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aargh! powerbook + coke! nooo!

bigandy

bigandy

macrumors G3
Original poster
Apr 30, 2004
8,852
7
Murka
some muppet just made me spill some coke over the keyboard of my lovely powerbook.

i switched it straight off and turned it over, while brushing over the keyboard with paper towels. i've removed pretty much all of the fizzy substance and it seemed ok. i ran them through between the key gaps, and it's booting up fine.

there's nothing more seeping from anywhere, but i'm still shaking.

could this be luck it still works, is it an idea to keep it off to dry out (i'm typing on it just now), or may it die?

what do you think?

i really hope it's luck. someone once, about 3 years ago, spilled a pint of water over it and it worked fine after a dry out.

i'm so scared! i can't afford a new one, and need it for work! :( :( :(
 
bigandy said:
some muppet just made me spill some coke over the keyboard of my lovely powerbook.

i switched it straight off and turned it over, while brushing over the keyboard with paper towels. i've removed pretty much all of the fizzy substance and it seemed ok. i ran them through between the key gaps, and it's booting up fine.

there's nothing more seeping from anywhere, but i'm still shaking.

could this be luck it still works, is it an idea to keep it off to dry out (i'm typing on it just now), or may it die?

what do you think?

i really hope it's luck. someone once, about 3 years ago, spilled a pint of water over it and it worked fine after a dry out.

i'm so scared! i can't afford a new one, and need it for work! :( :( :(
Click to expand...

luck i'll say...if it works...i guess there isn't gonna b much problem since it booted...xD
 
I would let it dry for a couple of days just to be safe. You never know when liquid is involved. I spilled a cup of coffee on my old thinkpad, and it acted funny for a little bit then all work perfect. Though I always did notice a coffee smell when the thinkpad got really hot :)

Kimo
 
My iBook prefers beer :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Let it dry a few days as others have stated. Also take out the keyboard and look for evidence of coke under the keyboard. If none, you're most likely quite safe. When I spilt beer on my iBook, I mopped it up quick and none got under the keyboard where damage could have appeard.
 
Anything that is going to happen will happen within the next 48hrs:eek: . After that you are surely safe.
 
WTF are you doing using the machine to post here? ;)

Essentially, the issue has to do with electricity. Specifically, electricity using liquid or residue to short between to places it hadn't otta be flowing between.

The Liquid part: As long as there is liquid in any form, even miniscule quantities, the potential is there for shorting as soon as power is applied. You cannot "mop up" the liquid that has gotten into the circuit board traces. Therefore, 48 hours in a warm place with the power off and the battery taken out is the prescription -- before turning the power back on even once. More keyboards and machines have been damaged by people turning it on immediately after "drying" it with a paper towel, just to "see if it works".

The residue part:
Coke is full of sugar and acid. That is bad. After the liquid has thoroughly dried and that hazard is over, remaining residue of sugar, creamer, whatever, can still cause damage. You'll have to trust to luck on this unless you're willing to completely disassemble the machine and wash each circuit board.

Plus, with any residue remaining, you have just ixnayed your Applecare warranty, as the technician will spot this in an instant when doing repairs.

Nice deflection of responsibility inthe original post by the way. Who was responsible for lifting the container of liquid to a position of positional superiority above your beautiful computer in the first place (assuming that you were the intended consumer of said beverage)?
 
Insurance!

Get some insurance!!

I made sure my student possessions insurance covers me if i drop my PB or spill anything on it in or outside of my house...Gives me piece of mind

Luckily i haven't dropped or spilt anything on it, its got a few dents but its a sturdy machine. My friend dropped the magnetic attachment from his iSight on the trackpad of his Tibook...it never did wake up from that

If its working now i think its gonna carry on working
 
Eh you better send it for servicing.. coke is very acidic.. and if it touches your logic board, that one droplet will slowly eat away the traces on the board, and BAM.. dead PC
 
Really the last thing you want to do is let it go without getting every trace of coke residue out of the keyboard. I would start by removing the keyboard and rinsing it out with distilled water, and then let it dry for several days before reinstalling it. That sticky, sugary residue will likely cause problems in the future.

As was said already, Apple has a pretty strict policy regarding liquids spilled into computers. If your powerbook should ever require service and coke residue is noticed, they will instantly void your warranty, regardless of whether or not the coke caused the damage.
 
However...

cocaine residue will not void your warranty, it made even speed up your service depending on the Apple tech working on it.

$

haha
 
one reccommendation: BACK UP YOUR WORK. if there is anything important on it, like photos, music, video, documents, etc, burn it to disks or to an external drive before it's too late!!

:eek:
 
my advice: don't use it for a day or two then try using it with extreme carefulness.

my mom once accidentally forgot to check my school pant's pockets, which has my p800 sony erricson phone, and it was playing merrygo-round in there. i found out a week later, and when i turned it on, it still "booted" but i never used afterwards. your computer survive more easily if the computer is left to rest for a day or two
 
Yes, backup as soon as you can!
The trouble with Coke is acidity of the sugar. It'll mess with the circuitry no-end if managed to get inside.
My friends girlfriend spilt Coke over his brand new (i.e. less than a week old) PowerBook a couple of years back and it never turned on again :(
Luckily he was covered by his household insurance.

Oh, and they're still together! :p
 
ta muchly for everyone's suggestions. it seems to be working fine! i've backed up everything, and will continue to do so every day or two, just in case. can't afford to send it for servicing to ensure it's ok, but i ensured it was cleaned out very quickly when it happened. so far as i can tell, nothing had time to get through the keyboard, but i will be opening it up sometime soon to check. seeing as that's the warranty voided anyway.

it is covered under insurance but i hate bothering with those people. it takes so long to get anything sorted through them it'd be faster figuring out how to knit one instead.
 
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