Don’t drink and use the Mac!

By Ajay Mungara (Intel) (85 posts) on March 4, 2008 at 11:06 am

I accidentally spilled some water on my macbook pro. As a result, some of the keys are not working. Needless to say – I am so disappointed with what happened.

Here are some Options that I am looking into:

Take it all apart and clean it with compressed air – I really don't have the heart to go for this option.
According to one mac forum thread "I say try and turn it on now, the damage would've been done when the water made contact with any component. I once left an old pc laptop outside overnight, and in the morning it was covered in dew, but it still worked. If it happened yesterday then i say try it out." – Well, not sure if this is such a good idea.
I followed the instructions in another mac forum thread and actually used a hair blower to dry it out.
I also turned on the AC and left it over night. As suggested in another forum thread.
I also have followed other instructions in the forums and have left the macbook turned upside down and removed the battery. Apparently I need to keep it like that for a day or two

Here are some suggestions from my co-workers:

Bill Pearson: "I washed my ipod nano in the washing machine for a full load. When I pulled it out, I let it dry off for two days. I plugged it in and let it charge, then turned it on. It worked perfectly. A MBP is a bit more complicated than an ipod, but you never know... ". I am hoping the macs are as robust as iPods to withstand this disaster.

Josh Bancroft: "If you can, stick in a sealed plastic bag with a few of those silica gel dessicant packets (you know, the ones that come with electronics and say "do not eat!"). Put the whole thing somewhere warm and dry and sunny (windowsill?) for a couple of days. After that, you might get lucky. I've heard of MacBooks surviving worse". I am currently trying this out.

Jeff Moriarty: "Make sure that thing is dry as a bone before you hit that power switch again. But if it was on when it got wet and isn't working, I would be something fried inside. Not trying to be a Downer on ya, but every piece of HW I've had that was live when it got wet was a lost cause. I did recover a laptop once that a bottle of water opened up on, but it was off at the time and I gave it a solid weekend of drying before I brought it back on." – I am going to wait and see what happens.

Aaron Tersteeg: "Take it to the apple store. Put on your game face, know that you are now "The Jersey Boy" and go get your machine fixed! No whining!" - I am going to take my mac to the apple store after I have exhausted some of the other options.

Bottom line: Don't keep any liquids anywhere near your macbook. Don't drink and work. I am learning this lesson the hard way ... oh well ... at the very least you have to be more careful when you have liquid dependency (water, tea, coffee, etc.) like I do.

Right now, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that my macbook will start working again. If you happen to have other suggestions then feel free to leave me a note.

**Update**

My Mac Book Pro is fixed and it works like a charm. Here is what happened.

I scheduled an appointment with the "Genius Bar" at the local Apple Store. Thanks Josh for your suggestion.
I took my mac to the apple store and told them exactly what happened. The store manager was impressed that I was real honest about the water spill, and he later told me that most people don't admit this at all. The manager assured me that if the damage is limited to the keyboard then he will fix it for free.
I got a call after a few short hours that the damage was only limited to the keyboard and they replaced the keyboard for free.

I was real impressed with the Apple Service and Support. Thanks to everybody at the "Genius Bar", Apple Store, Short Hills, New Jersey for their A+ service.

Categories: Intel® Software Network 2.0

Comments (10)

By Josh Bancroft (Intel) on March 4th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Good luck, Ajay! I've destroyed more than one keyboard by dumping soda in it (sticky mess! way worse than water!), but luckily haven't taken out a whole laptop yet.

We're waiting for word of your MacBook Pro's resurrection!

By Sharon Greenfield on March 4th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Yikes! I've got sympathy for ya Ajay....
That silica packet idea sounds pretty good, hopefully it works!
Otherwise, the Apple store but not during a rush hour.
Good luck!

By Josh Bancroft (Intel) on March 4th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Before you go to the Apple store (like, the day before) go to apple.com/retail, find your store, and register yourself for an appointment through their concierge service. If you wait until you're actually in the store to register, you'll wait for hours...

By Ajay Mungara (Intel) on March 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Thanks for your comment Sharon.

Thanks Josh, I will remember to do that. I am still hoping the silica packet would work me.

By Ray Zed Blog on March 4th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
videonet: I accidentally spilled some water on my macbook pro. As a result, some of the keys are not working. Needless to say – I am so disappointed with what happened. Here are some Options that I am looking into:

By James Mansion on March 5th, 2008 at 1:59 am
One of my kids' friends spilt sugarred tea in our Dell laptop. I bought a PDF maintenance manual online which walked me through taking it apart, took the keyboard out, wiped up any sugar crystals I could find inside the case, and ran the keyboard under the tap for a while and let it drain. It works fine now.

drying hadn't been enough for us before - I guess it depends exactly what spilled.

By Rick (Vectorpedia) on March 6th, 2008 at 7:25 am
I think a hair blower may work.........don't spill Coke on your Mac.......thats deadly !

By Jerry Makare on March 6th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
This is terrible news! I feel for you Ajay, losing a Mac is like losing family. Best of luck on this one buddy.

By Ajay Mungara (Intel) on March 12th, 2008 at 9:19 am
hello everybody,
My macbook is fixed!! Please read the update for the details.

By Sandeep Neerarambham on May 9th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Dude...herezz a tip...for next time.Not sure if it works..but worth a try.
if u drop ur mobile or laptop in water....keep it in rice[just plain rice..not cooked] overnight. rice being wat it is sucks the moisture out completely. next day both r ready to use...rice as well as ur mobile/laptop.

Don’t drink and use the Mac!

By Ajay Mungara (Intel) (85 posts) on March 4, 2008 at 11:06 am

Categories: Intel® Software Network 2.0

Comments (10)

What do you think?