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Help. I'm another careless baffoon

W

WoWManBearPig

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2008
11
0
I'm yet another moron who has doused his beloved machine in an un-needed bath (PUR filtered water, a decent amount unfortunately)

The book was on, and in use and somehow my water found its way onto the keyboard, in copious amounts at that. The screen went dark, but the machine stayed on. I immediately lifted it (while screaming obscinities) and turned it upside down and began toweling it off. (Unfortunately i'm not an overly savvy person when it comes to electronics, and in the wild panic'd state i tried to turn it on after a little bit [i know an absolutely retarded and most likely fatal move]) when i tried to boot up, it turned on, though not only did it not begin to boot, but i got a screen of just lines and such...i turned it off and since then it has been battery free in a position that will hopefully keep any remaining water/condensation clear of the logic board. I've had a fan on low blowing on it since friday at 5am (currently sunday at 1:40am) also i've put it in my car two seperate times while the car was warm, and then returned it to the tent-like position with the fan.

I've read countless threads on countless forums and i have no idea what to conclude, i suppose i will keep praying that in a day or so when i try to turn it on she purrs at me and boots up...but i know my chances are slim to none. i spoke with my friend who is an ex-genius and he says i have a chance, but its not something to count on. That most likely i will have to pay a $400 dollar flat rate to have it shipped out and remedied.

My main questions are:

1. Do you think i still have a chance of her coming out of her watery grave.
2. How simple is it for a Genius to see spill damage (even if its purified water and has been thoroughly dried)
3. What does that ominous screen that i saw entail, or is it completely in-conclusive.
4. Is the $400 flat-rate quote i got from an ex-genius true?
5. If i say something along the lines of "Caught in a flash downpour on the way to my car from class, and must have happened then" sound like a story that will envoke the sympathies of the evaluating genius and result in a warrantied fix with a hard slap on the wrist. (not a fan of lying but i'm a poor college student who can't imagine a day without his MBP)

The water mostly entered (from what i remember, my memory of the moment is a little shotty due to my extreme panic attack) on the right hand side near the speaker / power button.

Are there most certainly dots for showing water contact?

Finally, how likely is it that the Genius will just try to boot the computer a few times, and decide its faulty and just give me a new one?

Anyways, sorry this is so long winded, i'm still freaking out over here, over-flowing with anxiety :(

I appreciate all comments and advice, something hopeful would be delightful, and please refrain from the rough cracks, i'm giving myself enough hell as it is.

Hope i hear from you soon.

~Poor college student
 
Hi, sorry to hear about your problem I did that before but it was a small amount of water and the only problem it had after it dried was that the battery wouldn't charge. So I took it in to an authorized service provider and said I didn't know what happened and they fixed it for free as it was still under warranty.

I wish I knew more to help you, but something tells me it could mean replacing the logic board which is a +$1000 repair? I know it's awful news, but who knows I don't know if there are water markers inside the case or not.
 
First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck. Secondly, I think you should just be honest about what happened, and not even try to lie in order to get a warranty coverage. That will just add bad karma to the already bad scene you have going here, and nobody needs that. Be honest, tell the genius you spilled water on it, and have tried everything you could to dry it out.

If it does end up costing you $400 or more, at least you will be able to fix it, and quite likely not have to buy a new laptop outright. Accidents happen. I would have freaked too! But keep your honor intact, and see what happens. Also, don't beat yourself up so much over something you didn't do intentionally. It doesn't make you a retard or anything negative. Just a college student who had an accident. :)

Good luck, and I hope it still works without any out of pocket expense (aside from a keyboard protector and a sippy cup). :D
 
What I suggest you do is:

1. Unhook the battery and power (as you did)

2. Take apart the top case from the bottom case, use google to get a guide for this. This step will take like 10 minutes.

3. Let it dry for 2-3 days straight.

4. Boot it back up and see what happens.

If its completely dry and Apple doesn't notice water damage, you might get it replaced, although that is defrauding apple. FYI, there is a water sensor on the macbook pro inside the headphone port that changes colors when exposed to water, they will check that.
 
