spill damage on my macbook ):

[sophiag]

Hi everybody,
I am new here, so i am not sure if this is where i should post my question.

Anyways, 2 nights ago, I had hot pudding on my lap & my computer was next to me. It was extremely hot & the glass cup broke & all the pudding spillled into my macbook's keyboard & a little on the screen.
I was really nervous & i wasn't sure what to do, so I tried to get as much out of the keys as possible. It worked perfectly that night & i didn't take the battery out or anything. When i got home last night, the computer still turned on & everything was fine except the space bar & a few other keys don't work.
I've checked into getting it repaired, but everyone seems to charge so much now & i'm not exactly sure what i should do.
How much do you think getting this repaired would cost? I contacted Apple since i have the protection plan but of course since it was an 'accidental' issue they don't cover it which i understand. I know i shouldn't have liquids by my computer, which i will never do again!
Please let me know what the best route would be in getting this fixed. Or should i see how much i could get for a damaged computer, then just by a used one on ebay?
Thank you for all the help!

 

[logana]

Sounds like you have been lucky - you can try cleaning the keys but the space bar in particular is a pain to take off and on.

The simplest way would be to replace the topcase (keyboard and trackpad) which you should be able to do yourself....

Try snapping off some of the keys - the ones that don't work and see how much pudding is trapped there....

This is for removal of the keys on the Apple aluminium keyboard but works fine on the MacBook keyboard too

http://skeltoac.com/2007/10/22/apple-keyboard-aluminum-keycap-removal/

 

[Fuzzy14]

It is utterly alarming how many of these threads are on the go, with people spilling coffee, urine, vomit etc etc over their machines! I'd better not criticise too much, since I'll probably go home and do the same at some point!

Try searching the threads for other people in your predicament.

 

[sophiag]

thanks! last night, i tried taking out the space bar & i must have popped it out the wrong way but when i put it back in now, it just wiggles around wierdly :/ There wasn't much pudding trapped under it but i don't know what the problem is, since it still doesn't work. Do you know where i could purchase a new keyboard or whatever you mentioned above? Thank you! Any other ideas are still greatly appreciated

 

[DaBrain]

thanks! last night, i tried taking out the space bar & i must have popped it out the wrong way but when i put it back in now, it just wiggles around wierdly :/ There wasn't much pudding trapped under it but i don't know what the problem is, since it still doesn't work. Do you know where i could purchase a new keyboard or whatever you mentioned above? Thank you! Any other ideas are still greatly appreciated

Other than repairing and or replacing it would be to consider an Apple aluminum wireless keybd. Their very small and you can get a refurb at the on line apple store. True you won't have your built in keydb working but you will have a solution that works and much cheaper. Best of luck to ya!

 

[sophiag]

Thank you for your help
I am thinking of a few options right now. Somebody gave me this link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MacBook-13-To...NameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

Would that be a good idea, if I installed that myself somehow? Or i could just send it to someone who knows what they are doing to install that for me...do you think that would be very costly?

I'm just trying to think what would best & afforable fix my problem.

 

[logana]

I'm guessing you are in the UK - your link is to a US topcase - they are different (look at the enter key on the right-hand side) - or do you have a US keyboard.

Cheapest option is often eBay.de - german keyboard layout is similar to UK (same number of keys which is a good start) and there are often UK keyboards on there too....

You can change the topcase in 30-45 minutes with the help of one small philips screwdriver but there are a lot of screws !!!

 

[sophiag]

Hello,
Actually i live in the US. Sorry i should've made that clear. Someone just gave me that link...
Is that alright for my keyboard then or is that for UK keyboards?

 

[logana]

No that topcase is fine - just do a search on eBay.com for topcase within Apple and you should get lots to choose from........

Go for one with the silver connecting wire....the only other think to watch for is if you have one of the latest MacBooks (SR models) the keyboard layout is different - dashboard key is F4 on the new ones, F12 on the old ones.......

 

[sophiag]

Thanks for your help..i think that's what i'm going to do..
Does anyone know anywhere that i could send in my latop & just have them install the new top case for me that wouldn't cost too much?
I don't mind if they aren't local, i'll take the risk & ship them my macbook.

 

[krye]

Hit up eBay. For $50 bucks or so, you can get a new top case assembly and just swap them out. There's no way to take the keys out and clean under them. You have to replace the whole keyboard.


....oops. I see logana beat me to it.

 

[sophiag]

alright...i could try doing this myself.
I contacted a few people, & they also said that it might JUST be the keyboard or it could cause more trouble later on with the logicboard & stuff & that i should get a diagnosis...
What do you think?

 

[logana]

alright...i could try doing this myself.
I contacted a few people, & they also said that it might JUST be the keyboard or it could cause more trouble later on with the logicboard & stuff & that i should get a diagnosis...
What do you think?

Apple diagnosis will be to swap out the logicboard and topcase - probably around $1,000 !

Pudding is normally pretty solid so there is less chance of it hitting the logicboard than something like water, beer or coffee..

I say have a go at swapping the topcase yourself and if you see pudding inside then you may have a problem.....but I don't think you will

Topcase removal instructions are here - I am guessing it is a Core2 Duo machine - it looks scary but if you take your time then it is not too bad

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Core-2-Duo/Upper-Case/116/6/

 

[sophiag]

alright, thanks!!
I think i'm just going to do that myself & hope that there are no other problems. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.
I'll keep everyone posted