Slight liquid damage from the bottom

[producerlawson]

So last night during my sleep one of my pillows knocked over a small glass of water, and a little seems to have gotten into my MacBook.

I suspect the bottom left air vent slit has allowed entry as that area was the only area with an affected liquid indicator. From what I remember I gave it a good shake and moved it away from the damp area and fell back to sleep (I know I don't know what I was thinking..).

This morning it wouldn't power up, so I stuck it in a warm utility room for about 3-4 hours until I got back. Then I undid the backplate to inspect, there was a small sprinkle ontop of the middle chips along the logic board and an odd bit of residue above the batteries. I moped this up with some tissues and placed it over an aga oven in hopes of completely drying it out much quicker. I also gave it a good blast with a pressure air blower to get behind the logic board.

A while later and still no change, eventually I got the hair dryer out to warm up the stickers that had been budged a little during the air blowing part so that I could get them back into place.. After this, I gave it a shot with the mains lead and it started charging (lit up orange) but after an hour or two of charging the situation hasn't changed, nor is the brick warm..

Is anybody able to tell me anything about this chip? It had the most blue/orange corrosion on:

It's to the right of that flap, and to the left of the red liquid indicator

These strange looking battery chips also had a small amount:

As did this:

The rest of the liquid indicators have stayed white, so surely it hasn't spread too far? I hope anyway..

I have Apple care and a warranty until the end of October this year, however according to their phone support today; "accidental liquid damage" is not covered (so how about deliberate? Haha)

The two nearest genius bars don't have appointments for over two weeks and this is my main workhorse machine for work.. So any help/support is widely appreciated.

Thanks

(P.s it's a fully spec'd late 2013 MBPr 15")

 

[marmiteturkey]

I think (from experience) you're looking at a paid repair for apple - not cheap, think several hundred quid. Given that this is your main workhorse, I would be quite nervous about trusting it even if it comes to life again.
My cat tipped a beer into my macbook pro a couple of years ago - the macbook pros are supposed to have quite good liquid resistance behind the keyboard, but a little went into the fan vents under the screen and the computer failed to reboot once I had shut it down. My best option at the time was to claim a replacement on home insurance - had an excess of £250 which was a lot less than Apple would have charged.

There's always a possibility you'll get the Genius bar on a good day - stranger things have happened - but you'd have to be lucky, esp with the red liquid indicator.

Sorry about that. It's far too easily done, isn't it? Computers and drinks live near one another, but they REALLY don't get along.

 

[producerlawson]

I think (from experience) you're looking at a paid repair for apple - not cheap, think several hundred quid. Given that this is your main workhorse, I would be quite nervous about trusting it even if it comes to life again.
My cat tipped a beer into my macbook pro a couple of years ago - the macbook pros are supposed to have quite good liquid resistance behind the keyboard, but a little went into the fan vents under the screen and the computer failed to reboot once I had shut it down. My best option at the time was to claim a replacement on home insurance - had an excess of £250 which was a lot less than Apple would have charged.

There's always a possibility you'll get the Genius bar on a good day - stranger things have happened - but you'd have to be lucky, esp with the red liquid indicator.

Sorry about that. It's far too easily done, isn't it? Computers and drinks live near one another, but they REALLY don't get along.

This is what I was dreading.. I managed to get the battery unplugged in the end and under the cable was even more blue ish corrosion. Looks like I'll be waiting to hand it into Apple then, once my appointment comes around.

 

[tubeexperience]

Mistake #1: Attempting to turn on a wet laptop

Mistake #2: Attempting to charge a wet laptop

Mistake #3: Use a hair dryer to dry a wet laptop

 

[Queen6]

Mistake #1: Attempting to turn on a wet laptop

Mistake #2: Attempting to charge a wet laptop

Mistake #3: Use a hair dryer to dry a wet laptop

Mistake #4: Pointing out the obvious

The OP is reaching out for help and suggestions, what`s done is done. What is needed is a way forward; Apple or a independent specialist is the only solution. Cleaning of the electronics may revive the notebook, however longevity is likely to be compromised.

