i spilled coffee on my macbook pro

There may be hope yet - Someone tipped over a beer on the table and a great splash shot into the back of my six month old macbook and onto the logic board. I didn`t know this and thought it was nothing. However, a sudden feeling prompted me to have a look about an hour later and I took the smallest screwdriver I could find (was not a phillips type), opened up the back and saw that a shot of beer had actually made a pathway of green slime across a small section. I got some good glasses, some cotton q-tips and washed away whatever I could see with warm water until it was all gone. I then went onto the internet and found similar problems discussed in macuser. Basically water is not good long term as it contains contaminents that will react with the metal parts on the board so you need to remove everything that might contain elements that will cause further corrosion. I went to the chemist as soon as it opened, bought a small bottle of ISOPROPANOL (alcohol) and cleaned those sections of the logic board with thee q-tips thoroughly all over again. I then left the macbook open for 24 hours (at least) to make sure it was absolutely dry. I closed it up and it worked perfectly and has done ever since. A few months later I met a computer expert, I told him this and he said that it was the best thing I could have done.

It is a good idea to check the macbook inside a few weeks (or sooner) later just to make sure that you have cleaned everything away and there is no corrosion.

I have learned my lesson and keep drinks away from macbook and mac at all times!

The fact that you used it while it was still wet is probably a death sentence. It probably fried itself. Coffee is even worse for your computer than water. Get it checked out by Apple, but I would expect that they'll tell you to replace it. Sorry there's not better news!

Don't turn it on, Don't plug it in.

Take it to the Genius Bar as soon as you can for a thorough assessment.

Maybe it won't be too expensive to fix. Maybe its a goner.

don't turn it back on!

how much is a "little bit"?

this literally just happened. i've got a regular macbook and ive had it since 2009 and ive always made sure to be cautious while with it. for the first time i spilled coffee on my keyboard. not a lot, thank god. but when it happened my laptop was still on and me panicking, ran to go find papertowel to clean it off. everything seemed fine until it started running and then shut off.

at that point, me being me, panicked. i took the battery out even though it didn't get wet (thank the lord) and wiped it down just for precautionary measures. what my friend suggested me to do was take a blowdryer, put it on low/cool and dry out the keyboard. (you DONT want to put it on hot because it's evidently melt the insides) the first two times i tried to put it on, it turned on fine and everything seemed to be working, but then it started running and shut off again. at that point i called apple (while continuing to blowdry) and when they asked me to turn it on it was fine. everything's working good except the fact that the keys where i spilled the coffee are still a little sticky.

For physical things, like stuck DVD, charging/power issues, spills, and things that require "Hands on", the guys at the Genius Bar can't be beat. They put their hands on these machines all day, every day, and have seen it all.

The appointment for an evaluation is free, in warranty or out. No obligation to use them for any fixes they suggest.

(It think it may be a policy that any real dis-assembly be done "in the back" to avoid having you copy them later and claim that the Genius showed you how to do domething.)

Also, you may not have exclusive access to the Genius -- your appointment may overlap with another customer -- but the good part of that is they are not in a big hurry to throw you out, either.

I have spilled a lot, really, a lot of coffe over my macbook pro while turned on, inmediately i lifted and turned it down, tryied to forced shut down but i noticed it was already off, it really scares me, because, I'm in the middle of the night, with no phillips screws around, so I can't dry it as well as i should, all i can do now is to wait until tomorrow to get it to a technician but i'm worried about an electric shock inside. Now i'm prepared to cover the cost of my stupidity, but sure i will not get to sleep. Fortunately I have a backup in an external hard drive, anyway, as a freelance I need the computer for work!!! i need a light of hope because I can afford the cost of a repair, but if it's all screwed up I can't afford buying a new one. It's so sad! The new macbook pro is not as easy as old models to take off battery, you even need special tiny screws to open the shell!! w. t. f.!!! It could be useful to have the model when you just used a coin to open up the shell to replace battery, but now.. well all i can do is wait a few hours to take it with someone specialized in doing it well. hope so...

Your system apparently turned itself off immediately, which means something shorted out. Logic boards are very expensive to replace, running $1000+, so you may find you need a new one and that "repair cost" you think you can afford is the same as the "new unit cost" you cannot afford.

But only an expert looking at the exact unit can give you an accurate estimate, so I am just guessing.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

well, Steve359 is right, it was a serious problem but not only in the mother board, it was also in the keypad, the trackpad, magsafe card, and the 2Gb memory.. plus the cost of cleaning and drying..."fortunately" (if i can say so) it could be repaired, i decided to send it to "mac emergencies" (since we don't have an Apple Store or Apple Service in Mexico) the cost of the repair was about $600 usd, one year warranty, i have been told tomorrow i can pick it up, so I'll tell you how it was... i'm so sad it was so much expensive, maybe if i could have the courage to open it, but since it was in the middle of the night i had to wait until next morning to decide to take it to an expert or do it myself... the risk was high, now I know i have to buy a plastic cover for the keypad and NOT to take any liquid near the mac! an expensive lesson. 😟

Fools never learn. Smart people learn from their own mistakes. Wise people learn frm the mistakes of others.

You are one step away from "wise".

Happy travels, if possible.

I just went through a coffe spillage myself just 20 minutes ago.

What I did:

As quickly as I could I started to suck out the coffee (yes, sucking it out by placing the lips on the keyboard and nearly hiperventilated doing that) in the same time, luckily I had tissues nearby (not a joke, I have a very bad cold) and started whiping off the excess coffee. After 1 minute I stopped and went for the vacuum cleaner and put it on the spill site for another minute.

After 15 minutes (and a hardware check) I took the keys out and surprise, no damage whatsoever.

I may have been lucky, but I think that sucking out the liquid in the first seconds of the spill may be a very good advice.

Take it in for evaluation.

You may be surprised what you did not get out.

Spill Cleaning

And, don't think that just because it was two teaspoons and not a glassful that there is a difference.

Some liquid has just spilled into your Mac. What should you do?

Do

• Immediately shut down the computer and unplug the power cord.
• Remove the computer's battery (if you can)
• 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 an 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).
• Do not put in a bag of rice in as much as rice will get into the ports and optical drive and do further damage.

Feeling lucky now. See what happens later.

Correct.

I took it to an evaluation today (being monday) and I'm happy to say that everything is okay.

Happy happy.

Next time, keep the coffee far way from your MBP. 😉

But ... start keeping daily backups, I would say. Just in case the missed something (sorry, but that is my real advice in this situation).