Spilled rubbing alcohol on screen, LCD looks messed up

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Spilled rubbing alcohol on screen, LCD looks messed up

A little background. Hinges on my first gen MBA broke. So I replaced them but the bezel wasn't on that well therefore getting in the way of the lid closing properly. The old glue wasn't holding it in place. So I decided to use superglue to put it back on. I clamped it and left. When I came back I discovered some of that rubber gasket(?) had stuck underneath the bezel. Now it was even harder to close.

So I decided to "melt" away the superglue using rubbing alcohol. I was going to use a little but but I accidentally spilled a lot. I guess it leaked into the LCD and it created these bright spots on the screen. I covered it up with rice and left it for 24 hours. Today I even put it out in the sun for a few hours. I thought it would eveporate away but it seems to have stayed. Have I permanently messed up my LCD screen? Should I order a new one and replace?

To be noted the rice is sitting on the bottom so I could take the picture, but otherwise I had it covered up the splotches. My whole issue was the left corner of the bezel sticking up.

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 7, 2014 2:12 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 7, 2014 2:31 PM in response to abuzar1

Yes, you stripped the anti-reflective coating, when you used rubbing alcohol

see here:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6342

HANDLING TIPS

Cleaning Your MacBook

Use a very lightly damp, soft (if you can squeeze the cloth very tightly and even a drop comes out, its still too damp), lint-free cloth to clean the computer’s exterior. Avoid getting moisture in any openings and be very careful not to get the damp cloth around the trackpad edges or around the inside edge between the monitor and its bezel. Do not spray any type of liquid directly on the computer. Do not use sprays, solvents, or abrasives; do not attempt to use any solvents on the LCD display either directly (especially!) or indirectly. There is never any call to use any type of lens cleaning solvents on the screen of your LCD display. Again, do not spray any liquid directly on the screen. Never use Kleenex, or paper towels, these are abrasive. Soft cotton cloth only or a microfiber lens cleaning cloth.

⚠No rubbing alcoholic, no glass cleaners of any variety, no acetone, no lens cleaning sprays, no AR coating sprays, no sprays sold as "for your LCD TV", no sprays sold as "for your notebook display". Water only, and never sprayed on, and never dripping wet even slightly on the cloth.

abuzar1 wrote:

Have I permanently messed up my LCD screen? Should I order a new one and replace?

Yes.....you have

New one? NO......you really can ONLY see it when its OFF

So........how much do you plan on staring at the screen with it off?? 😁

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Answer 2

abuzar1 Author

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Jun 7, 2014 2:41 PM in response to PlotinusVeritas

If you look at the pictures it seems to be something else. There is more backlight getting through on some parts of the screen vs the rest.

Actually you CANNOT tell anything is wrong with the screen is off. Again if you look at the pictures you will see the problem is when the screen is ON.

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Answer 3

Jun 7, 2014 2:56 PM in response to abuzar1

the CENTER should get more light, of course, because BACKLIT, light will come thru the APPLE LOGO 😁

Ahhhhhhhhh yes, I see the pile of rice, AND the vertical lines

you ruined the inverter board when you spilled alcohol on it, it got under the bezel and attacked your inverter board

Rice will NOT fix that, because the liquid is trapped under the covering and every little tiny tiny tiny crevice of the inverter board.

such "tricks" dont work on such tight places.

the inverter board is at the bottom of the bezel behind it, the WORST place to spill something on the screen.

inverter:

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Answer 4

abuzar1 Author

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Jun 7, 2014 3:05 PM in response to PlotinusVeritas

Hmm, it is possible that I could have damaged the inverter board. However don't you think that would have led to my backlight going out completely?

There isn't extra light in the center of the screen... and it shouldn't be brighter. I don't think you saw the pictures? You see the bright spots on the bottom left of the screen?

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Answer 5

Jun 7, 2014 3:31 PM in response to abuzar1

abuzar1 wrote:

Hmm, it is possible that I could have damaged the inverter board. However don't you think that would have led to my backlight going out completely?

no, typically a damaged inverter still operates with skewed (=nasty looking) results.

the backlighting is really EDGE-lit from a string of LEDs,......thats something separate.

abuzar1 wrote:

There isn't extra light in the center of the screen... and it shouldn't be brighter. I don't think you saw the pictures? You see the bright spots on the bottom left of the screen?

Yes, I see the bottom left, thats obviously from the spill where youve damaged the display from inverter damage.

abuzar1 wrote:
There isn't extra light in the center of the screen... and it shouldn't be brighter.

yes, there SHOULD be (if backlit) more light at the center, People wrongly complain about it often.

The LCD is transparent, AND when backlit, the Apple logo lets light come THRU the entire LCD

However your issue is one of inverter board destruction. yes, Ive seen your pics in detail.

Youve tinkered with your display (the most fragile part of the Air) , and caused serious damage to the display assy. 😟

You can fix it yourself, however removing the bezel is a pain, and the LCD is fragile, and without hands on examination, your picture indications are that of a total'd display assy.

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