MBA after spill: slow operation, non-charging battery

[larapsodia]

I spilled most of a glass of Sam Adams on my mid-2011 MacBook Air. Not my finest moment.

It shut off by itself pretty quickly (wasn't plugged in), and I turned it upside down and kept it that way as best as I could until I got home. Then I submerged it in a large bag of rice for three or four days. (Note to future readers -- do not do this! Rice and rice dust gets everywhere... Lesson learned.)

When I tried to power it up, it worked, kinda. The battery was toast, and it would take several minutes to turn on after pressing the "on" button, and it would randomly turn off. And a few keys were non-functional. I left it turned off for a few weeks, until I could get the some tools and a new battery. Once those arrived, I opened it up, took out the battery, and cleaned everything as best I could with alcohol swabs and a soft toothbrush. Left it open to dry overnight, then installed the new battery.

Now it's much better, but I'm still having two perplexing problems:

1) The computer now recognizes that there's a battery installed (which is an improvement over the initial condition), and it will run perfectly off the battery, but the battery does not charge when it's plugged in. The light stays green and status reads "Battery Is Not Charging". Actually, it's depleting, even while it's plugged in.

2) The computer is running very slowly. Bringing up web pages takes forever, even typing shows an obvious lag. When I go to the Activity Monitor, it shows that "System" is using over 80% of the CPU; "kernel_task" is at over 300% in the processes list. The weird thing is, if I boot it up in Safe Mode, everything is fine. I mean, the battery still doesn't work, but the computer runs quickly.

Any thoughts?

 

[kage207]

Get it replaced through 3rd party, Apple or get a new one.

 

[larapsodia]

Gee, that's helpful. Thank you.

 

[kage207]

Gee, that's helpful. Thank you.

Sorry, I mean the computer is pretty much built on the mother board in these thin devices. So replacing "one" part is usually out of the question. Liquid damage usually has no fix. :/

I'd shop around for the lowest price in terms of getting it fixed. Though Apple will give you the best warranty though most of the time (usually one year for the part replaced). Though Apple is going to be usually more expensive than most.

I'm sorry but Apple does not provide insurance, only a warranty. So you either have to own up to your mistake and pay the repair price or buy a new one.

Lastly, you can always check with your Home Owners insurance and see if you have insurance on personal laptops. Some insurance companies have coverage for these things such as State Farm (last time I check).

 

[dtjay7]

The only part that can really be replaced besides the logic board is the Mag-Safe Board. It is relatively inexpensive and iFixit has great replacement guides. It is something you could maybe try.

 

[cyber16]

If it's a 13" then yes go onto ebay and purchase a Magsafe I/O power board.
Try to find one that includes the flat ribbon cable as well. Price should be under $50 usd.
That will once again let it charge the battery.

 

[blueroom]

Looks like it's much more than the magsafe board that's wonky. At the very least take it to Apple and get them to run diagnostics and get an estimate. The sugars in beer will take their toll on the electronics over time.

 

[gnasher729]

I'd say you got over two years of use out of your Mac which is not impressive, but not a total disaster either…

1. Check out if you have home insurance that pays in case of accidental damage.

2. Consider putting it on eBay (clearly saying what happened) and someone may buy it for the usable parts. Then buy a refurbished replacement. If you consider (money for your Mac) + (savings by buying refurbished) + (savings by not repairing) + getting a much better Mac with fresh warranty, a big portion of the expense should be covered. If you work for a major company there's a chance that they have a contract with Apple that allows you to save some money as well.