Q-6

 

[producerlawson]

Mistake #4: Pointing out the obvious

The OP is reaching out for help and suggestions, what`s done is done. What is needed is a way forward; Apple or a independent specialist is the only solution. Cleaning of the electronics may revive the notebook, however longevity is likely to be compromised.

Q-6

I finally got Apple to see me earlier than a week ahead. Their quote is £1700 to fix it.. They think the batteries are done, the right lower hand of the logic board and possibly the SSD. That's from an inspection, though the guy at first was claiming how soaked it was, and then suddenly retracted that when I explained it had thoroughly been dried out over an aga. I've taken the SSD out for now and I'm going to try and find an enclosure to see if I can get any data from it.

I'll be honest though, as much as I love Apple and the experience you usually get from them, the guy was one of the most arrogant I had ever met in a store.. I was pretty surprised but what's done is done. They refused to test any components without me paying up for a repair so I walked away with it for now.

My problem is, I'm an audio producer for radio stations and I've really stretched the limits with usage.. However I can't upgrade to a newer model because I need Mavericks on it for my software to run, otherwise I'm looking at £1500 for a software upgrade to be compatible with El Capitan, then £6000 in software addon licenses

I guess my hope is that I can get it into a working state, then trade it in and look for another late 2013 model.

Either way, thanks guys.

 

[Queen6]

I finally got Apple to see me earlier than a week ahead. Their quote is £1700 to fix it.. They think the batteries are done, the right lower hand of the logic board and possibly the SSD. That's from an inspection, though the guy at first was claiming how soaked it was, and then suddenly retracted that when I explained it had thoroughly been dried out over an aga. I've taken the SSD out for now and I'm going to try and find an enclosure to see if I can get any data from it.

I'll be honest though, as much as I love Apple and the experience you usually get from them, the guy was one of the most arrogant I had ever met in a store.. I was pretty surprised but what's done is done. They refused to test any components without me paying up for a repair so I walked away with it for now.

My problem is, I'm an audio producer for radio stations and I've really stretched the limits with usage.. However I can't upgrade to a newer model because I need Mavericks on it for my software to run, otherwise I'm looking at £1500 for a software upgrade to be compatible with El Capitan, then £6000 in software addon licenses

I guess my hope is that I can get it into a working state, then trade it in and look for another late 2013 model.

Either way, thanks guys.

You may get lucky with a Mac specialist, have you considered looking for a identical model with a damaged display (eBay etc.)? Truthfully I think at this point your much better to source a used MBP in decent condition given the cost of the software upgrade path. You could ask if Apple have a flat repair cost? as they seem to have this in the US, as £1700 is really not a practical solution, nor is a new replacement given the software constraints. Like all in life there is good & bad staff.

Personally I bit the bullet some time back and have a primary & secondary Mac`s and now I am looking at a Windows based system, as I don't want my income to be dependant on one system or provider. Things move rapidly in the tech sector an OS update can potentially offer new functionality, equally it can break workflows, and or locking you into older poorer performing hardware. Another aspect is your going to need to update sooner or later, nor is specialist software likely to get any cheaper, this could be the time to upgrade or jump to a less restrictive platform.

Q-6

 

[tubeexperience]

I finally got Apple to see me earlier than a week ahead. Their quote is £1700 to fix it.. They think the batteries are done, the right lower hand of the logic board and possibly the SSD. That's from an inspection, though the guy at first was claiming how soaked it was, and then suddenly retracted that when I explained it had thoroughly been dried out over an aga. I've taken the SSD out for now and I'm going to try and find an enclosure to see if I can get any data from it.

I'll be honest though, as much as I love Apple and the experience you usually get from them, the guy was one of the most arrogant I had ever met in a store.. I was pretty surprised but what's done is done. They refused to test any components without me paying up for a repair so I walked away with it for now.

My MacBook Pro wouldn't turn on. Apple Genius told me that I need to pay ~$1000 for because "everything" needed to be replace.

