Small spill

[Link00seven]

Hello all,

Oh my luck is just fantastic. I was drinking a slurpee earlier today while playing World of Warcraft. I thought it was more frozen then it was, so I slushed a little around in the cap. A little of the slurpee jumped out of the cup and on top of my MBP. A little on the keyboard, a bit on the screen, a bit on the trackpad, and a little on the right side speaker grill area.

I immediately turned off the computer and cleaned the spill off the computer. I then used a hair dryer and ran that across the computer for a few minutes.

At this point in time, the computer seems fine. I'm posting from it right now. I do have two issues that seemed to have cropped up since the incident.

1: A few of my keys on the keyboard are sticky.
2: My left USB port (which is odd, because I'm pretty sure no liquid got in that area...) seems to be acting weird. My USB Mic and GarageBand tend to not be able to work right together, since it'll work for a few and then start crackling and not being in sync. I don't know if thats the actual port thats messed or just a glitch in the program but it doesn't seem to happen when its plugged into the other USB port.

I'm going to go into an Apple Store tomorrow and see what they got to say about it. Of course I'd like to try and not mention that I got a bit of a slurpee on my computer...but since the computer still works perfect minus the sticky keys and that USB port, I think everything should be okay. (And note to self, KEEP ALL LIQUIDS AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM MY LAPTOP!)

What do you guys think? I don't notice any problems with other USB devices so could it just be a fluke that it happened at around the same time? What about the sticky keyboard? Can Apple do anything about that?

Any other comments/suggestions would be appreciated. I'm just thankful that it was a very small spill and that my computer seems to be fine for the most part.

 

[motulist]

If it really was just a small spattering of a few fine droplets, then that realistically will not cause any harm. However, while shutting down immediately is the correct move if your electronics have encountered liquid, hitting it with a blow dryer for a few minutes sounds like a bad idea to me. The conventional wisdom is that you should shut it down immediately, open it up as much as possible and then just let it air dry for a couple of days.

 

[Link00seven]

Yeah I wasn't really sure. Its hard to say exactly how much liquid it was, but it wasn't like...spilling a whole glass of water on it. It was like described, a few maybe rain drop size drops hitting it in a couple different places. The computer overall is fine, its just the couple sticky keys and that USB thing.

I'm just hoping that at the Apple Store they won't be able to tell any liquid entered the machine. Because it was a small amount, the computer overall is fine, and I tried my best to take care of it immediately, I think everything should be okay. Even if they catch on and some parts have to be replaced, I don't foresee it costing an arm and a leg. I've read plenty of horror stories about spilling cans of pop and frying the logic board. This isn't the case here, or I wouldn't be typing on this forum with the computer.

 

[alphaod]

Yeah I wasn't really sure. Its hard to say exactly how much liquid it was, but it wasn't like...spilling a whole glass of water on it. It was like described, a few maybe rain drop size drops hitting it in a couple different places. The computer overall is fine, its just the couple sticky keys and that USB thing.

I'm just hoping that at the Apple Store they won't be able to tell any liquid entered the machine. Because it was a small amount, the computer overall is fine, and I tried my best to take care of it immediately, I think everything should be okay. Even if they catch on and some parts have to be replaced, I don't foresee it costing an arm and a leg. I've read plenty of horror stories about spilling cans of pop and frying the logic board. This isn't the case here, or I wouldn't be typing on this forum with the computer.

You can pick off the keys that are sticky and clean then with soap and water, dry, and replace.

As with the USB, if this issue is new, it sounds like you could have done something to the USB controller, except nowadays I think it's built into the Southbridge though.

 

[Link00seven]

If I would've done something to the USB controller, wouldn't that affect both ports? It's almost as if that one individual port is what got messed up. Or if its even that.

Other USB devices seem to be okay, its just the Mic. It acts really messed in GarageBand with that port, but the other is fine. I tested my USB mouse and my printer and those both seemed to be okay.

 

[Link00seven]

More information:

I went to the Apple Store and they did an archive and install and replaced the sticky keys for me. The computer itself is working fine, and all the ports seem to be fine.

That USB Mic is still giving me trouble in GarageBand. Here's the thing, when I use that same Mic on the same port in Ventrilo to talk to my friends over WoW, there is no problems at all and its just fine. It's only in GarageBand that is messes up. The guy at the apple store said that in the console it looked like the cause of the crash was in GarageBand, and it was a software problem, not a hardware problem.

I've tried all the ports on the computer (except for Firewire 800/400 because I don't have any devices that use it.), the built in mic and speakers are still fine, and the trackpad/keyboard is good. So it looks like I learned a lesson without doing much (if any) damage. Thank God.

Do you guys agree that the USB Mic problem sounds like a GarageBand issue and not the actual port? I can use the printer, my USB mouse, and use the USB Mic in that port for Ventrilo and not have a problem.

Thanks for your responses.

 

[iCeFuSiOn]

More information:

I went to the Apple Store and they did an archive and install and replaced the sticky keys for me. The computer itself is working fine, and all the ports seem to be fine.

That USB Mic is still giving me trouble in GarageBand. Here's the thing, when I use that same Mic on the same port in Ventrilo to talk to my friends over WoW, there is no problems at all and its just fine. It's only in GarageBand that is messes up. The guy at the apple store said that in the console it looked like the cause of the crash was in GarageBand, and it was a software problem, not a hardware problem.

I've tried all the ports on the computer (except for Firewire 800/400 because I don't have any devices that use it.), the built in mic and speakers are still fine, and the trackpad/keyboard is good. So it looks like I learned a lesson without doing much (if any) damage. Thank God.

Do you guys agree that the USB Mic problem sounds like a GarageBand issue and not the actual port? I can use the printer, my USB mouse, and use the USB Mic in that port for Ventrilo and not have a problem.

Thanks for your responses.

Did it cost you anything to have the sticky keys replaced?

 

[Link00seven]

Did it cost you anything to have the sticky keys replaced?

No, he did it for me. It was only two keys though (the up and down arrow). I didn't mention that I spilled anything, but honestly it doesn't seem like that did any real damage.

Especially if everything on the computer (ports, keyboard, trackpad, speakers, etc) still work and the computer itself is just as fast as ever.

 

[iCeFuSiOn]

No, he did it for me. It was only two keys though (the up and down arrow). I didn't mention that I spilled anything, but honestly it doesn't seem like that did any real damage.

Well that was nice of him, if the keys were sticky it doesn't take much to put two and two together though, but he probably just figured oh what they heck it's only a few keys.

 

[Link00seven]

Well that was nice of him, if the keys were sticky it doesn't take much to put two and two together though, but he probably just figured oh what they heck it's only a few keys.

Haha yeah pretty much but the guys at my local apple store seem to be pretty cool about stuff like that.