I spilled juice on my MacBook. What now?

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Level 1

10 points

I spilled juice on my MacBook. What now?

This afternoon, I was working on my MacBook, and spilled half a glass of orange juice on to the keyboard. I immediately overturned the computer so as to drain the juice from the internals, but the computer had turned itself off. I immediately opened the bottom case and wiped the internals dry. I waited for about 6 hours with the computer overturned and then wiped the internals again but the computer still did not boot up. What should I do now?

MacBook, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), MacBook White, Mid-2010 model.

Posted on Feb 12, 2013 4:51 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ralph Landry1

Level 8

41,844 points

Feb 12, 2013 4:55 AM in response to Jetset310

Best advice is take the MB to an Apple store genius bar or authorized repair center and have the techs clean and check out the hardware...liquids can very quickly short components and cause a lot of damage that needs professional attention.

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Answer 2

Jetset310 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 12, 2013 5:08 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

Thank you very, very much for your help, Ralph! I thought I should dismantle my MacBook and let the individual components dry out, but it's a good thing I posted this issue here first. I will take it to an Apple Store tomorrow morning. :)

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Answer 3

Feb 12, 2013 5:11 AM in response to Jetset310

There are some who might suggest dismantling, but you run the risk of breaking something that is not broken, doing further damage, etc. If you are a computer or electronic technician then that might be a viable approach but I would still trust the techs first. If they tell you there is nothing they can do, then you might want to have some fun and just take it apart.

Good luck with it and hope the geniuses are able to get you running again.

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Answer 4

Jetset310 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 5, 2013 7:42 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

Thanks, Ralph, for your awesome advice! The guys at the Apple Helpdesk at my school (that's where I purchased my MacBook) loaned me a replacement MacBook, and now that my own MacBook is dead (though the data is safe because the HDD and RAM are fine), insurance will take care of the rest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed... :-D

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Answer 5

Mar 6, 2013 3:38 AM in response to Jetset310

You are very welcome. Great to hear that worked well for you. Hopefully they will salvage your data from the damaged MacBook and all you will have lost is a little time.

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Answer 6

Jetset310 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 15, 2013 1:42 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

Just an update, in case you're interested. The AppleCare guys and insurance gave me a new MacBook Pro 13-inch - that is, the mid-2012 model - for a $350 "top-up". This just worked out great! 🙂

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Answer 7

Mar 15, 2013 3:19 AM in response to Jetset310

Actually am very interested in hearing how people resolve things like this...that is certainly a good result. Replacement for $350 is not a bad deal by any means.

Thanks for the feedback.

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