Spilled Liquid on Macbook, Worked Temporarily, Won't Turn On After Cleaning

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Spilled Liquid on Macbook, Worked Temporarily, Won't Turn On After Cleaning

I recently spilled milk onto the left top corner of the keyboard of my macbook (where the power cord, usb, etc. are located.)

The computer turned off right before I spilled. I immediately turned it upside down trying to displace the liquid. After letting it dry for a while I turned the macbook on experiencing several problems.

- Airport would not go on.

- Photobooth would not display video/sound.

- Itunes Album Artwork was inexistent.

- USB was not recognized.

After several restarts, I gained back what was lost, except the airport was still not properly working. Over time it started to function, but at a very slow pace.

I decided to take the macbook apart in order to clean the remaining dried milk, which I figured what was causing the remaining problem to occur.

After a thorough, gentle clean with a q-tip I removed all traces of remaining liquid. With high hopes, I put the macbook back together only to find the computer would not turn on at all now.

I took the mac to the genius bar to be told the LogicBoard probably needed repair, although he did not take the computer apart to look at the logic board specificaly.

What I am wondering is what I could have done to prevent it from working at all just by further cleaning it?

Also, is there anything I can personally do any further to fix this or is my only option to pay thd $300 to send it in.

Thanks for your time guys, I highly appreciate it.

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.7), Black

Posted on Oct 18, 2010 5:13 PM

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Answer 1

First Magus

Level 7

21,299 points

Oct 18, 2010 8:48 PM in response to devinsola

The problem that you have is that the milk leaves a residue and can cause all the problems you are describing. If it had been water you may have been able to remove the battery and let it dry for a while and save it.

Cleaning a board that has had milk on it would require a cleaning bath to get the residue off. You have limited choices. Send it to a repair center, there are a lot of them besides Apple that can do it. They would have to do a thorough cleaning and then replace any parts that were shorted out. Your hard drive may also be damaged.

If you choose to repair it instead of replacing it I would suggest doing a search on the net for a repair shop that will give you a quote for the repairs. Be sure to give them all the details of what happened so they will know what will be involved in the repair.

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