Q: MacBook leaking

Thanks for the reply. After a lengthy conversation with a guy at apple he is going to forward all the information to have a meeting with a few of his team regarding a safety issue as it was giving off chemical fumes and has caused damage to a table within my property. He said they may well come and collect it for inspection. I won't be charged for this although I'm out of warranty as it's a safety issue opposed to a standard fault. Thought id have a nightmare explaining it to them but they were really understanding.

He is contacting me tomorrow with a result and final decision on what they will be doing. I am not touching that computer ever again, until it's fixed. I dread to think what that was. Both tech support guys say it's battery fluid from bulging battery issue even though I've had it replaced once under warranty and bought a second out of warranty just 8 months ago. I know what to look for and it certainly isnt bulging or any such misshapen.

Hope this gets sorted.

The guy got back to me today after speaking with several people and they are none the wiser. Still speculating battery fluid although they are inclined to say its probably not as the amount of liquid ive described. The battery would of needed to have literally burst. They are aware I know what I'm talking about and would of noticed a bulging battery and definitely would of noticed a exploded battery. They say there is not enough liquid in the machine to cause such an amount to surface from it.

I've had to email pictures of the whole laptop, inside the battery compartment, the battery itself, the serial numbers. I've also included images of the damage to my property. That's what gets me most. I'm trawling the net trying to find a thread I was reading before regarding leaking MacBooks where people were complaining of minimal fluid leaking from the battery latch - that's not my issue, but someone on there described the exact same amount of fluid as me and the same model I believe. It's the only person I've seen online with the same complaint so I know it's been an issue before for someone out there.

I don't know what I can do if they don't accept responsibility. I assure them 110% nothing was spilt on it or underneath it. Im ahppy for them to take it and inspect it to check my claims as it were. I've been an apple customer my whole life, all the electronic products I've owned that can be, have been apple and I've never had any problems bar known faults. I have to say they are fantastic for investigating this issue 5 years out of warranty, I wouldn't expect that from another company. I love the quality of their products, is wouldn't choose anyone else to go to. I hope they recognise such valued customers. I'm worried my young daughter has been around this machine, or could of touched the fluid that was on the table before I noticed it. I just horrible not knowing what it was. Right now, I wish I was a computer repair technician, then I might have a clue. When it comes to the internal, I'm stumped!

I'm not going to let it drop. I will keep going until they can prove its not their issue. I'm trying my hardest to find others out there online in forums etc that have had an issue similar to this. A lot of people have the chemical smell but not with fluid. I'm aware Greenpeace did a full report in the use of toxic chemicals in laptops some years ago, I have just read the full report, although the report for apple was done on a MacBook pro it did find high levels of chemical substances that didn't need to be in the machine. From what I've read, and I'm no chemist, I can't work out what quantities these were found so I can't use that in my argument. It's so frustrating. Now I know, for sure, I had no chemicals around at the time, let alone in my house. We're not talking things like acetone here, more chlorine and similar. I am adament this wasn't my problem. I'd leave it if it was any other issue, the computer is 6 years old, it's out of their hands and it's still running fine but the issue for sure is SAFETY. I might run a hardware test on the battery and email that over to the customer service agent too, I'm pretty sure it will be absolutely normal.

So I've had another call from apple. I'm really annoyed now. It seems to me from the latest call from the senior technician handling this issue that they want to try and push the blame to accidental liquid damage. They are saying it does need immediately looked at by a genius at a apple branch or premium apple repair provider. When I asked about the cost of this the reply was 'depends what they find' if it's accidental liquid damage I would become liable for repair, which I can accept is fair enough but I know for sure that wasn't the cause. How can I prove this? I don't think I can. I am happy for them to investigate the issue, but I'm unhappy if I incur any fees for it. He said will cross that bridge when we come to it but that's just not good enough for me. My Dad is telling me up just to leave it and we will sort out a new MacBook but it's the frustration of not knowing what happened.

Would you just still go and see what they say? If they suggest a repair at your cost then just leave it? Really I just want to know its safe to use. It's still working fine, but I'm not allowed to touch it until apple have inspected it.

Hi,

I escalated my issue with apple all the way up to senior level within the call centre. I sent extensive pictures and dialogue of the incident directly to senior advisors who urgently wanted it seen at a genius bar. But it all became very apparent to me that the only thing they wanted to do was blame liquid damage, which wasnt the case. As the computer was many years old and had suffered liquid damage in the past I knew the detectors in the machine would should some liquid damage, its had heaps spilt on it but still survived. That was anything to do with the issue I was having last year, but they would of just seen the detectors and said 'yeah, liquid damage, your liable for repair'. This liquid definitely had a chemical component, it stank to high heaven of that chemical fumey smell. I wasn't prepared to stand for it as a apple user for 15+ years. I never visited the genius bar as it was too much hassle for me, especially when the blame started to edge closer to me on numerous emails and phone calls. I got a new macbook, but continue to also use the one with issues but its never had any since. The battery casing is cracked, the whole face of the computer is falling off, the screen is hanging on by a thread but its still chugging along just fine.

I did think after all my calls with Apple though that I forgot the HDD was replaced with a Crucial solid state drive about 12 months prior to leaking, the issue may lie there, but I'm unsure. As I say hasn't happened since. I've taken it apart last christmas to switch ram with new macbook and the whole inside is absolutely fine.

Hope this helps, anything else I'll see the email come through and come back again to try and help. Be interesting to know what Apple make of it..