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Melted keys and water damage

T

tuhroy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2011
6
0
Hi guys,

As you can tell from the title, my new 2011 13 inch i7 macbook air has water damage and a few melted keys. Long story short, my friend knocked a cup of aloe vera (type of watery drink) onto my laptop while playing a few games. I quickly flipped the laptop over and dried it with a cloth. I drained the laptop and so far have not turned it on as I will wait a week. I googled some ways to ensure drying and saw that keeping a light on the laptop was recommended by a few people, so I did just that and a few minutes later found that the light was too close and it melted the shift key, arrow keys and enter key.

What do you guys think my options are? How much could the replace of logic board and keyboard cost? Could I replace the individual keys by myself? Also, my air turned off by itself when the aloe vera came into contact with it, should I be worried about this?

I find myself in a state of stress and panic right now, so any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Are you insured, if not this will likely be a painful experience, sorry for your bad luck...

Leave the computer as long as possible, dont be tempted to turn it on until you are 100% all the moisture is purged. Dry rice will help to pull out the moisture, if you seal up the Air in an airtight container with a generous amount. The fact that your Mac immediately shut down, rather implies that the fluid has already shorted the board, you may be lucky others have been in the past, just try to be patient...
 
Sorry to hear that. The notebook is pretty much gone unless you are very lucky. Give it a few more days then power it on.

Since your friend caused the accident, he/she should be held responsible. Real friends will understand their mistake and accept responsibility.
 
Total Loss

That really sucks. I'm guessing you used a Halogen type lamp that puts out allot of heat to melt the keys. The logic board is usually around $1,200.00 plus labor charges. The keyboard I can only guess at. Sorry to say you may just have to buy a new MBA.
 
Im With This

gorleegor said:
This is an exactly combo of accidence and incidence. I would leave it as it is after the liquid damage and take it to Genius bar to fix it professionally!
Click to expand...


If you have no insurance, DONT try it, it could be repairable by Apple. The hdd, memory MAY not be fried.

I'll bet that light was Halogen.

Good luck, I hope you get it fixed! :)
 
I've never seen Apple replace water damage under Applecare. They will know you got it wet real quick. Ive seen some people try really hard to get water damage past a technician, and a good tech knows what to look for. Better to tell the truth then try to pull a fast one. Once they see water damage its over. Good luck.
 
eljanitor said:
I've never seen Apple replace water damage under Applecare. They will know you got it wet real quick. Ive seen some people try really hard to get water damage past a technician, and a good tech knows what to look for. Better to tell the truth then try to pull a fast one. Once they see water damage its over. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Actually my friend in Russia managed to convince apple that his water damaged Macbook Pro 17" was broken before he had spilt water on it... Not sure how though. He got a brand new laptop for it though.

That is some really bad luck OP
 
sorry to hear about the violent beating your friend suffered. i hope that his hospital bills leave him enough to pay you back for the computer he ruined. of course, if he doesn't offer, even after the ass whooping, i'd suggest that tells you something about your friendship.

i'll never understand why people insist on eating and drinking near expensive, sensitive hardware with electricity coursing through it. but, it happens to a lot of people (search the forums), so you are in good company!

the rice sounds like a good deal, but my guess is that this is the beginning of the end. for the future, i'd recommend time machine backup + online backup (sugarsync) + insurance (usually available in your renter's policy).
 
My opinion is you should call/go to your local Apple Store and get a quote on the damage, and then go from there . . .

Sorry about your misfortune regardless :[
 
When I bought my 2010 MacBookk Air here in Belgium it overhit and the whole board need to be replaced. The mac was still in waranty so they replaced it for free.
But the guy in the |Apple store said they had to replace the board and iin case it was not in waranty it costed me 900 euro.
 
Last edited:
OP, I've damaged two Macs due to liquids. New logic board costed me about $500

You have my deepest sympathy man. It sucks so much
 
Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (iPhone; Opera Mini/6.13548/25.729; U; en) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54)

Ouch! Good luck, i hope it powers on. Agree that your friend should be responsible (at least partly) for repair costs.
 
maka344 said:
Claim on your house insurance?!
Click to expand...

Unluckly, sad to hear about this.

I would suggest, doing the above/claim your insurance.

Is your mate not even going to help pay for some of the costs?

Or if your desperate, go the apple store and beg! Dont leave until they exchange it and I bet they will give in. You could even chain yourself to their genius bar in protest!
 
It will not cost more than 350

Apple has a flat rate repair at 350 for any 3 items that need replacing.

I just had the logic board and screen replaced on my mbp.

It cost me 150 because my machine was 3 months out of warranty and they felt sorry for me.
 
If you purchased it with a credit card, you may have coverage. My American Express routinely covers damage, loss and accidents for 90 days after purchase. I hope your card might cover this unfortunate event. Move fast, however-- they need substantiation that events occurred within the covered period days. Best to initiate the claim within it.

----------

I hope one thing is obvious-- keep liquids away from your costly electronics!

(He said, while his cup of tea sat 10 inches away from his MBP...)
 
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