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HELP! spilt water on macbook screen

L

letswastetime

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2007
172
0
I spilled water on my macbook screen last night and so for the night i tilted it upside down with a towel under it, hoping the water damage would disappear. Unfortunately there is now only more water damage then there was before.
IMG_0051.jpg


IMG_0050.jpg


Any suggestion on what to do, I am freaking out here because my parents bought this computer for me only a few months ago and I need it for the next 4 years for college.

THANKS!
 
Looks like you're going to need a new screen. You might be able to find one on ebay but if you don't want to do the swap yourself, take it to the Apple Store. But be prepared to pay $500+
 
zioxide said:
Looks like you're going to need a new screen. You might be able to find one on ebay but if you don't want to do the swap yourself, take it to the Apple Store. But be prepared to pay $500+
Click to expand...

He is right. Apple won't cover it. MAYBE a store might be nice and cover it for you... Maybe they can take it apart and just dry it out and it will fine and won't charge you much. Maybe you can do that yourself. MAYBE you can live with it... That sucks, I feel for you. I wouldn't be happy if I was you.

The Stig
 
My guess is that there is just water inside, that's what it looks likes. I doubt that all the water has evaporated yet. Find some way to "gently" remove the water, i.e. don't stick it in the microwave or anything drastic. Maybe, you could use a blower dryer on the low, no heat, setting to help get the water out.
The best way would be to take the lid of you're display off and dry. I've never taken that apart though, so, I can't help you. I'm sure someone on here has taken one apart and can help you....

You do need to get the water out quick. If you do it soon you might be able to save the display. I've dropped numerous phones in the water and the problem I've always faced with them is that if you don't get all the water out quickly enough then the copper in the machines corrode and start making the displays completely unreadable.

If you look around online you can find a new LCD for $200 if yours is unsalvageable
 
Step one: Turn IT OFF!!!
Keeping the computer turned on with all that water inside is a disaster waiting to happen. With it on, the water might touch some electrical components which can shock something resulting in damaged hardware. After you turn it off, take out the battery and set it in a cool dry place with the lid open. You may need to wait about a week for all of the water to dry. If your lucky, it will fix itself.
 
well at least it was just water and not something sticky! That would be a multitude of times worse!

I would shut down the comp and plan to not use it for another day or so. I would then open up the computer case around the LCD and let it dry out more. It looks like the water is basically trapped right now, which will make it take a lot longer to dry and possibly not every come out.

there is an ifixit guide to take out and replace the lcd panel if it comes to that.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Core-Duo/LCD-Panel/86/34/Page-21/LCD-Panel

but i think you may just want to take it apart... the rear bezel off on ifixit and let it dry out better that way perhaps.

gl!
 
If your parents used a "premium" credit card to buy it, it might be covered for Accidental Damage. Check it out.

ft
 
Thank you so much for all the helpful suggestions! I REALLY appreciate it!

As of right now it is just tilted upside down with the batetry out and hopefully drying out the water, we'll see.

Hmm well taking the screen apart sounds too difficult for me as i would be afraid of making it much worse but thanks for all the tips!

I did just get off the phone with applecare and they said that I should take it in and have it looked at. obviously im not going to pay +$500 for a new lcd but do you think they could open it up to check for water damage to the lcd or harddrive? and also would there be a charge for this? i am hopefully covered under applecare.

Thanks again!
 
What did you say to AppleCare? Do they already know that water was spilt on it?
 
yeah i already told them. but would that matter? could i say just something went wrong? i mean it looks kind of obvious, to me at least, that some sort of liquid spilled on it.

anyways they said they couldn't look at it because its wasn't under warranty, as if i didnt know that lol. oh well im just going to leave my macbook tilted upside down for a day or two and HOPEFULLY the screen isnt too bad and the harddrive is still working!
 
Looks like it hasn't damaged the screen yet, and that it is just sitting between the cover and the display. If you are competent, i would take apart the casing and let the water dry. If you do it right, and right away, you should be all set.
 
silbeej said:
Looks like it hasn't damaged the screen yet, and that it is just sitting between the cover and the display. If you are competent, i would take apart the casing and let the water dry. If you do it right, and right away, you should be all set.
Click to expand...

Can anyone give me a link to any good guides for taking the lcd casing apart as so I dont mess anything thing up? I mean I might as well look into it since Apple will not do anything about it.
 
ktbubster said:
well at least it was just water and not something sticky! That would be a multitude of times worse!

there is an ifixit guide to take out and replace the lcd panel if it comes to that.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Core-Duo/LCD-Panel/86/34/Page-21/LCD-Panel

but i think you may just want to take it apart... the rear bezel off on ifixit and let it dry out better that way perhaps.

gl!
Click to expand...

not to toot my own horn, but see link above. :D Go back to home page and search guides if you need a different one... but that one (go next or back to the beginning) shows I believe how to take the cover of.. there are a few others to lead to the correct place. I think it's called "rear bezel" guide.

I have to say, looking at that guide, would really make me wish I had an ibook. There is something to be said about being able to take the outer casing off WITHOUT removing the LCD or trackpad area completely first (on the ibooks you can just remove the casing without really messing with anything else pretty much. Better design on that behalf minus the fact there are about 0234808208530 types of screws)
 
sorry on the water... did that w/ a cup of starbucks a few months ago... $800 bucks later to fix... GL on it
 
Did a similar thing with my macbook pro, except it was with rainwater. It didn't get worse and it slowly improved to the point where there was only staining around the edges of where the water used to be. This was about a month later.

Eventually I had techrestore replace the LCD.

EDIT: Here's what my LCD looked right after the damage. You can see the beginning of the receding water on the lower section where there's the two-toned shading by the airplane.. it's not that noticeable but got annoying. The bright lines disappeared within a month but, again, the subtle change in shade stayed.

cimg3395lw1.jpg
 
try this

find out how to take the screen apart just enough so you can get in it and wipe the water away. Or you could get the mac guys to do that 4 you (for a price tho)
 
I did the exact same thing to my old Compaq laptop, I just shut it down and took the battery out and a week or two later it was all gone; you couldn't even tell anything had happened.

Luckily for me, I thought the laptop was shot so I went out and bought my first Mac while it was drying out, then my friend offered me $300 for the old one.

Just let it alone for a few weeks and it will likely dry it's self out on it's own.

SLC
 
Ok do this,

get a large bag, open your laptop and set it in the bag, buy epson salt or rock salt and fill a cup with it, set the cup on your keyboard, wrap the bag so that no air can get in or out.

Doing this will dry out the screen much faster than if you just let it sit, the salt will adsorb the water faster.

This is why they put those salt packets in shoes, new computer boxes, ect.


let us know how it turns out
 
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