Water Spill! Eeek!

Question

Level 1

4 points

Water Spill! Eeek!

Hi everyone,

I know this has been posted a million times, but like many over-worried Mac users, I wanted to post my personal story to see what sort of chance my MacBook Pro has for survival.

I spilled part of a glass of water on my keyboard this afternoon. I immediately turned it upside town, so I'm not entirely sure how much water seeped in--I'd say probably around 1/4 of a cup, although it could have been a bit more.

I did essentially everything the forums told me to do--a thorough wipe down, and then I took off the bottom cover and it has been sitting in front of the fan ever since. I have the newest version of the MacBook Pro--I got it in July 2010--and neither me, nor my boyfriend, were entirely sure how to remove the battery, so we just let it stay there.

The logic board does not seem wet. After a few hours of drying, the entire machine seems dry. I'm going to let it set for another couple of days to be sure--this was an early birthday present/grad school present, and if I ruin it, I can't afford another machine. It ***** because it has all my reading notes in it, but to me, it's not worth powering it up to retrieve my notes only to find that I shorted something out.

In all honesty, part of this is me just venting out loud, but is there anything else I can do? I am keeping it in a dry, non-humid place, it is off and unplugged. It was WATER--not beer, soda, wine, etc.

What do you think my chances are of survival? Or will only time tell?

Any advice would help!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Sep 7, 2010 10:36 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 9, 2010 3:27 AM in response to jackieuse

Echoing everything else said here.

And in the future, you might want to get one of these: http://www.iskin.com/products_mac.tpl (scroll down). I had a pink one that I bought for my iBook and then used again on my MacBook. I spilled part of a glass of red wine on the MacBook, and none of it went in the computer; it all pooled on the iSkin, which was very cool indeed!

Apple sells another version from another company: http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV901LL/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY That's what I'm using on my MPB and it's awesome. You literally can't tell there's any kind of cover on there at all. When I showed it to my husband, he was amazed! 😀

Good luck, and I hope your MBP is OK!

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Answer 2

Sep 8, 2010 12:18 AM in response to jackieuse

jackieuse wrote:
Hi everyone,

I know this has been posted a million times, but like many over-worried Mac users, I wanted to post my personal story to see what sort of chance my MacBook Pro has for survival.

I spilled part of a glass of water on my keyboard this afternoon. I immediately turned it upside town, so I'm not entirely sure how much water seeped in--I'd say probably around 1/4 of a cup, although it could have been a bit more.

I did essentially everything the forums told me to do--a thorough wipe down, and then I took off the bottom cover and it has been sitting in front of the fan ever since. I have the newest version of the MacBook Pro--I got it in July 2010--and neither me, nor my boyfriend, were entirely sure how to remove the battery, so we just let it stay there.

The logic board does not seem wet. After a few hours of drying, the entire machine seems dry. I'm going to let it set for another couple of days to be sure--this was an early birthday present/grad school present, and if I ruin it, I can't afford another machine. It ***** because it has all my reading notes in it, but to me, it's not worth powering it up to retrieve my notes only to find that I shorted something out.

In all honesty, part of this is me just venting out loud, but is there anything else I can do? I am keeping it in a dry, non-humid place, it is off and unplugged. It was WATER--not beer, soda, wine, etc.

What do you think my chances are of survival? Or will only time tell?

Any advice would help!

I spilled a whole glass of champagne on a MBP I had a few years ago while on a flight to Europe. I could not afford to be without my MBP. I carry my set of Torx screwdrivers to fix my Mac if necessary (idiots at TSA never stopped me). I immediately took it apart, wiped up everything, and it worked.

I think if you moved quickly, and because it was water, you might be all right. Pure water doesn't conduct electricity, so it dries out, you should be fine. Sugared water (any type) is a major problem.

Tell us what happens. 🙂

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Answer 3

JasonFear

Level 5

4,965 points

Sep 8, 2010 12:34 AM in response to jackieuse

Hi jackieuse,

Sorry to hear of your accident. The biggest problem with liquid damage is usually in the first couple of seconds or when you when you try to power the unit back on. The reason, the liquid will bridge circuits that weren't to be and cause shorts. So assuming you got the machine off immediately upon impact (or as close to as humanly possible) that's a good start.

Outside of what you're already doing there isn't much else that's necessary, outside of a full disassembly of the unit to ensure that every drop of water is off every component. While leaving the machine properly ventilated and giving it ample time to dry, you won't evaporate every last drop.

I follow the strategy that for every second water was spilled onto/into the machine, is 24 hours in dry time. It may seem excessive but you can really never overly cautious.

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Answer 4

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Sep 8, 2010 2:57 PM in response to jackieuse

So far it sounds like you've done everything right. I would recommend leaving it off for at least 72 hours. That is what an AASP recommended to my niece after a water spill.

Fortunately, water is one of the most innocuous things you can spill because it will not leave a destructive residue. The main thing is to be sure your Mac is bone dry before putting power to it again. If you do that, there's a good chance it will survive just fine.

Good luck!

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Answer 5

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Sep 8, 2010 7:55 PM in response to S.U.

I agree with you . . .
I spilled a very small amount of wine on mine.
Turn it off immediately, moped everything up (most of it was on the counter, not the Mac).
I opened it up, and turned it upside down for three day, in a sunny spot in the kitchen.
I learned a good lesson, I'll tell you.
It works fine, but it was a real panic in the meanwhile.

Keeping fingers crossed for you!

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