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HELP! Water spillage on iBook - keys not working! Impending nervous breakdown!

D

DingoOne

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 9, 2007
1
0
I am desperately seeking advice - please please help!!!

Just over 36 hours ago I spilt a small amount of water on my iBook. I immediately turned it upside down and wiped off the water. I didn't think to turn off the computer but continued for an hour or so using iTunes. Everything seemed fine. Crisis averted.

That is, until, I turned it on again last night (24 hours later or so). The keys I needed for my password login weren't working (only several of whole keyboard, including enter) and I panicked and turned it off. I lifted up some of those keys to let them 'dry out', even though there was no water visible.

I tried again this morning and none of the keys seem to work at all. I am devastated and don't know what to do.

I think it is still under the AppleCare protection but obviously this is my own stupid fault so not covered. I've been reading about hairdryers and fans, or removing the entire keyboard, but not sure which is the best measure to take.

HELP HELP HELP ME PLEASE. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE KILLED MY OWN BABY! :eek:
 
leekohler

leekohler

macrumors G5
Dec 22, 2004
14,164
26
Chicago, Illinois
DingoOne said:
I am desperately seeking advice - please please help!!!

Just over 36 hours ago I spilt a small amount of water on my iBook. I immediately turned it upside down and wiped off the water. I didn't think to turn off the computer but continued for an hour or so using iTunes. Everything seemed fine. Crisis averted.

That is, until, I turned it on again last night (24 hours later or so). The keys I needed for my password login weren't working (only several of whole keyboard, including enter) and I panicked and turned it off. I lifted up some of those keys to let them 'dry out', even though there was no water visible.

I tried again this morning and none of the keys seem to work at all. I am devastated and don't know what to do.

I think it is still under the AppleCare protection but obviously this is my own stupid fault so not covered. I've been reading about hairdryers and fans, or removing the entire keyboard, but not sure which is the best measure to take.

HELP HELP HELP ME PLEASE. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE KILLED MY OWN BABY! :eek:
Click to expand...

You probably fried the keyboard. Take it to an Apple store and get it replaced. I don't think they're that expensive.
 
benlee

benlee

macrumors 65816
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
DingoOne said:
I am desperately seeking advice - please please help!!!

Just over 36 hours ago I spilt a small amount of water on my iBook. I immediately turned it upside down and wiped off the water. I didn't think to turn off the computer but continued for an hour or so using iTunes. Everything seemed fine. Crisis averted.

That is, until, I turned it on again last night (24 hours later or so). The keys I needed for my password login weren't working (only several of whole keyboard, including enter) and I panicked and turned it off. I lifted up some of those keys to let them 'dry out', even though there was no water visible.

I tried again this morning and none of the keys seem to work at all. I am devastated and don't know what to do.

I think it is still under the AppleCare protection but obviously this is my own stupid fault so not covered. I've been reading about hairdryers and fans, or removing the entire keyboard, but not sure which is the best measure to take.

HELP HELP HELP ME PLEASE. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE KILLED MY OWN BABY! :eek:
Click to expand...

You should have turned it off. but i think you will be ok. I spilled apple juice on an ibook my brother had loaned from his school. The computer wouldnt work at all for like 2 days. then i guess once it dried it was fine. except the keys were very sticky. I think he said the school just had them replaced or cleaned. not sure of its current state but its amazing how it survived. you should be ok. and if it is your baby...you wont mind paying a small fee to get it fixed....good luck to you.
 
M

mikelong622

macrumors 6502
Sep 29, 2006
435
3
St. Paul, Minnesota
The only thing about taking it into the Apple store is that I've heard that if they find out you've spilled liquid on it they flag abuse and void applecare. Now...don't get too worried about this as this is just something I've read around the information superhighway.

I actually spilled a good quarter of a bottle of sprite on my keyboard just last Wednesday (I say it like it's no big deal...:( ) I had to take off all the affected keys and clean the keyboard bottom with soapy water and a q-tip and soak all the keys in water. They're still sticky so I'm debating getting a replacement keyboard installed as well.

So...we'll just have to see if the above rumor is true!
 
C

cjb

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2007
1
0
I did the same thing to my Dell a month or two back. Everything worked fine the first day. Then, some keys gradually stopped working, and never came back from the dead.

I replaced my keyboard (not very expensive) and everything was fine. I don't think turning off your computer would have helped...as best I can figure, the water must have corroded connections to certain keys. I think your keyboard was doomed the second you spilled the water.

Don't sweat it; for a little money you can get a new keyboard, and everything should be back to normal.
 
S

seanmccann

macrumors newbie
Jun 6, 2007
8
0
You might even be able to find of iBook replacement parts on eBay. These parts are really cheap right now since people are just throwing their partially working iBooks for auction in order to get a Macbook (Pro). This could also be a sign to upgrade...
 
I

Illicit

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2007
267
0
Waterloo, ON
I spilled a 350 mL bottle of contact solution on my laptop, and it even seeped into the USB/FW connectors. Initially, everything stopped responding, but I merely removed the keys and wiped everything dry. It would respond for a few minutes and then stop again. I continued to repeat this cleaning process and everything went back to normal after several days.
 
A

anothermacaddic

macrumors member
Jun 5, 2007
94
0
I probably spilled 10 gallons of coffee (up to 2 or so oz a time) on my 12 pb 1ghz and nothing ever happened to it. I spilled a drop on my blackbook and the m key went out. 2nd keyboard now and they recommended the rubber key protectors. Kind of chinsy.
 
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