Spilt beer on macbook...now acting strange...

I am sorry to tell you that the recovery is probably temporary, corrosion will set in, heating it up and flowing more electricity through it is a very bad idea now:

Stop using it, take it to Apple now.

The computer's acting strange because it's drunk! (Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😝 )

I left it 3 days and tried again...

For future reference, after spilling something into the computer, you want to immediately try to flush out the liquid, if the liquid is more than plain water. If it is just water, then leaving it alone to dry may work. But other liquids will leave a residue and once the residue dries, it becomes more difficult to clean and fix. (I used to repair cameras and had a number of units come in where it had beer and wine spilled on it. Kahlua is the worst. 😟 If they came in right away, within a couple of hours, there was a good chance. Otherwise, it often was many hours of cleaning by hand. 😢 )

But even "plain" water can have other crud in it so one can't be certain. An acceptable emergency action is to pour isopropyl alcohol to flush out the other liquid. Isopropyl alcohol will dry "clean" unlike most other liquids so is used to for cleaning electronics. You want to use the bottles marked "95%" but you usually can get away with the typical 70% ones. Depending on whether you have some isopropyl alcohol in your cabinet, how much it costs if you had to buy, and your "squirm factor" (a.k.a. courage to possibly do more damage to your equipment,) pouring isopropyl alcohol on the Mac immediately after the beer spilled is what I would have recommended. Normally, I'd be disassembling the computer, then cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, then letting dry before reassembling. Whether you're comfortable with doing that is another matter. For most people, do as Csound1 suggested, and send it for repair immediately.

It's done for, grab your files off and salvage the parts, it's not worth repairing..

Been there, done that, with beer too. 😀

My keyboard now has a cover on it.

Do

• Immediately shut down the computer and unplug the power cord.
• Remove the computer's battery if it's a portable Mac.
• Disconnect any peripherals (printers, iPods, scanners, cameras, etc.)
• Lay the computer upside down on paper towels to get as much liquid as possible to drip out.
• Note what was spilled on your Mac.
• Bring the computer into Apple store or AASP as soon as possible.

Don't

• Don't try to turn it back on. Liquids can help electrical current move about the components of your Mac in destructive ways.
• Don't shake the computer (this will only spread the liquid around).
• Don't use a hair dryer on it (even at a low setting a hair dryer will damage sensitive components).

Hey Benson,

It's been a year since your post. I have the same exact symptoms after a beer spill. What ended up happening with yours?

It's probably a papper weight to be, as fluids and electrical comonents don't mix. No telling what else might have seen voltage where there should not have been any.

Best of luck

sanjampet wrote:

It's probably a papper weight to be, as fluids and electrical comonents don't mix. No telling what else might have seen voltage where there should not have been any.

Best of luck

You realize that the post you replied to is over a year old? The OP has probably gone by now.

Did'nt check the date but it came up on the first page, and i"d never seen it before. Why would that still be on a current page?

Oh well.