I bought a replacement keyboard from eBay for $35 and replaced it myself. My MBP came back to life.

Total saving = ~$965

 

[producerlawson]

You may get lucky with a Mac specialist, have you considered looking for a identical model with a damaged display (eBay etc.)? Truthfully I think at this point your much better to source a used MBP in decent condition given the cost of the software upgrade path. You could ask if Apple have a flat repair cost? as they seem to have this in the US, as £1700 is really not a practical solution, nor is a new replacement given the software constraints. Like all in life there is good & bad staff.

Personally I bit the bullet some time back and have a primary & secondary Mac`s and now I am looking at a Windows based system, as I don't want my income to be dependant on one system or provider. Things move rapidly in the tech sector an OS update can potentially offer new functionality, equally it can break workflows, and or locking you into older poorer performing hardware. Another aspect is your going to need to update sooner or later, nor is specialist software likely to get any cheaper, this could be the time to upgrade or jump to a less restrictive platform.

Q-6

I found a repair shop (maybe I should call it a bar however) in my original hometowns shopping centre and they agreed to check the SSD for me.. and well and behold, it works. So that's £700 off the repair list from Apple. They suggested I also let them checkout the rest of the MacBook, with nothing to loose considering my warranty and Apple Care is supposedly invalidated now I let them. Just spoke to them now and they're pretty sure it's going to be a replacement logic board needed and are just waiting on a quote.. my worry though is that the memory is soldiered to the board itself, and it was spec'd up to 16gigs.. so I'm pretty sure that's going to rake the margins back up - either way it can't be as bad as what Apple quoted me.

As you say though, I'm probably going to get it up and running, back it up and get it traded in. I'll hunt for another liquid damage free late 2013 model to ensure I get the full life span out of it.

 

[tubeexperience]

I found a repair shop (maybe I should call it a bar however) in my original hometowns shopping centre and they agreed to check the SSD for me.. and well and behold, it works. So that's £700 off the repair list from Apple. They suggested I also let them checkout the rest of the MacBook, with nothing to loose considering my warranty and Apple Care is supposedly invalidated now I let them. Just spoke to them now and they're pretty sure it's going to be a replacement logic board needed and are just waiting on a quote.. my worry though is that the memory is soldiered to the board itself, and it was spec'd up to 16gigs.. so I'm pretty sure that's going to rake the margins back up - either way it can't be as bad as what Apple quoted me.

As you say though, I'm probably going to get it up and running, back it up and get it traded in. I'll hunt for another liquid damage free late 2013 model to ensure I get the full life span out of it.

I would find a place that does logic board repairs.

 

[Queen6]

I found a repair shop (maybe I should call it a bar however) in my original hometowns shopping centre and they agreed to check the SSD for me.. and well and behold, it works. So that's £700 off the repair list from Apple. They suggested I also let them checkout the rest of the MacBook, with nothing to loose considering my warranty and Apple Care is supposedly invalidated now I let them. Just spoke to them now and they're pretty sure it's going to be a replacement logic board needed and are just waiting on a quote.. my worry though is that the memory is soldiered to the board itself, and it was spec'd up to 16gigs.. so I'm pretty sure that's going to rake the margins back up - either way it can't be as bad as what Apple quoted me.

As you say though, I'm probably going to get it up and running, back it up and get it traded in. I'll hunt for another liquid damage free late 2013 model to ensure I get the full life span out of it.

I would see if the shop can get this on up and running and then consider your options. If the MLB is new then there may well be little value in replacing the notebook. In your shoes I would get this system up ASAP as downtime costs. Then I would look at the upgrade options and or moving to another platform. As the current restrictions are simply going to get worse over time, as will sourcing reliable hardware.

Unfortunately you are correct as Apple has/still does apply disproportionate price increases for what is essentially pre-engineered in-house upgrades, as a blatant mechanism to increase product margin. Apple has no direct competition in the OS X realm, so they literally charge what they want, knowing full well that those customers who need the additional performance have no other option if they want to remain on the platform.

