisture near the power button, and the majority of the water hit the right side of the machine...Is there anything else I could've done? Will it possibly be alright from turning it on those two times? It was at least 30 seconds before I turned it off after the original dousing, will that be a factor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I had an iBook show up in my hands a couple years ago that was returned from a student and there was so much beer spilled over it that a co-worker was able to smell it and know the type of beer. When I took it apart I could hear everything cracking in behind the screen from all the dry ed up beer. Also found finger prints under the back lcd panel as if someone tried to clean it up

MacBook Pro, still running strong...

I have a mid-2007 MacBook Pro C2D 2.2... A little while after I got it, I was programming on it at work and BAM! my retarded ass spilled an *ENTIRE* cup of coffee across the keyboard! Like, literally IN the keyboard... some coffee spilled out the CD drive even. Luckily, the other lead programmer and my boss came running when I started shouting obscenities, and between the three of us, we had the keyboard patted out, the battery was removed, and it was propped up over a towel to drip out in front of a fan in like 30 seconds. I let it dry out in my office for two days with the fan on it, and sure enough the beast came back to life! Here I am, two years later with the MBP functional. I'm on it right now. The keyboard and trackpad did go out a few months ago, but that's an easy fix. Still went a year and a half before corroding tho. Might as well upgrade it when I go to clean it...

Getting liquid drained fast, removing the power (ie: battery), and letting it dry *COMPLETELY* before attempting to re-start it are the keys to salvaging your poor little computer.

OMG!! I spilled water/beer/liquid on my Mac Notebook

i had my computer on, unplugged sitting on a table. my roommate knocked over his mug of water and spilled it into the back of and underneath my macbook pro. i lifted it up and wiped it off immediately. i realized it automatically turned off. my first instinct was to turn it on but nothing happened (prob bad) then I went to plug it in (bad again). when i plugged it in, the green light did turn on as if it were charging but it wouldn't turn on. nothing weird happened, no weird light flashing or screen activity. it is just off. then my roommate ran to read up on what to do.

now it is upside down with a fan blowing on it so it can dry off. what else should i do? i shook it out and droplets came out.

should i just wait a few days before trying it again? i've had this computer for less than a week, it's brand new and it's concerning that such a minor incident would ruin it.


please help!!