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Late 2012 Mac Mini liquid intrusion

snowtrooper1966

snowtrooper1966

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 13, 2011
277
188
Clarksburg, WV
Son was at desktop using Mac Mini.
Our toddler walked over with cup of apple juice and spilled it on desktop.
Since the Mini was on, the internal cooling fan actually sucked in liquid.
By the time I responded to calamity, I could hear the fan and liquid sloshing inside.
Immediate power down and unplugging.
Careful to keep the Mini level (so as not to have any liquid go deeper intrmeranlly) I took the bottom cover off, to my horror, it was completely overflowing.
Holding it above my head to look up underneath, clearly liquid hade made it up and into the cooling fan and some dust was wet on the grill the holds the WiFi antenna.
1st thought was to remove tha fan to dry/clean it and give entire unit the rice treatment, but further reflection had me wondering if I wanted to let apple juice dry on anything in there, and rice dust prolly not too good with mini internals....
Again, keeping it level, uninstalledn the fan, grill, and subsequently discovering dampness on the hardrive, removed that as well.
Pix included show motherboard directly under cooling fan where it appears liquid was flung across some of the components.
Also anothe detail spot that looks leakproof and sticky.
Took apart the SATA connector on the HD, some of the prongs were damp.
Doused the fan and SATA connector with isopropyl and dried with light blasts of air.
No liquid seems to have gone inside HD.
My biggest concern is trying to clean (or even if I should) the 2 areas of the MB.
Was thinking of a new tooth or other small detail brush, and isopropyl, but not sure that would sufficiently clean dried sugary apple juice residue.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.

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For the system board (and any other circuit boards - such as the bottom of the spinning disk) - I'd use q-tips rather than a brush. You're just trying to get that sticky juice off. For the fan, maybe spray it with some windex / all purpose cleaner - use a can of compressed air to get it to circulate and dry out.
 
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For circuit boards, they produce an electronic contact cleaner spray

It is used to wash circuit boards and contacts. And it dries residue free.

That is what I have always used when I'm washing a circuit board that is removed from the computer.

I wouldn't use it on a hard drive though.

Basically, you tilt the board, and spray lightly to let the board soak a minute. Then spray the board from top to bottom to flush away all dirt and contaminants. With the board tilted and working in a sweeping motion with the spray.

Then tilt the board the other direction and repeat.

I typically do both sides of a circuit board.

Then let dry. Usually takes a couple minutes.

But do keep in mind that this option does mean you will likely need to reapply any heat sink grease between and chips, CPUs, GPUs, etc.

Be sure that any cleaner you use is safe on printed circuit boards, and contacts which may contain a residual minimal charge.

It's been years since I've purchased any. But I used to get it at any electronics store that sold component parts like radio shack, jameco, jdr micro devices, etc.

Or, you could do spot cleaning as others suggested.
 
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Hmmm
Did have a can of electrical contact cleaner in my hand at Home Depot today, but put it back since it dissipates so quickly and I need to agitate the surface where the sticky is, thinking a small artist paint brush would be gentle enough not to damage anything.
Agree Q-tips would work well on the smooth chip surface and flat circuit board area, but would think the fibers would get pulled on the soldered areas/prongs...
 
snowtrooper1966 said:
Hmmm
Did have a can of electrical contact cleaner in my hand at Home Depot today, but put it back since it dissipates so quickly and I need to agitate the surface where the sticky is, thinking a small artist paint brush would be gentle enough not to damage anything.
Agree Q-tips would work well on the smooth chip surface and flat circuit board area, but would think the fibers would get pulled on the soldered areas/prongs...
Click to expand...

Sounds like you have a good plan. And yes cotton fibers on q-tips would tend to get stuck on any raised or pointed tips like solder points.
 
Small artist's brush, Q-tips, isopropyl and patience.
Cleaned up nicely.
Reassembled, fingers crossed.
Booted right up, back to same page as when I yanked the power.
Incredible after taking a bath in Apple (yes, the irony is not lost on me) juice....
Thanks for the support!

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Good work!

I was going to suggest you replace the psu, but it looks like you got away with it.

However, I wouldn't recommend leaving it on unattended for a we while until you can be 100% there is no long term damage.
 
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