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Just Spilled An Entire Glass of Water on Brand New rMacbook Pro...

Statusnone88

Statusnone88

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 19, 2010
1,580
835
The title says it all. It spilled all over the keyboard while the computer was on. Nothing seemed to short out or have any effect on the machine itself. I immediately unplugged it and took a towel to dry it off. I shook off what little water was left and now I'm leaving it on my counter, open, to completely dry off.

Did I just **** up my $2000 computer that's 3 weeks old? Or did I just get extremely lucky? I'm assuming if there was any water that got inside the machine it would have shorted immediately. Also I should mention that water did not touch any of the ports or the vents in the back/side of the machine.

Any advice to further prevent any damage would be greatly appreciated!
 
It's really too early to tell.

Either, water has gotten into the computer, and you will be experiencing problems, not always directly, but real soon. Typically, the water causes the parts to corrode, which shows after a while.

Or.... You could've been very, very lucky.

At least the old MBP (Non-retina) has a water-protecting layer, just under the keyboard to prevent fluids to damage the computer. I'm not sure if the rMBP has the same solution, but I think it should. However, I wonder if it would really be enough in this case.. An entire glass of water is A LOT of liquid.

To be honest, I think scenario 1 is the more probable one I'm afraid. :( Hopefully you're covered by insurance?

Best of luck to you! Hope it all works out!
 
Statusnone88 said:
The title says it all. It spilled all over the keyboard while the computer was on. Nothing seemed to short out or have any effect on the machine itself. I immediately unplugged it and took a towel to dry it off. I shook off what little water was left and now I'm leaving it on my counter, open, to completely dry off.

Did I just **** up my $2000 computer that's 3 weeks old? Or did I just get extremely lucky? I'm assuming if there was any water that got inside the machine it would have shorted immediately. Also I should mention that water did not touch any of the ports or the vents in the back/side of the machine.

Any advice to further prevent any damage would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Try to leave your mac drying in an upside-down position to let gravity help the drying process! And don't turn it on for the next one/two days!

Good luck :)
 
Put a cup of uncooked rice in some cheese cloth and rest that on the keyboard. If you have a small fan to move the air above it that would help.
 
MacRazySwe said:
It's really too early to tell.

Either, water has gotten into the computer, and you will be experiencing problems, not always directly, but real soon. Typically, the water causes the parts to corrode, which shows after a while.

Or.... You could've been very, very lucky.

At least the old MBP (Non-retina) has a water-protecting layer, just under the keyboard to prevent fluids to damage the computer. I'm not sure if the rMBP has the same solution, but I think it should. However, I wonder if it would really be enough in this case.. An entire glass of water is A LOT of liquid.

To be honest, I think scenario 1 is the more probable one I'm afraid. :( Hopefully you're covered by insurance?

Best of luck to you! Hope it all works out!
Click to expand...

Do not have insurance. Honestly from what I can tell, the water seemed to bead up and not get directly into the keyboard because after it spilled, 10 seconds later it was off and dried off. When I picked it up and went to look at it, there was 0 water under the keys. Even after mashing some of the keys and trying to see if any water was remotely under them... nothing. More than likely? I probably did some damage inside the computer that only time will tell. I have a feeling I dodged a bullet on this one... (hopefully)
 
Not much help for the OP, but I for one drink a lot of water--hot here in Florida--but when I am working on my MacBook, I drink bottled water in a beer koozie for added stability.
 
Sounds like you'll probably be fine. You were lucky it was water, and not something sugary.
 
I would let it dry out for a LONG time before you power it up.

The only time I did something similar ( with a Powerbook Titanium )
I left it drying in an "airing cupboard" for 48 hrs, pretty warm in there and it
was full of towels / bedding etc - water heating unit was in there.

All was fine, so I have my fingers crossed for you..... big time !!

Regards,
M.
 
bobr1952 said:
Not much help for the OP, but I for one drink a lot of water--hot here in Florida--but when I am working on my MacBook, I drink bottled water in a beer koozie for added stability.
Click to expand...

It is hot here, brother. I drink about a gallon a day and it was honestly VERY stupid of me to have a glass of water on the same surface as a $2000 piece of equipment. Not doing that again, and hopefully I didn't just learn a $2000 lesson. Only time will tell, though, because from what I hear, it can take days, weeks, months for the damage to set it.
 
If you are confident enough you could open up the MBP and inspect the logic board to see if any water did actually penetrate it.
It would also help you dry it out if there is any in there.

Barney
 
Same thing happened to me with my older mbp. Everything was fine, but after a couple weeks some keyboard keys stopped working and then the trackpad stopped working. Replacing the trackpad was easy, but the keyboard was a huge pain. Like 100 little screws
 
Statusnone88 said:
Do not have insurance.
Click to expand...

If you bought the machine with a credit card, you just might. Worth checking. Typically, when there's coverage it's for something like 90 days, so don't delay.

I hope all's well, but water damage can sometimes cascade over time, so it may be a while before some keys or some other subsystem stops working. But if you do find that you have purchase coverage on your credit card, best to make the claim soon.
 
boast said:
Same thing happened to me with my older mbp. Everything was fine, but after a couple weeks some keyboard keys stopped working and then the trackpad stopped working. Replacing the trackpad was easy, but the keyboard was a huge pain. Like 100 little screws
Click to expand...

Happened to my wife with her 2010 mbp. Spilled coke on it.. dried it out, rice, the works.. some keys stopped working, so we attached an external keyboard, then a few weeks later it stopped powering on and never worked again.

