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OMG....I feel terrible for my girlfriends new macbook.....suggestions?

R

RJapple

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 16, 2008
17
0
This sucks....my gf just got her new 13" unibody 3 days ago and just knocked a glass of red wine all over the keyboard....the computer stayed on for about 2 seconds and then shut down....she grabbed it, turned it upside down and we immediately took the battery out....what the heck should we do now, I know obviously not to try turning it on for awhile....but does anyone have experience with apple on these kinds of things.....red wine....man. She is taking it way better than I am, I am just sickened right now....I just got my new MBP unibody awhile before her and I always warned her about not drinking around it.....I wish she would have listened, but I just feel terrible.

Any input would be greatly appreciated....thanks!
 
E

Eddyisgreat

macrumors 601
Oct 24, 2007
4,851
2
hamzab said:
Cmon Dude there was no need to post the Forum search option, your making out as he was dumb, he just spilt wine on his GFs Laptop so he wasnt thinking straight, now imagine, the time it took you to post that link could have saved you and him at least 2mins, in those 2 mins his Macbook could have been saved

God be with us
Click to expand...

It took me five seconds to copy the link. And where did it say he spilled the wine?

Anyway, the search is always a viable option because this sort of thing seems to happen to forum members just about every week, so instead of waiting for answers that may never come, he can simply use the search and, while waiting on information for his specific situation, see solutions that other individuals have previously discussed.

Make sense?

Besides, from the previous two comments it doesn't seem that anyone else is offering much help. Again, take a look at the guide. Good luck, OP.
 
The Samurai

The Samurai

macrumors 68020
Dec 29, 2007
2,051
738
Glasgow
To the OP:

Keep it off and DON'T turn it on for at least a week. Let the components inside fully dry out.


p.s. Sorry to hear about this.
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Guess you need to dump a wedge of cheese and a few crackers into the machine next.
 
S

Skeletal-dæmon

macrumors 6502
Apr 27, 2008
369
1
We have a brand new unibody MacBook Pro in our repairs department with the exact same issue - a whole glass of wine was spilled onto it. The owner had taken similar steps to yourself, but the logic board is toast.

If it had been plain water, you could have dried it out and it should have been okay, but anything with sugars, alcohol, juices etc will leave a residue that can be corrosive in some cases and cause lethal damage to the system.

Unfortunately all I can recommend is taking it in to your local dealer who will be able to tell you the extent of the damage. I hope for your sake that your hard drive is safe otherwise you might loose all the data on the computer.
 
yetanotherdave

yetanotherdave

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2007
1,768
12
Bristol, England
Skeletal-dæmon said:
We have a brand new unibody MacBook Pro in our repairs department with the exact same issue - a whole glass of wine was spilled onto it. The owner had taken similar steps to yourself, but the logic board is toast.

If it had been plain water, you could have dried it out and it should have been okay, but anything with sugars, alcohol, juices etc will leave a residue that can be corrosive in some cases and cause lethal damage to the system.

Unfortunately all I can recommend is taking it in to your local dealer who will be able to tell you the extent of the damage. I hope for your sake that your hard drive is safe otherwise you might loose all the data on the computer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, red wine is nasty. Because of all the stuff in it, opening up the macbook and cleaning it with deionised water to get that sugar and alcohol off as quickly as possible is likely a good idea. Obviously this would need to be done carefully, and gently, with as little water as possible to get the stuff off, before leaving it open and upside down to drain everything out before going anywhere near putting the battery back in.

Failing that, a home contents insurance claim may well be the next best option.
 
S

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2003
3,644
4,447
The Amalgamated States of Central North America
I am NOT an expert, but it seems like common sense would say to take the hard disk out, especially since it's so easy to do (it's right next to the battery).

I assume it could then be seated into another MacBook so that the data could be transfered safely to an external disk.

