Q: When spilled water on MacBook Pro keyboard?

You've obviously spent a lot of time and effort writing this but if you've actually followed your process you'll discover it is fraught with errors.

Look at sig's advice.  What you advice can only aggravate a situation that might be salvaged be the Genius Bar.

Ummm guys i was cleaning my mac keyboard and anyways now my mac keyboard now dosent work and well when i go to press u and f to log in my mac will not write those leters what happend and how can i fix it

I'd take it to the Genius Bar if I were you and be prepared for a hefty bill . There's absolutely nothing you can do.

quick story...

I've never posted here.  I'm 42 and was in corporate america (if that exists anymore) since 96 when I graduated from UNC.  I was a PC guy (Dell).  If something went wrong with the equipment, my employer paid for some sort of protection where I would simply contact Dell - they would ship a box - and the equipment was sent out returned REPAIRED.  No questioins asked. I'm sure it wasn't inexpensive.

I was gifted an Iphone and then a MacBook Pro (20011).  Ive semi converted to Mac).  I appreciate the genius in making a product that is sexy, sleek and very very fragile.  Brilliant.  Bottom line minded, contracts that surely can't be fullfilled without an accident to the very fragile hardward.  And ultimatley the replacement costs of said hardware. I Broke an Ipod, a Nano, 2 iphones(salt water damage living in Charleston SC) and ultimately a MacBook Pro (15 - non retinal). I'm sure that pushed the stock price a pinch.

I was vacationing - needed a movie to put me to sleep, rested a glass of water on the deck of the MacBook and mid evening spilled it.  The LOGIC BOARD!!!   TERROR.  Flipped it over and disengaged it from the power source.  That's common sense around the horn.  PC or MAC.

Long story short

Its alomst been 3 years. IT is ACTION- that saved this piece of equipment.  I don't care whether it was a PC  or Mac - the fact of the mater is that I was negligent with it.  There is no place for a glass of water or a Margaritta anywhere near something that costs as much as a used car.  A Lesson and My fault.

I'm happy to report ... that I'm posting from that machine.  Yes.  I have a few issues.. Sticky keys

Yet it survived.  So In short.... the drainage ports cost me a couple of key strokes but Im Good.

It dried out.

I had a long road identifying which keys may be sticking.... weird characters (alt option) being stuck, but I'm still happy and still banging on a Mac while my PC sits in the closet.

For what its worth.

Some drunk stupid moron knocked a full glass of what was probably half flavored vodka and half water with all the melted ice. At least more than a full cup saturated the whole keyboard of my 2012 macbook pro 15". I would've punched the stupid idiot in the face but it was my girlfriend so I didn't. I immediately picked it up and turned it off and turned it over. I opened the back and it full of liquid on the inside. The logic board was all wet. I disconnected the battery. I would've removed the motherboard but it was a real pain in the *** to do. It smelled like rasberry pomegranate on the inside. I guess if you're gonna spill something on it I would definitely want it to be vodka, just not flavored vodka. Who knows what residue it left behind. At least it was sugar free. I let a fan dry it out for 2 days and put it back together. It works perfect! I was so scared. I wanted to turn it on sooner so bad but I restrained. I guess that warranty is void but it's a year old anyway.

It's easy to fix sticky keys. Just pull the left corner up with your fingernail, then the right. Then you can pull the key off. Then, with a toothpick, you can pop the white foldy things little tabs out of the bottom. Wash that and problem solved.

Possibly toast, sorry.

Take it in to Genius Bar and get an estimate of repair.  You will have to pay if you want it fixed because liquid damage is not covered by warranty.

Keep it turned off, keep it unplugged.

Good luck.

Steve359, you don't give up do you?

Despite another two posters basically agreeing with my post that you can dry the machine out and save yourself $1000, you keep trotting out the same Apple line.

By the way my post was removed for a month and I had to complain to Apple to get it reinstated, so I don't expect a fair discussion here.

You WILL pay your hard earned money to Apple, whether it's necessary or not, that's their philosophy, and it seems that of several who post here.

What test do the "Genius Bar" do to ascertain whether it's safe to switch the machine on? Answer - they don't have one, they charge you anyway for a new board.

Halogen headlights need to be installed with care.  Getting body oil on the bulb can cause the bulb to explode (literally) because halogen will boil that fluid. I one found after a long drive on a rainly night that a rock had broken the plastic cover and the bulb exploded because of water on it.

The logic board is covered with material that will heat up over time, and you cannot wash it clean.

Despite the last posters insistence that "it works for now!" means it will work after the foreign material heats up and causes damage, you should have it checked out.

The boiling point of body fluids is around 100 degrees C (212 F for those Stateside) or thereabouts, and any normal light bulb will boil them, that's why you may burn your hand if you change a light bulb with the switch on and aren't quick enough screwing it in, halogen bulb or not.

Did it occur to you that the rock might have broken the bulb too? i.e. at speed the broken bits of cover or the rock smashing against the very fragile bulb might have broken it?

Despite these manufacturer's warnings, I've never had a new halogen bulb blow on me, no matter what fingerprints I get on it before switching it on - I changed 4 in my kitchen last week. The glass of course has a metling point way above the boiling point of body fluids, so what is the issue? Differential expansion of the glass? In any case quite what halogen bulbs have to do with motherboards is beyond me - sounds like you're clutching at straws!

You say "the logic board is covered with material that will heat up over time". Obviously the logic board gets hot as it was designed to do, so no surprise there. Of course you can wash it clean - why wouldn't you be able to? It's not as if the juice or whatever chemically bonds with it - it's just like spilling the stuff on your coffee table - you can wash and/or wipe it off and then dry it. The damage is only done when the board is powered up with a liquid ionic solvent laying between the PCB tracks, thus short-circuiting the board and hence damaging it. Once the solute has been evaporated the ions cannot move, even if they remain on the surface, and hence  a short-circuit cannot occur.

The point is that "checking it out" will be very expensive, and often unnecessarily so. Apple will have no way to determine the extent of the damage before powering it on, and when they do, they will simply tell you that you need a new board, whether you do or not, just in case it fails later.

Sugar-fluids on a logic board designed not to be coated in it, running hotter than 150 degrees F.

Stop being contrary and accept that the person should have the unit checked.

Nwo do yourself a favor.  Coat the halogen headlight bulbs, high and low beans, in thick-sugar-water and go driving tonight.  But pick up replacements before you leave.  Your experience will be enlightening.

Goodbye.

sevenmilesup, greetings:  How many MBPs have you saved utilizing your techniques?

Ciao.

We're not even necessarily talking about sugar-based solvents - it could be just water, which itself conducts as it is an ionic solvent.

The owner should take their own steps to fix their own property i.e. dry it out first. Then if it still doesn't work, then pay Apple a month's wages, if they can afford to.

Once again I ask what have light bulbs got in common with computer motherboards? Answer - not much.

3 to date. How about you?