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Spilled water on MacBook Air - safe to use after a week?

Last Friday I spilled a glass of water all over my MacBook Air's keyboard. I jumped up, tipped the laptop over to get as much water off as possible, and dried off the outside. I took it in to Apple immediately and was told it needed so many repairs, that it would cost more than the laptop itself. The guy who looked at my Air was able to turn it on, but the monitor was flickering and had horizontal lines. He took it apart and said the motherboard was fine, but I would need a new logic board, speakers, screen, etc. and said I should be able to get my files off onto an external hard drive. Since it was such a costly repair that I couldn't go for, I didn't get a list of everything that had to be replaced.


When I got it home, I wasn't able to power it on like he could. I let it sit on my dresser all week, open and upside down, to let it dry and allow any extra water to drip out the front. Tired of looking at it, tonight I decided to try one more time and turn it on, and it did! I was able to email myself some important files that I thought I would never see again, so programs and internet worked. The monitor seemed completely fine, the brightness goes up and down normally, the speakers work, and I didn't notice any problems with the keyboard.


It seems to be completely fine, but I'm a bit worried about whether or not it's safe to use, and if there's anything I should be looking out for. At the Apple store I was told that it needed so much, but maybe it's fine for now? If I am able to use it, should I be thinking about replacing it anyway? I'll be wanting to use it next fall for school. Sorry for the huge wall of text, I thought it would be best to know as much as possible.


Thanks.

MacBook Air

Posted on Dec 30, 2011 6:31 PM

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33 replies

Dec 30, 2011 6:51 PM in response to steve359

Sorry, not sure if you actually read my post (although I know it's pretty long). It's off for now until I know if it's okay to use and I haven't plugged it into the wall at all. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I feel like after a week of drying it could be alright. I did take it to the Genius Bar, right after the spill a week ago, as I said in my first post. The guy there said my motherboard was fine, and it seems to be working.


I suppose there's still the possibility that it could die. I guess my main question was if it's safe to use, and if there are any more precautions I could take.

Dec 30, 2011 6:57 PM in response to NaidaZ

That's great news. I'm not a computer guy but I am very experienced in automotive. The way I see it is even when you took it in and they cleaned it there is no way to get all the water out if it's really bad. The water will cause shorts and all kind of thing will malfunction. Now that the water is dried I would take it in and get it retested. You see, the first test they did on it was not accurate because of the water (causing it to short). Now you can get a good test. Who knows, it might be just fine. I remember drying cars for weeks at a time. One thing to have them look for is any corrosion that might had formed. My guess (only a guess) is that if it's working good now you got really lucky and it will be fine.

Dec 30, 2011 7:06 PM in response to shalou

You might want to check with your own insurance. As far as I know, Apple doesn't cover any accidental stuff or else I'd have a new or repaired Air, haha. But my insurance actually does cover my laptop even though my damage was accidental, except I'd have to pay a $500 deductible for a new one which isn't worth it if my laptop ends up being okay.

Dec 30, 2011 7:11 PM in response to NaidaZ

Apple warrantee does not cover physical damage or liquid damage. Period. Best advice if your machine is working now: move all of your files to a safe place (CD, exteranal harddrive, etc.) for when your Mac konks out for good. It's sadly a matter of "when" and not "if". Liquid damage can sneak up on you long after you forget about the spill.

Dec 30, 2011 7:14 PM in response to NaidaZ

Yea you should be fine, when I dropped my computer in the water I took the battery out and let it dry for two days and it was good as new! Happened to me like three times and they all still worked should work with most electronics; phone tablet etc... Also some friends have told me to put an electronic that was wet into a bowl of rice because rice absorbs water but I didn't do that, I'm just giving you another suggestion but anyways, yea you should be just fine especially cause you left it off for a week

Spilled water on MacBook Air - safe to use after a week?

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