my macbook unibody 13" got wet

[jeremyasto]

Hello everyone
I have problem
yesterday my macbook unibody white 13" got wet by water.
I have removed the battery and I put it upside-down.
now 21 hours after my macbook got wet i tried to start it and it works very good, keyboard works aswell good.
I turned it off now and removed battery again because I read that there might be some problems, they say the water may be still inside beucase it never evaporates from Macbook.
what should I do? is there any chance that the water destroies my macbook?

 

[California]

Yes, this is what you do to make absolutely sure there is no moisture in the macbook.

First off remember that pure water (not tap water) but pure water as in distilled water does not conduct electricity so therefore pure water cannot damage electronics simply by passing over them. (Rust is another matter in sitting water).

Then take some rice and put the macbook in a big plastic bag with the rice and let the rice pull the moisture out of the machine for another couple of days. Rice will pull the water or moisture out.

I let coffee spill on my desk once with an old type mac mini. Coffee got into the inside of the Mini through the underside of the machine.

I immediately took the Mini apart and "washed" the coffee off with distilled water. Then I put the Mini in a bag with rice for three days.

It worked FINE after that forever.

 

[jeremyasto]

thanks for apply
what do you mean of put the bag of rice?
am I supposed to put it in the place of battery? or I need to remove HDD and other things ?
where exactly do I need to put the bag of rice?

 

[old-wiz]

Put the entire macbook in a large sealed bag of rice to dry it out. leave it for 3-4 days.

 

[jeremyasto]

how much the rice must be in the bag?
I will do that as u said thank u very much


edit: can I seal it in a plastic bag? would be better to seal it in paper bag?? or cotton?
what do u think about it?

I sealed it in a cotton bag and left there 0,220 pounds of rice, is that enough?

 

[old-wiz]

has to be plastic to lock in moisture. and seal it tight

 

[jeremyasto]

ok ill seal it in a plastic bag then
how much rice must be there? 3,57 oz is enoguh?

 

[California]

ok ill seal it in a plastic bag then
how much rice must be there? 3,57 oz is enoguh?

Put in about as much rice as there is macbook! At least three handfuls. Seal it up so the moisture goes to the rice but don't let the rice get all over everything, put it in a big sealable plastic bag. This is an old trick, old time Mac ppl know all about it. It works. Do it ASAP.

 

[jeremyasto]

ok Ive done that.
now tell me how long I need to leave it, 3-4 days?
I'm really greatful, thank you guys

 

[minifridge1138]

This is about the best advice you can get for wet electronics.

As the water in the Mac evaporates, it enters the air.
Uncooked rice is "thirsty" and will suck the water out of the air.

After a few days (i'd say 3 should be enough) the mac should be fine.

The only other thing you might be able to do is pull a vacuum on the bag with the rice and mac. Reducing the pressure in the bag will lower the boiling point of the water and help it evaporate more quickly. That's probably overkill.

 

[jeremyasto]

it looks like that
is it ok?
sorry that im asking so much but I always like to be careful and accurate.
The Macbook in the bag is opened I mean its standing opened like a pyramid and black flap is opened and the battery is out of the bag .
Thank you for answers


EDIT: shouldn't the bag be opened?
my mother says there is no air circulation so the macbook may get sweat

 

[minifridge1138]

Image
it looks like that
is it ok?
sorry that im asking so much but I always like to be careful and accurate.
The Macbook in the bag is opened I mean its standing opened like a pyramid and black flap is opened and the battery is out of the bag .
Thank you for answers


EDIT: shouldn't the bag be opened?
my mother says there is no air circulation so the macbook may get sweat

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

If you open the bag, then the rice will absorb the moisture from the outside air.

As a closed system, the only moisture to absurb is what's in the bag. The highest concentration of moisture in the bag is the moisture in the lap top.

There are 3 things in the bag:
1) the Mac
2) the rice
3) the air

The highest concentration of water is in the mac. Then the air. Then the rice.