That was an expensive mistake so in our house there's a complete ban on drinks on the same surface as a laptop.
 
sjinsjca said:
If you bought the machine with a credit card, you just might. Worth checking. Typically, when there's coverage it's for something like 90 days, so don't delay.

I hope all's well, but water damage can sometimes cascade over time, so it may be a while before some keys or some other subsystem stops working. But if you do find that you have purchase coverage on your credit card, best to make the claim soon.
Click to expand...

Bought it with my Chase debit card, so there's no insurance. Don't own a home, so don't have homeowners insurance either. Best to scope out some insurance plans for electronics just in case something does go wrong with it? Not sure where to even start looking. Thanks.
 
Why oh why do people insist on putting open lid drinks next to expensive hardware?

OP, I say this to everyone: Have a policy and habit to have that no drink is within a foot of your computer. This also applies to other people around your computer as well.

This policy has saved me from countless spills. I can't stress this policy enough.

I'd also recommend paying $100-$130 for some kind of accidental damage insurance, the day you buy it. This saved me from a dent that would have cost nearly a $1000 to fix.

EDIT: In fact, accidental damage insurance should be the first thing you buy, even before Applecare as AC is useless in accidental damage, plus you can get AC later.
 
Last edited:
As has been already said, you're really, really lucky that it's pure water. Sugar kills. I hope you switched the machine off as soon as the water was spilled; you didn't mention that.

The rice bag and fan will be of great help. If you have silica gel (found in new water bottles), it'll be even better. After a couple of days, you may want to consider opening the bottom case to check for water. My last water incidence (okay, it was coke) had liquid in the bottom after 3 days. But of course, don't attempt anything like that unless you have prior experience and/or are sure about it.

Best of luck!
Raptor
 
TechZeke said:
Why oh why do people insist on putting open lid drinks next to expensive hardware?

OP, I say this to everyone: Have a policy and habit to have that no drink is within a foot of your computer. This also applies to other people around your computer as well.

This policy has saved me from countless spills. I can't stress this policy enough.

I'd also recommend paying $100-$130 for some kind of accidental damage insurance, the day you buy it. This saved me from a dent that would have cost nearly a $1000 to fix.

EDIT: In fact, accidental damage insurance should be the first thing you buy, even before Applecare as AC is useless in accidental damage, plus you can get AC later.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this was extremely stupid of me. What kind of accidental damage insurance can be purchased? I'm thinking of getting renters insurance from GEICO for like $20 a month and it says they cover damage to electronics... Would it also cover me from something like this in the future? Thanks for the advice.
 
Statusnone88 said:
Yeah, this was extremely stupid of me. What kind of accidental damage insurance can be purchased? I'm thinking of getting renters insurance from GEICO for like $20 a month and it says they cover damage to electronics... Would it also cover me from something like this in the future? Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

I use Worth Ave Group:
http://www.worthavegroup.com/

I pay like $100-$130 bucks a year, then if something happens make a claim and they will send a box to you UPS overnight.

The customer service is good, and helped me out.(I was leaving for a trip soon, so they nicely authorized a saturday delivery so I could get before my flight the next monday)
 
TechZeke said:
I use Worth Ave Group:
http://www.worthavegroup.com/

I pay like $100-$130 bucks a year, then if something happens make a claim and they will send a box to you UPS overnight.

The customer service is good, and helped me out.(I was leaving for a trip soon, so they nicely authorized a saturday delivery so I could get before my flight the next monday)
Click to expand...


This looks great! So in theory, if something like this happens again, they'll pay to fix and or replace it for $0 if I choose the no deducible option? Sounds too good to be true, lol. Sorry to be a skeptic. Just been screwed over by GEICO so many times Im reluctant against insurance policies.
 
I've taken special laptop insurance out that only covers the laptop.
It is just over £7/month with an excess of £25.
I think it is worth it as AC doesn't cover circumstances like this.

Barney
 
Statusnone88 said:
This looks great! So in theory, if something like this happens again, they'll pay to fix and or replace it for $0 if I choose the no deducible option? Sounds too good to be true, lol. Sorry to be a skeptic. Just been screwed over by GEICO so many times Im reluctant against insurance policies.
Click to expand...

It worked flawlessly for me, there really isn't nothing else to say.

Also, this is a forum. If anything you should be skeptical of what people say on here.
 
TechZeke said:
It worked flawlessly for me, there really isn't nothing else to say.

Also, this is a forum. If anything you should be skeptical of what people say on here.
Click to expand...

This is very true. Mine is $145 bucks and it seems like a great deal. Little over $12 a month seems like a drop in the bucket for peace of mind.
 
If it was mine and I had a 2K investment in it…….

I would immediately find someone in my area ( or anywhere else for that matter) that was capable of a complete tear down and reassemble of the unit.

I would want it cleaned, dried, and carefully inspected.

I would also want to know how many of the liquid spill sensor indicators were “tripped”

That would probably cost around $100 but would be money well spent.

I would forget about the rice.
 
triplelucky said:
If it was mine and I had a 2K investment in it…….

I would immediately find someone in my area ( or anywhere else for that matter) that was capable of a complete tear down and reassemble of the unit.

I would want it cleaned, dried, and carefully inspected.

I would also want to know how many of the liquid spill sensor indicators were “tripped”

That would probably cost around $100 but would be money well spent.

I would forget about the rice.
Click to expand...

Doesn't this void the warranty?
 
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