Hello, I spilled water last night which got on my Macbook Pro. I wiped off the water and moved the computer out of it to dry overnight. The computer was still on when I moved it as the lid was closed, but it wasn't turned off. I woke up this morning and it was neither accepting charge from my charger (which is functional) or turning on. I'm wondering what the best steps at this point would be?
MacBook Pro
I've had experience with quite a number of Macs with liquid spills. If you do not open the bottom case to clean it, some will fail and become beyond repair. There are some risky DIY methods and some DIY methods that require a bit of technical know-hows. Like simple disassembly and reassembling.
The DIY method that works with slight risk
1. Firstly, power off your Mac immediately by performing a hard shutdown by pressing and holding on the power button.
2. Get hold of a philips crosshead screwdriver and open up the base. For Retina Macbook Pro and Macbook Air, your need a P5 Pentalobe screwdriver. iFixit comes to mind. Else just google and see if other stores sell it.
3. Dry out any water you see, looking for areas where the water indicators have turned red. Inspect and look for corrosion. If there is corrosion, it is best to send it for repairs.
4. Dismantle the entire Mac, get hold of a WD40 electrical contact cleaner. Spray the entire logicboard on both sides with it. Leave your logicboard to dry for at least 24 hours. Reassmble and power on.
The DIY risk it method
1. Perform step 1, 2 and 3.
2. Open the LCD to 90 degrees angle.
3. Lay your Macbook upside down on a table edge with a towel underneath.
The professional method
1. Send it in to a professional repair service that explicitly states they do chemical cleaning for water damaged Macs as soon as possible. Anything more than 1 week is quite hard to repair.
It is totally untrue that water damaged or logicboards with some corrosion cannot be repaired. Most places can't do it because they do not do component level repairs on the logicboard. It is also possible to revive Macs within hours as professional Mac repair services can do chemical cleaning of even corroded Macbook logicboards with industrial strength cleaning machines and chemicals, and speed dry them with industrial blowers.
Do nots
1. Put it in rice. You are leaving the logicboard inside with water. Your logicboard might grow mould.
2. Use a hair dryer. The LCD might be damaged and the hair dryer pushes water further in.
3. Leave it to "dry" and power it on a few days later. Sometimes this works, but days or weeks down the road, if there is water and moisture, the components inside can start to corrode.
This is what happened to my friend's Macbook Air. He said it suddenly stopped working one night. A number of my customers brought their Macs in after 1 month of usage after a liquid spill. Passing electricity through a Mac with water is like doing electroplating. The rust and corrosion with be adhered to the components.
This blog details some repair tips.
[URL="http://www.macplus.sg/blog/"]http://www.macplus.sg/blog/[/URL]
I've had experience with quite a number of Macs with liquid spills. If you do not open the bottom case to clean it, some will fail and become beyond repair. There are some risky DIY methods and some DIY methods that require a bit of technical know-hows. Like simple disassembly and reassembling.
The DIY method that works with slight risk
1. Firstly, power off your Mac immediately by performing a hard shutdown by pressing and holding on the power button.
2. Get hold of a philips crosshead screwdriver and open up the base. For Retina Macbook Pro and Macbook Air, your need a P5 Pentalobe screwdriver. iFixit comes to mind. Else just google and see if other stores sell it.
3. Dry out any water you see, looking for areas where the water indicators have turned red. Inspect and look for corrosion. If there is corrosion, it is best to send it for repairs.
4. Dismantle the entire Mac, get hold of a WD40 electrical contact cleaner. Spray the entire logicboard on both sides with it. Leave your logicboard to dry for at least 24 hours. Reassmble and power on.
The DIY risk it method
1. Perform step 1, 2 and 3.
2. Open the LCD to 90 degrees angle.
3. Lay your Macbook upside down on a table edge with a towel underneath.
The professional method
1. Send it in to a professional repair service that explicitly states they do chemical cleaning for water damaged Macs as soon as possible. Anything more than 1 week is quite hard to repair.
It is totally untrue that water damaged or logicboards with some corrosion cannot be repaired. Most places can't do it because they do not do component level repairs on the logicboard. It is also possible to revive Macs within hours as professional Mac repair services can do chemical cleaning of even corroded Macbook logicboards with industrial strength cleaning machines and chemicals, and speed dry them with industrial blowers.
Do nots
1. Put it in rice. You are leaving the logicboard inside with water. Your logicboard might grow mould.
2. Use a hair dryer. The LCD might be damaged and the hair dryer pushes water further in.
3. Leave it to "dry" and power it on a few days later. Sometimes this works, but days or weeks down the road, if there is water and moisture, the components inside can start to corrode.
This is what happened to my friend's Macbook Air. He said it suddenly stopped working one night. A number of my customers brought their Macs in after 1 month of usage after a liquid spill. Passing electricity through a Mac with water is like doing electroplating. The rust and corrosion with be adhered to the components.
This blog details some repair tips.
[URL="http://www.macplus.sg/blog/"]http://www.macplus.sg/blog/[/URL]
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
Don't
This list is very helpful. The outside of the Macbook is dry and I've got it sitting upside down, but it's dry enough that no water's dripping out or anything like that. I know that doesn't mean that it's dry inside the laptop, so I'm leaving it in this position. I'm wondering if the fact that it wasn't turned off, I just closed the lid, when the water was spilled last night means that electric / irreparable damage could have been done?
I wish I lived close to a Mac Store -- I'm out in he country with the closest Best Buy being an hour and a half away...
Allow me to add another "do".....
If you have homeowners'/renters' insurance, notify them of the incident immediately. Although no Apple coverage plans address accidental damage, many people have found that their regular insurance covers such damage to computers.
The reason I mention this is that, in spite of small volumes of seemingly "harmless" liquids, many notebooks never recover from a spill. Too many components get compromised and you find that replace v. repair costs are so close as to make the latter unappealing.
Obviously, any insurance settelemnt is subject to the usual deductible.
I wish we had renters insurance so I could go down that avenue
I wish we had renters insurance so I could go down that avenue
Ouch!
"If you have homeowners'/renters' insurance, notify them of the incident immediately. Although no Apple coverage plans address accidental damage, many people have found that their regular insurance covers such damage to computers."
Be advised that I doubt any insurance company is going to pay for a self inflicted water spill. If a water pipe broke in your home and your computer was damaged as a result then you've got a chance but limited to a deductable and depreciated value of the computer.
I recently experienced the same issue. My success may or may not translate to your situation. Good luck: MacBook Repair Success Story - Cola Damage
* edit copy old post
here are some repair options:
www.the-mac-boutique.com
these guys fixed my MacBook Pro and offer a 180 warranty
water damaged macbook pro