Water moves from high-concentration to low-concentration. Leave it in the bag and the moisture will equalize between the 3.

Basically, the rice is thirsty. Let it drink from the mac for 3 days.

 

[jeremyasto]

ok thank u, I understand now
today is the 3rd day so I will tomorrow try to start it

 

[Android300zx]

Good luck.

 

[doktordoris]

I would recommend leaving it for a bit longer than 3 or 4 days.

 

[jeremyasto]

today is 4th day i left it
how long do you prefer to leave it ??
can I tomorrow start it?

 

[Android300zx]

today is 4th day i left it
how long do you prefer to leave it ??
can I tomorrow start it?

I would give it at least 2 weeks just to be safe. I know it's tempting to turn it on sooner but it's a pretty big area that the rice has to take care of. It's not like a phone where you can leave it for 4 days.

 

[jeremyasto]

ok I decited to leave it for 1week longer, by next sunday I start it, just let me know what the other people think about this idea?

one more thing, after 1 hour my macbook got wet I tried to start it then I heard something inside like squeak or something like that
what was that? does it mean that it destroyed something inside? but the macbook works anyway.

 

[jeremyasto]

hello everyone
I'm posting on my macbook now.
it works perfect
I hope the water is gone, I couldn't wait so I started the macbook.
I think I will remove the battery again at the night and I will leave macbook with rice again for 1 night, is that good idea?

 

[malman89]

There's probably no turning back. It also seems like you did as good of a job to deal with the water situation once you realized the issue, so I guess we'll see. I think 4 days should've been plenty.

 

[jeremyasto]

I hope so,
before the 4 days I also left the macbook drying with opened back flap.

 

[jeremyasto]

omg u know what happened?
I was cooking in the kitchen then I was going to my room (the place where is my macbook)
I turned the light on then I saw next to my macbook a fire and a loud shot.
It looked like lighting while storm.
I was so shocked.. I couldn't stand on my legs, I almost droped my plate with food. I came to my Macbook then I saw the screen dark.
I was 99% sure the macbook exploded because of that water but when I moved the mouse I saw that its working.
The fire was there because of bulb. The bulb just got burned, thats all.
I'm very happy now but still stressed anyway.
Im so glad that it wasn't my macbook exploded

 

[minifridge1138]

omg u know what happened?
I was cooking in the kitchen then I was going to my room (the place where is my macbook)
I turned the light on then I saw next to my macbook a fire and a loud shot.
It looked like lighting while storm.
I was so shocked.. I couldn't stand on my legs, I almost droped my plate with food. I came to my Macbook then I saw the screen dark.
I was 99% sure the macbook exploded because of that water but when I moved the mouse I saw that its working.
The fire was there because of bulb. The bulb just got burned, thats all.
I'm very happy now but still stressed anyway.
Im so glad that it wasn't my macbook exploded

At least you were already in your room and didn't have to go far to put on clean pants.
That would have frightened me, too.

At this point, I doubt you have anything to worry about. If water was going to hurt anything, it would have the first time you turned it on.

 

[jeremyasto]

For me its harder to understand that theres nothing to worry about.
But I'm trying, everytime I start my macbook I'm very concentrated and I look if it explodes or not.
Maybe I'm more stressed because some people on another forum told me that the macbook might get destroyed in some days...

 

[Android300zx]

For me its harder to understand that theres nothing to worry about.
But I'm trying, everytime I start my macbook I'm very concentrated and I look if it explodes or not.
Maybe I'm more stressed because some people on another forum told me that the macbook might get destroyed in some days...

Not to rain on your parade or anything but in my experience when you get an electronic wet it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose. I would avoid leaving it on the charger when you're not in the room. You never know if something catches fire or something.

Usually with phones when you drop it in water and do the rice trick it'll work. After days/weeks/months the phone will just die on you because corrosion can/may start to build on the board and components. I would recommend to start putting at least $50/week away in a "New Macbook Fund" for the just in case. You'll be glad you did.