Water in MBP

"...turned off the computer after a short while."
"...tried turning it on..."

Those are the reason why your MLB may very well be fried.
See if you can't get that hard drive out and get your paper. You can have it looked at by Apple but the cost to repair will likely be far more than you should have to pay. You can try to stick it in rice for a couple of days before taking it to Apple as well.

Soschil said:

Our 13 month old daughter was sitting on moms lap when she decided our MBP looked thirsty and gave it a drink of water. I wasn't at home, but my wife dried off the keyboard and then turned off the computer after a short while.

I read in other threads that we should let it dry out and so on.

Well, I tried turning it on, and it makes a soft click and a faint whirring noise, as if it's trying to spin up the drive, but then decides not to. Now I wonder what to make of that. Is it fried or is ther a chance? Any thoughts?


I have a term paper stuck on the harddrive, and it's due tomorrow But I suppose the upside could be that we may be getting a new computer

Click to expand...

The HDD will most likely be fine, since it's out of the firing line of water going through the keyboard. You should be able to pull it into a caddy and get whatever you need off of it.

The bad news, if it's gone through the keyboard, it will have killed most other components. What you're describing sounds like the main Logic Board - you'll probably need:

- Top Case
- Logic Board
- RAM

If the spill was on the left hand side - you may well need a new MagSafe Board, and if you're extremely unlucky, a display (it can rust the connector).

MacBooks (particularly unibody designs) are especially susceptible to water damage since there is nowhere for the water to go. That's why I use a keyboard cover if there is liquid anywhere near it (I once killed an Air by spilling a glass of wine on it - a friendly Genius waived what would have been a $755 repair charge). Since then, I have taken out accidental damage insurance from my homeowner's insurer.

That said, likely your hard drive is OK unless it took a direct hit. Your best bet is to pull the drive out and connect it to a different computer using an enclosure. Finish your paper, and then after class tomorrow get yourself a new Mac and a keyboard cover.

Soschil said:

Well, that pretty much what I thought. I tried turning it on again because my wife didn't just turn it off, so I figured it was already dead.

It's odd though. I think I've spilled water, soda and/or beer in most of my computers over the last 25 years: A C64 (all three!), an Amiga 500 and an Amiga 1200 and they still work just fine!

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Older computers were full of dead space, though. New Macs use every milliliter of volume, so I'd think pouring a cup of water right into it would be extremely horrible. I'm impressed with how many times I hear the thing kept working after the spill, frankly... but then it seems they always end up choking a short while later.

Astonishing!

Astonished by the amount of people buying super over priced machines only to not take really good care of them period, I babied my 17"MBP from 2006, she is like new every day I take her out of the original box. These are not wallets or bedside books people. HAHAHA! When I use the MBP I have a space set up, it is called a computer desk, I have three TB displays, that is it, no pens no books, nothing, just them and my MBP. I eat when I eat and I do it in a room called the 'dinning room', not in the 'studio work space' where anything can happen from a crumb flying out of my mouth or fingers and scratching the bejezzus out of these fragile objects which are my work horses. Keeping them in pristine condition inspires the most creative work for me, I can't sit on a stack of hay while cows are defecating in front of me and feel the 'same inspiration' no, so why would I turn my computer into a barn or trash magnet? Right?

vpro said:

Astonished by the amount of people buying super over priced machines only to not take really good care of them period, I babied my 17"MBP from 2006, she is like new every day I take her out of the original box. These are not wallets or bedside books people. HAHAHA! When I use the MBP I have a space set up, it is called a computer desk, I have three TB displays, that is it, no pens no books, nothing, just them and my MBP.

Click to expand...

On the other hand, Toshiba, HP and others make notebooks, including some ultrabooks, that have water resistant membranes under the keyboards for just this reason. It is more common on enterprise machines. Remember, notebooks are used at work desks or on airplane trays where these kinds of spills can easily happen. Whenever I use my Mac on an airplane, I make sure there is a cover on the keyboard. It isn't foolproof, but it gives it a fighting chance in the event of a spill.