Q-6

 

[producerlawson]

Update - the shop seems useless in keeping you up to date.. I have to keep ringing (though they have great reviews online). They're getting LB quotes of around £750, and similar priced ones for used LB's. They can't guarantee a new LB would be the only replacement though as they can't diagnose it without the LB working, so they say.

I guess I'll go back and collect the machine, then hunt for a specific LB specialist somewhere in the UK - one thing for sure though is that I'm going to get them to give me a separate backup from my SSD.

 

[tubeexperience]

Update - the shop seems useless in keeping you up to date.. I have to keep ringing (though they have great reviews online). They're getting LB quotes of around £750, and similar priced ones for used LB's. They can't guarantee a new LB would be the only replacement though as they can't diagnose it without the LB working, so they say.

I guess I'll go back and collect the machine, then hunt for a specific LB specialist somewhere in the UK - one thing for sure though is that I'm going to get them to give me a separate backup from my SSD.

No, not those places.

You need to find a place that does logic board repairs, not logic board replacements.

 

[producerlawson]

No, not those places.

You need to find a place that does logic board repairs, not logic board replacements.

That's what I'm now searching for, however it's like trying to get blood out of a stone. What I can't work out though is that Apple quoted the logic board fully spec'd at £330.. the guy showed me the iPad as he was estimating a repair bill when I originally visited.

The dream solution here would be to get Apple to repair to machine, but only the logic board lol - obviously isn't going to happen, I know.

 

[tubeexperience]

That's what I'm now searching for, however it's like trying to get blood out of a stone. What I can't work out though is that Apple quoted the logic board fully spec'd at £330.. the guy showed me the iPad as he was estimating a repair bill when I originally visited.

The dream solution here would be to get Apple to repair to machine, but only the logic board lol - obviously isn't going to happen, I know.

Places that does logic board repairs are definitely rare.

Not sure what's in England unless you want to mail it to the US for repair.

 

[jutaval]

So last night during my sleep one of my pillows knocked over a small glass of water, and a little seems to have gotten into my MacBook.

I suspect the bottom left air vent slit has allowed entry as that area was the only area with an affected liquid indicator. From what I remember I gave it a good shake and moved it away from the damp area and fell back to sleep (I know I don't know what I was thinking..).

This morning it wouldn't power up, so I stuck it in a warm utility room for about 3-4 hours until I got back. Then I undid the backplate to inspect, there was a small sprinkle ontop of the middle chips along the logic board and an odd bit of residue above the batteries. I moped this up with some tissues and placed it over an aga oven in hopes of completely drying it out much quicker. I also gave it a good blast with a pressure air blower to get behind the logic board.

A while later and still no change, eventually I got the hair dryer out to warm up the stickers that had been budged a little during the air blowing part so that I could get them back into place.. After this, I gave it a shot with the mains lead and it started charging (lit up orange) but after an hour or two of charging the situation hasn't changed, nor is the brick warm..

Is anybody able to tell me anything about this chip? It had the most blue/orange corrosion on:

It's to the right of that flap, and to the left of the red liquid indicator

These strange looking battery chips also had a small amount:

As did this:

The rest of the liquid indicators have stayed white, so surely it hasn't spread too far? I hope anyway..

I have Apple care and a warranty until the end of October this year, however according to their phone support today; "accidental liquid damage" is not covered (so how about deliberate? Haha)

The two nearest genius bars don't have appointments for over two weeks and this is my main workhorse machine for work.. So any help/support is widely appreciated.

Thanks

(P.s it's a fully spec'd late 2013 MBPr 15")[/QUOTE

Hi!

My Macbook air had a water damage and got fixed, however they told me that the keybord light was completely doomed.

This week, about 6 months after the spill, I thought I saw the lights on for a sec when I was opening it, but I let it go.

Today they started working for about 1 minute straight, and then for some seconds...

Do you think there's any chance of recover?

Thank you, and sorry for my english...