I'd give it another day to dry out and then see what happens. If it doesn't work I'd call up and see what they say, if they don't ask what happened well then you don't really need to tell, but if they do ask you should probably be honest.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement, i've been trying to convince myself that it isn't going to be the logic board, but i have a crappy feeling it very well may be.

Does anyone know, if the logic board was shorted, would the machine even turn on?

Also, any apple geniuses, or folk that are overly savvy who know if the $400 dollar flat rate for repairs is true? I'm inclined to believe it since it came from an ex-genius who said that $400 dollars would get all the issues repaired and is obviously much better then the 1000+ to fix buy a logic board.

Another thing, if the sensor is in the headphone jack (is that the only one?) I'm fairly (i use fairly hesitantly) confident that the spill didn't contact the headphone jack area anyway for me to look in there, i looked with a little light and i dont see any red.
 
frostrambler said:
What I suggest you do is:

1. Unhook the battery and power (as you did)

2. Take apart the top case from the bottom case, use google to get a guide for this. This step will take like 10 minutes.

3. Let it dry for 2-3 days straight.

4. Boot it back up and see what happens.

If its completely dry and Apple doesn't notice water damage, you might get it replaced, although that is defrauding apple. FYI, there is a water sensor on the macbook pro inside the headphone port that changes colors when exposed to water, they will check that.
Click to expand...

Best advice for your situation my friend.
 
Anyone know if the multicolored lines are a guaranteed sign of my book being shot, or could that just be a result of remaining moisture that was causing issues, and all could be well when i decide to cross my fingers and boot up? Also, there was no smoke, smell, sound, etc. and the book stayed on (until i franticly force shut it down)
 
That's the problem with spilling water on electronics, you normally have to wait until they are dry before you can get any sense of what amount of damage has been done, so if I were you I'd follow frostrambler's advice and hope for the best.
 
I will indeed follow his advice, ive waited a couple days already and i certainly dont mind waiting more.

Does anyone know if the ex-genius who told me, "if all else fails and you end up having to pay for it, you'll only have to pay a $400 flat rate fee and they will repair / replace anything in need of fixing", is correct? I suppose i can handle that (it'll be rough) but of course much better then the ultra costly range.
 
I have never heard of a 400 dollar flat rate, they usually estimate which parts need to be replaced, maybe the logic board is 400, but if there is additional damage, it might go up in price.
 
So i talked to the same genius today, and he insists that any non-warrantied work will be done for a flat rate of 400, and that since water spills are non-warranty, that they fall under that catagory.

The computer is still drying, its been sitting since friday at 5 am, so roughly, right now we're looking at roughly 84 hours of battery out, main out, upside down / tent position drying with a fan on low blowing from a decent distance. Some company semi-near me says they will open it and clean any water residue for 75 dollars so that when i bring it to apple they will be none the wiser, anyone think this is a valid option? (assuming its not going to boot up when i try)
 
WoWManBearPig said:
So i talked to the same genius today, and he insists that any non-warrantied work will be done for a flat rate of 400, and that since water spills are non-warranty, that they fall under that catagory.

The computer is still drying, its been sitting since friday at 5 am, so roughly, right now we're looking at roughly 84 hours of battery out, main out, upside down / tent position drying with a fan on low blowing from a decent distance. Some company semi-near me says they will open it and clean any water residue for 75 dollars so that when i bring it to apple they will be none the wiser, anyone think this is a valid option? (assuming its not going to boot up when i try)
Click to expand...

Nah, I would just tell the truth. It just might end up working, anyway.

I mean, you've got to consider karma here.

If Apple knows what happened, they will be able to better solve the problem. I don't think I'd be able to keep something like that quiet.
 
WoWManBearPig said:
So i talked to the same genius today, and he insists that any non-warrantied work will be done for a flat rate of 400, and that since water spills are non-warranty, that they fall under that catagory.
Click to expand...

