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Help! Olive Oil Spill

M

mburgess

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2012
21
0
So this morning I had my MacBook Pro in the kitchen with me to follow a recipe, and my awesome coordination caused me to set down a bottle of olive oil unsteadily, which spilled straight onto my laptop keyboard.
This was a couple of hours ago and the computer seems to be working fine, but the keyboard is getting more and more difficult to use. This is especially problematic considering how much time I spend writing.
I don't know much about computers, especially macs. This keyboard is inlaid to the computer and I am afraid I have no idea how to take it apart (nor would I really want to risk screwing things up worse). Is there anything I can do to help my keyboard?
Any advice would be amazing.

Thanks!

(Also--I've already gone ahead and bought a keyboard cover...never letting this happen again!)
 
The keys just pop off with a small amount of force applied with a flat head screw driver or similar tool. Take off the affected keys and use a q-tip with rubbing alcohol to clean the key and then clean where the key goes. The keys just pop back in place with a bit of downward force. Its really pretty easy.

Here is a youtube video showing the procedure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpPlMdGvVI
 
If you were smart you'd shut your computer off and remove the battery (if possible) for a few days. You're likely already looking at warranty-ending internal damage...
 
MovieCutter said:
If you were smart you'd shut your computer off and remove the battery (if possible) for a few days. You're likely already looking at warranty-ending internal damage...
Click to expand...

Should I do that now or is it too late?
 
mburgess said:
Should I do that now or is it too late?
Click to expand...
Probably too late, but if the MacBook is still running, it might not be to prevent it doing any logic board damage. Your real issue is going to be getting the oil out of the chassis. And if you ever have to go in for warranty issues, Apple will see all that crap inside your laptop in a heartbeat. This is what recipe books are for...
 
MovieCutter said:
Probably too late, but if the MacBook is still running, it might not be to prevent it doing any logic board damage. Your real issue is going to be getting the oil out of the chassis. And if you ever have to go in for warranty issues, Apple will see all that crap inside your laptop in a heartbeat. This is what recipe books are for...
Click to expand...

Alright, well I turned it off for now anyways, although I don't think I have the proper equipment to remove the battery.
Yes, but books are expensive, and online recipes are free, and when you are a college student like me, that is the best you can hope for. I should have kept my computer somewhere else though, I feel very stupid.
What do you mean by chassis? Is there anything I can do?
 
mburgess said:
Alright, well I turned it off for now anyways, although I don't think I have the proper equipment to remove the battery.
Yes, but books are expensive, and online recipes are free, and when you are a college student like me, that is the best you can hope for. I should have kept my computer somewhere else though, I feel very stupid.
What do you mean by chassis? Is there anything I can do?
Click to expand...

Printed paper is cheaper than all of those...chassis is the body of the laptop...internal frame, etc.
 
That's terrible. Maybe the next purchase should be the iPad and a Belkin cabinet mount. My perfect kitchen companion. I think your laptop needs a good cleaning and some finger crossing.
 
Sorry abut what happened. Reminded me about my wife this past weekend. She had her 5 month old MBA that I bought her in the kitchen doing the same thing. As soon as I saw that, I grabbed her MBA and put it on the kitchen table. Which is only a few feet away.

Sometimes taking that extra step. Is worth not risking an expensive accident.
 
Since this is oil and not water, I would assume with confidence that it didn't conduct electricity. If I were you I would open up the computer from the bottomand get a lot of compressed air (not the canned stuff, it's bad for you and the environment) and try to blow all the oil out of the computer. You should also look up where your LSIs are on your mac and try to avoid them, because I don't know wether or not oil will trip those as well....


Good luck though!
 
Not sure if this was mentioned, but you can try wiping as much oil as possible out, then using rubbing alcohol to grab whats left. We use rubbing alcohol a lot at work for cleanings like this and it seems to work well. Don't douse it or anything, just a dab on a cloth should do.
 
Cwbh10 said:
Since this is oil and not water, I would assume with confidence that it didn't conduct electricity. If I were you I would open up the computer from the bottomand get a lot of compressed air (not the canned stuff, it's bad for you and the environment) and try to blow all the oil out of the computer. You should also look up where your LSIs are on your mac and try to avoid them, because I don't know wether or not oil will trip those as well....


Good luck though!
Click to expand...

Do you really think I can blow the oil off? It's pretty hard just to wipe it off as it is...
Also, sorry if this sounds dumb, but what are LSIs?

----------
chrono1081 said:
Not sure if this was mentioned, but you can try wiping as much oil as possible out, then using rubbing alcohol to grab whats left. We use rubbing alcohol a lot at work for cleanings like this and it seems to work well. Don't douse it or anything, just a dab on a cloth should do.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Someone earlier suggested I could do that underneath the keys with a q-tip if I pull them up. Do you think that is a good idea as well? I've pulled keys off before...on an old hp laptop I had, but I never could quite get them back on right. In fact, I accidentally sucked the R key up with a vacuum cleaner later and was never able to retrieve it.

...Yea, I basically fail at technology.
 
Olive oil spill? QUICKLY: add some oregano! hmmm... perhaps some paprika? damn, I'm hungry now! Mind if I take a bite at your MBP?
 
Just remove the keysas mentioned above and start cleaning out the oil ASAP. You are lucky that it's oil and not a very conductive substance and probably won't cause short circuiting - just get it cleaned.

LSI - liquid submergence indicator. There are several of these to indicate to Apple whether liquid has entered the system.
 
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