MacBook Air Liquid Spill

[james*b]

Help!
My macbook air 11" 2010 just took a liquid spill - hot sweet tea - and some went inside via the keyboard. I poured the liquid out, it wasn't a huge amount, but after about a minute it turned itself off with no warning. The battery may have been very low but I am not sure. I have an appointment to visit an apple genius bar on Monday but there is nothing else available in the city that I am in. I am in Europe so everything is closed right now. Also I haven't tried to turn it back on, or charge it since.
- Afterwards I left it somewhere warm and upside down. Is there anything else I should do?
- Also does it seem likely that it is dead, based on the fact it turned itself off? If the battery was low would there have been a warning before it powered down, even if the battery was under 1%?
Thanks in advance!

Update for those facing similar woes:
Spoke to someone at a genius bar who said -
- never use a hair dryer
- put the computer in rice in a vertical position
- probably the motherboard is damaged and will cost about €300 + VAT to replace
- If the SSD is damaged it will cost about €350 + VAT to replace
- So a secondhand/refurbished might be better value.. plus parts only have a 90 day warranty vs 1 year for refubs

Could be a very expensive cup of tea!

 

[jamesjingyi]

Help!
My macbook air 11" 2010 just took a liquid spill - hot sweet tea - and some went inside via the keyboard. I poured the liquid out, it wasn't a huge amount, but after about a minute it turned itself off with no warning. The battery may have been very low but I am not sure. I have an appointment to visit an apple genius bar on Monday but there is nothing else available in the city that I am in. I am in Europe so everything is closed right now. Also I haven't tried to turn it back on, or charge it since.
- Afterwards I left it somewhere warm and upside down. Is there anything else I should do?
- Also does it seem likely that it is dead, based on the fact it turned itself off? If the battery was low would there have been a warning before it powered down, even if the battery was under 1%?
Thanks in advance!

Update for those facing similar woes:
Spoke to someone at a genius bar who said -
- never use a hair dryer
- put the computer in rice in a vertical position
- probably the motherboard is damaged and will cost about €300 + VAT to replace
- If the SSD is damaged it will cost about €350 + VAT to replace
- So a secondhand/refurbished might be better value.. plus parts only have a 90 day warranty vs 1 year for refubs

Could be a very expensive cup of tea!

Just as a word of wisdom, if you spill something on any electronic, the first thing you should do, even before pouring out any liquid is turn the thing off. This stops the electronics inside from short circuiting which is the main cause of damage.

 

[alphaod]

Take the computer apart and rinse everything with deionized water. Then let it dry for a few days. Forget about rice; get desiccant bags.

 

[Macman45]

That's almost certainly taken out the LB...if it hasn't now, it will over time, I think the genius you spoke to is probably right.

 

[Nunojfg]

Word of wisdom, also happened me to in my 2007 macbook - DO NOT TURN IT BACK ON, until it is completely Dried out.
I did that when I spilled hot tea and it damaged all the circuits inside.

 

[james*b]

Worth paying €500 to restore?

I think there should be a wiki on spills somewhere on the apple site, it is hard to think straight when there is tea seeping out of your keyboard..

Anyway, the mac store quoted me €500 (including taxes and labour) in the end to replace (1) the logic board and (2) the top case - does this seem like a reasonable deal to restore a 2010 model?

Also do you think i can acquire the parts and change them out for less myself, or is that not a route worth pursuing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[old-wiz]

replacing parts yourself is not worth trying - way too easy to break something.

I lost my balance and spilled water on a new 2013 13" MBA i7/8gb/512 ssd, and paid $600 for repair via apple.

sweet tea is not good for electronics - part it out on eBay and replace it.
since it turned itself off, likely something fried.

 

[chrisperro]

not worth fixing a 2010 for that money,open it ,clean it,put back together.
the logic board may be ok but the keyboard is not.
sell it for 200$ or more add $600 and you may get enough money for a refurbish 2013.

 

[tivoboy]

good service

Somewhere here I found someone say they had used a service company found on ebay..no company specific.

I searched ebay and found several, but tried to filter based on 100% feedback and lots of sales and found these guys iProTechz.

I had a 13" MBA that my nephew spilled "coffee" on, (yeah right!) and the keyboard was toast. Fortunately, most everything else ran okay. I did a backup and sent it to these guys. They put in a new OEM keyboard, did some sort of ultrasonic clean on the inside of the logic board and other I/O boards and shipped it back next day.

Apple will charge minimum 200$ (plus tax) for a keyboard, but they said "no way" to this one. It was 750$ or nothing..

But, in the end for the 130$ (plus some extra cleaning charge) we've got the unit back and running seems to be ship shape. Would totally recommend them if anyone doesn't want to DIY, get keyboard, find P5 driver and do what looks to be about 1-1.5 hours EASY to replace just the keyboard.

just my .02$..