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Herbal juice spilled into my Mac. DESPERATE NEED OF HELP

J

JokerNThief

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 4, 2011
3
0
The other day I spilled a cup full of herbal juice into my Mac (the juice is probably only dense as much as water..I think)...I immediately got a bunch of tissues and wiped the juice off the surface. Then I started blowing into the keyboard to blow out all the juice that was still present in between (for about 15 minutes). Then I was using for about another 20 minutes searching for how to deal with this (so in total, it was on for appoximately 30 to 40 mins), then I stuck it in a bag of rice upside down, and left it in there for about 18 hours (it said 24hrs, but couldn't help it). I kept pressing the on button like 30 times and then tried holding it there about 15 times for like 4 minutes long each time. HOWEVER at one point the screen flashed on white for a split second and went off again. Eventually I gave up and stuck it in the bag of rice again and left it there for about 24 hours. I repeated the whole thing I did before again...and nothing. HOWEVER, when I pressed the battery status button on the side, it comes out as full...

I know similar posts have been up many times before, however no one seemed to have a situation that EXACTLY fits mine...and I thought even the slightest difference in how people attempt these things may be different. It seems that everyone's conclusion to treats these kind of things is to buy a new one. But I'm only 17 and first I don't have the cash and second, don't think my parents are too keen on getting me an another 3 grand laptop again.

PLEASE HELP!!!
 
You probably ruined any chance you had of saving it by turning it on before it had time to dry out (usually its a few days minimum). Once it gets shorted out by being turned on with liquid present, that's it. I'd leave it in the bag of rice for a few days, say 3-4, and see if you get super lucky.

If at that point it doesn't turn on, you're looking at a logic board replacement which is nearly the cost of a new laptop.

Sorry about your accident. Liquids + laptops just don't mix, and now you'll know for next time that the worst thing you can do is turn it on right away.
 
.....dissapointing to read but at least the direct answer i was looking for..thanks

[worst part is, i actually had those, elastic keypad covers that goes over the keyboard from preventing anything going in, like literally 5 inches away from my laptop...]:confused::mad:
 
Ah I was waiting for one of these topics to pop up again. Now this time the x in what one has spilled on their laptop is "herbal juice." I never even heard of such a thing.

There are more threads about this as well as MBP defects then there are actual threads about the MBP.
 
Sorry for your loss op it must really be depressing facing the possible repair or replace costs....but it never ceases to amaze me how almost everyday read one of these I spilt x on my MBP. When are people going to just stop eating and drinking over computers?

Never understood why, darn shame so many have to lose so much over a simple thing to avoid.
 
sorry to about your lose.

One word of advise aside from the don't eat near your laptop. Have your laptop on a stand (use an external keyboard & mouse) that way if you do eat/drink near laptop the chances of spillage is that much diminished because the laptop is up away from the liquid.

bummers though :(
 
So, you continued to use the laptop for 40 minutes after covering it in "juice"? :confused:

New laptop time - you fried it. Electronic don't play well with water in them. Especially if they're turned on. You wanted to turn it off immediately, put in somewhere to dry immediately, not fart about for 40 minutes letting the water float around and get pushed in by key presses and drawn in by the fan.
 
JokerNThief said:
The other day I spilled a cup full of herbal juice into my Mac (the juice is probably only dense as much as water..I think)...
Click to expand...

God knows something like this has never happened to me.

Best solution of course is to keep all liquids safely away from any laptops.

If it does happen my guess is best immediate action is to power off machine immediately get a towel turn machine upside down and carefully wipe off keyboard area while still upside down.

I would think one would leave it upside down on a towel for a long time and maybe having a fan really gently into back venting long before one would open it up to do anything else.

Good luck!
 
I know that this does not help the OP`s situation one iota, however two 15" MacBook Pro`s and a 13" Air add two youngsters running about the place :eek:

mstand-workstation.jpg


mstand_specs.gif


Accidents happen the Rain Design Mstand apart from several other benefits keeps your Mac out of harms way. Personally I try to be mindful and keep glass`s, mugs etc off the desk, my 2-1/2 year old often has other ideas :p

If you are going to invest over $2K in a machine, the cost of prevention is marginal.

For the OP, sorry take your Mac to Apple and prepare yourself for a hefty bill, Apple will replace all effected boards/parts, if your Mac does dry and starts up you will have been exceptionally lucky, this time ;)
 
JokerNThief said:
I know similar posts have been up many times before, however no one seemed to have a situation that EXACTLY fits mine...
Click to expand...
There's no such need. Water and electronics is water and electronics. Cut the power immediately and do not power on again until all contaminants have been removed and the electronics are fully dry.

Brand, specific device, and whatever you spilled are irrelevant. The process is always the same. The longer you run the device when wet the greater your odds of causing damages and the lesser your odds are of recovery.
 
Fubar1977 said:
Can you make an accidental damage claim on your household insurance?
Worth checking, it may be covered, mine is...
Click to expand...

It is an option, but not worth it imo because home insurers look for ANY reason to raise rates on you, this being one of them. Plus any claim you make gets filed into a national database that insurance companies use to figure out rates for anyone in the U.S. Even if you don't file a claim and just make an inquiry about making a claim (tree fell on house, what is covered if I make a claim type thing), it still goes into this database and effects your rates in the future.

I have insurance for when it is a total loss, nothing more. I mean I have all those things they say like accidental damage to something like a computer, but its only there so they can milk you for higher rates. The insurance industry is a BIG scam, but they have to be because so many people try to scam them. My two cents.
 
This is more for future reference, but there are keyboard covers, which help prevent things from getting in there. I do get it. You panicked and probably killed any chance of saving it :(. First you really need to keep liquids further from your computer. Some tend to be a bit more splash resistant than others, but it's just not worth the risk.

Don't feel too bad. Many people make the mistake of turning these things on too soon because they're worried. My best suggestion for you right now is get two opinions. Take it into Apple and see what they say. If the results are unfavorable you can always get a second opinion from an authorized repair center. If it's under either the standard warranty or Applecare, they may look inside it without charging you (I'm not sure on this but some other posts on here have suggested so).

By the way, with something like this, simply not turning it on may not be good enough anyway. The battery would still be there, and I'm not sure if everything is automatically grounded just by the computer being turned off. I don't know the internal hardware on these well enough to say one way or the other, and it's not something that can be automatically assumed, but yeah powering it on is still quite different.
 
Last edited:
JokerNThief said:
Then I started blowing into the keyboard to blow out all the juice that was still present in between (for about 15 minutes).
Click to expand...

Do not ever do this. You likely blew the juice deeper into the machine. This is the #1 thing not to do.

Always let the machine dry, mop up the spill with a rag gently. If there is already liquid in the machine, blowing will just make it worse, not better.

(Worked in IT with 4000 laptops used by high schoolers.)
 
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