I had a drop the second month I had my mbp and I was quoted at $1200 just to repair the topcase and latch...
 
yeah i've been thinking that the truth is the best idea, for all i know the genius could decide to cut me a break and get the work done free, with a rough slap on the wrist. (And me leaving the store with a sippy cup and any form of protector possible)
 
well fellas, and ladies, here's the update concerning my beloved (macbook pro 10 months old)

She experienced a dreadful water spill, in the range of 8-11 ounces, and i even tried turning her on while she was moist, out of paniced desperation..

I then (5AM last friday) turned her off, took the batt out and main ofcourse, and left her open like a teepee with a fan blowing her on low.

4.75 days later, after an unbelieveable amount of anguish..i first plugged in just the main (no batt) and i got a nice little green light...

i went to starbucks...

came home and plugged in the batt and the main, and yet again got a nice green light...

i think tried that which i was dreading...

i heard the most lovely sound of my life as she fired up, just as swiftly as ever. i listened to her, smelled, stared...everything runs well, internet, both through cable and airport, sound is great, the whole nine-yards.

i'm buying a protective cover immediately tomorrow morning, and getting a spill protection plan.

Thanks for the help in my time of need, if ya'll lived near me (orlando) i'd take you each out for a cold round of pints.

much <3

poor floridian college boy

=D =D =D =D =D
 
That, my friend, is a very lucky ending to what could have been a very tragic story! Glad it is up and running again!
 
At least you've managed to recover...

However, I wasn't so lucky a few years back.

My four months old PowerBook G4 1Ghz fell off the 23 floors balcony! :eek:
All i could do was stand and watch, scream at people to move out of the way! move out of the way! Thankfully it didn't hit anyone.

I tell you.. it definitely doesn't fly! :mad:

Nothing was salvageable, not even the hard drive! It completely shattered!
 
I'm happy for you, glad it all worked out, I know just how good that feeling of relief is when you get lucky like that. :D
 
UltraNEO* said:
At least you've managed to recover...

However, I wasn't so lucky a few years back.

My four months old PowerBook G4 1Ghz fell off the 23 floors balcony! :eek:
All i could do was stand and watch, scream at people to move out of the way! move out of the way! Thankfully it didn't hit anyone.

I tell you.. it definitely doesn't fly! :mad:

Nothing was salvageable, not even the hard drive! It completely shattered!
Click to expand...

If you're joking, that's freaking hilarious. If not, that's kinda funny in a tragic way.


Sorry.
 
WoWManBearPig said:
i heard the most lovely sound of my life as she fired up, just as swiftly as ever. i listened to her, smelled, stared...everything runs well, internet, both through cable and airport, sound is great, the whole nine-yards.
Click to expand...

Good for you! Yeah, I once spilled a copious amount of water on my powerbook, immediately shut it down, let it dry out, and then later when I turned it on I saw that there was no damage. Just recently I dropped my ipod classic into the sink with water in it, and that came out unscathed as well.

It turns out that plain water is actually not overly harmful to electronics. Supposedly I've heard people say that it's because plain water has few electrolytes in it so it doesn't mess with electronic flow nearly as much as water with some sodium in it. I don't know if that's truly the reason or not, but you and I and many other people have many anecdotal cases that show empirically that plain water is not super harmful to well designed modern electronics.
 
Glad to hear it's working. I had a similar experience, but I wasn't so lucky.

400 bucks sounds like a really low ball estimate. The CPU and video card are both integrated to the logic board. The CPU itself off of a site like newegg can cost around 250 bucks. The video card itself probably costs aroun 200 bucks, and then you have the actual logic board. Then, of course, Apple marks up the price of the logic board. Then you have to pay for installation.

I personally went out and bought a replacement MBP. I figured the estimate would be around 1200 bucks to fix the laptop, and if even then, there is no guarantee that nothing else was wrong with it.
 
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