If you end up having to buy another MacBook, I always purchase Safeware with mine (http://www.safeware.com) It covers for incidents just like these...
 
aznguyen316

aznguyen316

macrumors 68010
Oct 1, 2008
2,001
1
Tampa, FL
damn man, I was in the same boat but opposite, my gf knocked my HP notebook off the bed by accident and the LCD cracked. I felt bad but I know she felt worse. She was very apologetic and offered to buy me a desktop monitor in the meantime and that was fine for me to use the lappy as a desktop machine. It turned out well b/c I ended up selling the laptop and using the money toward my first macbook!!

anyway if you're looking for advice, well I guess for you and your GF, tell her you're very sorry and hopefully she'll understand. From there I dunno offer to help pay part of the expenses or something?
 
iVeBeenDrinkin'

iVeBeenDrinkin'

macrumors 65816
Oct 17, 2008
1,291
4
If you drink wine like I do, it will only take you 2 months of not drinking wine to save enough money to replace the MacBook.
 
S

STFX-BABY

macrumors newbie
Jan 31, 2009
2
0
someone told me to leave my laptop open and put it in a bag of rice. Apparently it helps absorb the moisture. I know it sounds crazy but it worked!
 
N

n8236

macrumors 65816
Mar 1, 2006
1,065
32
I suggest you open it and clean it out as much as u can. Please use a damp towel to do so. Wine has lots of sugar and it's acidic. If the machine turned off once it spilled, chances are something is shorted. Sry 'bout ur loss.
 
M

MacLaw

macrumors newbie
Jan 31, 2009
7
0
Sounds counterintuitive, but you might want to try "washing" the MacBook in water. This may rid the MB of the sugars and alcohol deposited by the wine. Yeah, I know, it's a hail mary...

I don't think I'd have to gonads to do it myself though.....

Good luck.
 
D

danawb

macrumors newbie
Jan 31, 2009
2
0
Macbook Keyboard Cover to prevent damage from spills

To try and avoid damage in case another spill happens, tell your girlfriend to buy a macbook keyboard cover. Also, does she have a macbook protective cover? If she likes pink,

you can try and find a keyboard cover for her here:

Pink Macbook Keyboard Cover

And search through macbook covers for her here:

Pink Macbook Covers

I hope this helps!
 
UltraNEO*

UltraNEO*

macrumors 601
Jun 16, 2007
4,057
15
近畿日本
danawb said:
To try and avoid damage in case another spill happens, tell your girlfriend to buy a macbook keyboard cover. Also, does she have a macbook protective cover? If she likes pink,

you can try and find a keyboard cover for her here:

Pink Macbook Keyboard Cover

And search through macbook covers for her here:

Pink Macbook Covers

I hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Great suggestion but timing ain't so great. You know??
 
H

Heimlich

macrumors member
Sep 20, 2008
76
0
Well first you shouldnt feel sad or worse than her. She'll need your help in getting through this. Go on a date or some happy stuff. It can make this bad experience much better.
not much you can do about the macbook. Atleast no valuable data was lost. Thats like 5x-20x worse
 
sushi

sushi

Moderator emeritus
Jul 19, 2002
15,639
3
キャンプスワ&#
danawb said:
To try and avoid damage in case another spill happens, tell your girlfriend to buy a macbook keyboard cover.
Click to expand...
Better yet, don't have liquids near your computer.

OP, red wine and other complex liquids can be tough on the logic board. My guess is that it is toast. If you are you are lucky enough that the logic is not toast you will need to clean the inside of the computer and logic board.
 
N

nyprospect

macrumors 6502
May 3, 2004
451
0
Wow.I did that with cheap beer last week,luckily it was on my aluminum keyboard and not my system.If it never turns on again and if you love this girl hand over your mbp(although you warned her not to drink around it).The second option will be to find another girl that loves her mac so much that she uses kid gloves when she's around it.Ha!.I'm sorry this happen to you it must have been horrific.
 
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