Water Damage MacBook Pro

I think it is beyond cleaning at this point.

I'd probably part it out, but there isn't really any way to know what if definitely good.

sajmahal said:

I spilled milk on my computer, but did not realize it right away. My macbook was in a hardshell case, and there was a little milk in the bottom, but not much at all. Unfortunately, it was on when the milk was spilled, but when I found it, it was off. At first, I did not know why it was off, so I pressed the power button but it did not start up.

I am sure my computer is fried, but I took the back casing off, and there was blue and orange flakey residue on the motherboard.

Looking for advice on what happened, and what to do next? I have done some research and might try a rubbing alcohol/q-tip cleaning?

I will try to post a picture of the components if it will help

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I can never understand why people think liquid cooling would be good for macs.

How did the milk get inside a hardshell case?

sajmahal said:

do you have any advice as to what I should do next?

Sell for parts vs. try to repair?

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Is it a new, expensive machine, or an older model?

You should contact apple, or bring it to an apple store. They will probably repair it for ~$800. If that's not worth it, sell it for parts.

I did the exact same thing. I turned my 2008 Macbook into a Milkbook.

I replaced the logic board and hard drive for $375 myself. The biggest problem was that the milk had gotten into all the connectors. I had to go in and clean every connector carefully. But it has been working fine for a few months.

Don't try to fix it yourself. If you had any brains (sorry, no pun intended) then you should have home contents insurance (or your parents). Contact the insurance company and you might be covered under that.

invest in a keyboard cover from moshi

randomrazr said:

invest in a keyboard cover from moshi

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If you read the thread, you would see that it didn't spill on the keyboard.

mfuchs88 said:

If you read the thread, you would see that it didn't spill on the keyboard.

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invest in a keyboard cover from moshi

also, why is this thread called water damage, when it's really milk damage?

Seriously, Another thread about a spill on the MBP I lol

BrickbookPro said:

I can never understand why people think liquid cooling would be good for macs.

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OK, this was funny. But going back to the topic you really should listen to this:

thundersteele said:

You should contact apple, or bring it to an apple store. They will probably repair it for ~$800. If that's not worth it, sell it for parts.

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At this point, you should care about try to rescue all you can from the HDD, then check how much will it cost to repair and then decide upon repairing or buying a new one, if you choose buying a new one you can sell your MBP case on ebay, somebody will buy it for spare parts on the case, I don't think any internal parts aside from the HDD (and maybe with enough luck the RAM) can survive.

Put it in a bag of rice for 24-48 hours (sealed bag). It will suck moisture out... and you can try to turn it on again.

Not worth going to Apple. One of two things will happen:

1. You tell them about the liquid and they won't even look at the computer. They'll tell you that there's nothing they can do except for sending it in for a "flat rate accidental damage repair" which would cost about $800 as someone said.

2. You don't tell them... they say they'll check it in after looking at it. You get a call saying that it will be $800.

There's a sticky in the forum about liquid damage I think... read through it... it has all the tricks and tips that people try...

Good luck.

chipchen said:

Put it in a bag of rice for 24-48 hours (sealed bag). It will suck moisture out... and you can try to turn it on again.

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He is dealing with milk, not water...even if he can get de moisture out everything will be sticky. The internals are surely gone, either he repairs or buy a new one.

castillo4141 said:

He is dealing with milk, not water...even if he can get de moisture out everything will be sticky. The internals are surely gone, either he repairs or buy a new one.

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Moisture... I said it will suck out the moisture... didn't say water. It's not for sure that the internals are gone... I've seen many a electronic device come back to life after liquid damage. How do I know? This is what I do. And I'd say a $5 bag of rice is worth a try instead of jumping into spending hundreds.

I too said get the moisture out, milk is composed in part from water, what I try to bring out is the fact that the sugars from the milk will remain in there, even after the rice suck the moisture out.

But hey, I guess is worth trying, rice is not that expensive. Let's see how it turns out.

The best thing to do is do not try to power it up.
Open it, let it dry. You can put it inside a bag full of rice, it will absorb the moisture.
And remove the HDD, and use an external enclosure to connect to it, after you are sure it is not wet.

Check here for detailed instructions on how to disassemble it:
http://www.ifixit.com/Browse/MacBook_Pro

Leave it at least a few days to dry out, preferably like a week then take out the HDD!

I hear some mix of water/isopropyl alcohol works fairly well actually, if you let it dry after.