I sat beside a guy on a plane last month who was on a brand new Mac laptop because someone had spilled a cup of coffee at a work meeting in a coffee shop, which destroyed it. Whenever the drink tray came around, he put the laptop away completely. I was proud of him, haha.

It amazes me to see people handing open cups of drink over the head of someone on a laptop on a bumpy airplane!

It is a Mac!

KPOM said:

On the other hand, Toshiba, HP and others make notebooks, including some ultrabooks, that have water resistant membranes under the keyboards for just this reason. It is more common on enterprise machines. Remember, notebooks are used at work desks or on airplane trays where these kinds of spills can easily happen. Whenever I use my Mac on an airplane, I make sure there is a cover on the keyboard. It isn't foolproof, but it gives it a fighting chance in the event of a spill.

Click to expand...

Apple doesn't 'dummy proof'.

vpro said:

Apple doesn't 'dummy proof'.

Click to expand...

It isn't a matter of "dummy proofing." Notebooks are designed to be used on airplane trays. Turbulence can happen at any time.

Gift of human 'brain' and 'foresight' ..

Our Brain and Foresight -- these are great gifts from God-all-mighty for us to use, when did we leave it in the 'can' and depend on everything around us to safe guard our every moves?

vpro said:

Astonished by the amount of people buying super over priced machines only to not take really good care of them period, I babied my 17"MBP from 2006, she is like new every day I take her out of the original box. These are not wallets or bedside books people. HAHAHA! When I use the MBP I have a space set up, it is called a computer desk, I have three TB displays, that is it, no pens no books, nothing, just them and my MBP. I eat when I eat and I do it in a room called the 'dinning room', not in the 'studio work space' where anything can happen from a crumb flying out of my mouth or fingers and scratching the bejezzus out of these fragile objects which are my work horses. Keeping them in pristine condition inspires the most creative work for me, I can't sit on a stack of hay while cows are defecating in front of me and feel the 'same inspiration' no, so why would I turn my computer into a barn or trash magnet? Right?

Click to expand...

you remind me of a friend of mine who is also anal about his precious little macbook pro. i wasnt even allowed to plug in the usb stick myself once because i could scratch the surface of the alu and he always put some soft blanket underneath the macbook pro like an idiot. one day he lifted it up and it fell on the floor. hilarious

or my sister who buys a new laptop because her old laptop got slow as beep and now she isnt using her new laptop because she doesnt want it to get slow as well rofl where is the sense in that

long story short - its a device like any other u bought it to use it and not to look at it from a distance in a airproof room.

vpro said:

Astonished by the amount of people buying super over priced machines only to not take really good care of them period, I babied my 17"MBP from 2006, she is like new every day I take her out of the original box. These are not wallets or bedside books people. HAHAHA! When I use the MBP I have a space set up, it is called a computer desk, I have three TB displays, that is it, no pens no books, nothing, just them and my MBP. I eat when I eat and I do it in a room called the 'dinning room', not in the 'studio work space' where anything can happen from a crumb flying out of my mouth or fingers and scratching the bejezzus out of these fragile objects which are my work horses. Keeping them in pristine condition inspires the most creative work for me, I can't sit on a stack of hay while cows are defecating in front of me and feel the 'same inspiration' no, so why would I turn my computer into a barn or trash magnet? Right?

Click to expand...

Why didn't you just buy a desktop computer? It's much better value for money.

Soschil said:

I have a term paper stuck on the harddrive, and it's due tomorrow But I suppose the upside could be that we may be getting a new computer

Click to expand...

NEVER EVER store college content locally as a singular location source for saving. After doing that, email a copy to yourself or use dropbox/Google Drive/Skydrive, something where that will be easily accessible from any other computer.

RE: I'm reminded of three vignettes...

Hi Soshcil,

(I removed this content as it was not on topic as per the moderator's note below. Sorry moderators, but I was only trying to do a modicum of late night damage control...)

Regards, and good luck with your term paper and computer,
Switon