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Macbook Air 11" 1st gen A1370 not booting after water damage

C

cap2587

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 12, 2010
124
2
I had a client accidentally spill water on a Macbook Air A1370. Is there any hope to recover this laptop? Are the screws on this laptop alan Keys? Where do I get this size alan key or screw driver. Can I at least get the information off the hard drive. Is there a special Apple connection for the hard drive? If so, do I need an adapter for this. Thanks for any tips on this issue.
 
I figured out I need a special screw driver for Macbook Air. I ordered one: NEW 5-Point Pentalobe Screwdriver for Macbook Air

THe Macbook Air is not turning on at all. Is there anything I can do to try to recover this laptop. Which parts could be valuable if the laptop can't be saved. Thanks
 
Surely the logic board is fried. New one is in the neighborhood of $750. You may counsel your customer to consider using his machine as a lightweight fishing anchor now that it has met water and become accustomed to it.
 
cap2587 said:
I had a client accidentally spill water on a Macbook Air A1370. Is there any hope to recover this laptop? Are the screws on this laptop alan Keys? Where do I get this size alan key or screw driver. Can I at least get the information off the hard drive. Is there a special Apple connection for the hard drive? If so, do I need an adapter for this. Thanks for any tips on this issue.
Click to expand...

IIRC, OWC makes an Apple SSD to USB interface.

If the motherboard is indeed shot, a new MBA would be the course of action as fixing is almost as expensive as a new MBA.
 
Thanks for the information. Is there a way to check if the motherboard is completely done without buying a new one. What components inside the case might be okay and worth selling.
 
They have bought another Macbook Air and I am responsible for retrieving their data off the old Hard drive. Just curious to see if there was anyway to see if Motherboard is completely done or somehow recoverable. Thanks
 
I haven't looked inside my MBA, but is my understanding there are 3 components, the main board, the ssd, and the battery. If you haven't put the laptop into a bag of rice or other moisture extracting medium, it is probably too late to save the board. For the SSD, you'll need to move it into another machine to check it, or get an Envoy external case from OWC.
 
cap2587 said:
They have bought another Macbook Air and I am responsible for retrieving their data off the old Hard drive. Just curious to see if there was anyway to see if Motherboard is completely done or somehow recoverable. Thanks
Click to expand...

Take the SSD out of the water damaged MBA, put it into an external enclosure and copy the data off of it.

Leave the MBA open to air dry for a few days, put the SSD back into it and try powering it on.
 
cap2587 said:
I had a client accidentally spill water on a Macbook Air A1370. Is there any hope to recover this laptop? Are the screws on this laptop alan Keys? Where do I get this size alan key or screw driver. Can I at least get the information off the hard drive. Is there a special Apple connection for the hard drive? If so, do I need an adapter for this. Thanks for any tips on this issue.
Click to expand...

Open it, clean the Logic board with Isopropyl alcohol, let it dry, should not take long since it evaporated fast, put it back and see what it does.
If there wasn't a "real" short you might get lucky.
 
I really appreciate the good tips. I will try them and let you know.

PBG4 Dude - Is the Envoy external case from OWC the only connector that will retrieve data off the macbook Air hard drive?
 
It's the only one I know about. The MBA SSDs use a special connector and from my research only OWC has put out anything that works with them. I'd love to be proven wrong though.
 
I have now run into a new obstacle. Some of the Screws are now stripped and even with the right screw driver won't come out. Any tips on how to get these screws out. Thanks
 
Thanks for the tip on the drill. I did use a drill and got them out. Where could I order some more of these screws? Thanks
 
Try ifixit.com . Alternatively, see if a local authorized Apple repair person (not Apple store) can get you some.
 
Obvious but didnt see it posted on this thread ...

Spilt a whole glass of seltzer (about 12oz.) on keyboard. The device immediately powered down (screen went to black) on its own. I quickly turned it over, did the hairblower thing on high heat and set an appointment for the Genius Bar later in the day.

The moment the tech picked up my device he said there was water in it. Must have been a weight thing. When questioned how he knew so quickly his response suggested this happens all the time.
He went on to say that there is nothing they can do short of taking it in with a charge of $750 and no guarantee that it would be fixed (I'm truncating that exchange as I'm sure others on this thread have heard similar).

Before leaving I asked if he could take a look at how bad the water damage was. He took it to the back returning 5 minutes later stating "it's shot" and that it was loaded with liquid.

His recommendation, buy a new 11" for $150 more and dont bother trying to fix it as it likely wont work.

I needed some time to think through plus I knew my wife tried the "rice trick" on her iPhone after dropping it in the toilet and resuscitated it from the "dead."

Bottom line ... after purchasing a 20LB bag of rice, submerging the air in it for 2 weeks (putting it directly in the sun via the window from time to time), I plugged it in to charge and voila, it worked.

It's been operating like normal ever since (about 10 days have gone by since firing it up.)

Just thought I'd share this info with you before you incur more frustration and expenses.
 
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