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Spilled Coconut Oil on MBA

R

radiocity25

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
53
0
I spilled coconut oil on my MacBook Air a few hours ago. It fell on the keyboard and trackpad area. I opened up the MBA and tried to wipe off the oil with rubbing alcohol. I am not sure what to do in the mean time though. What is the best way to clean up this mess?? Also the oil did not touch the logic board, it is on the battery area and the trackpad.

Any help appreciated!!
 
Last edited:
radiocity25 said:
I spilled coconut oil on my 11" MacBook Air 2011 a few hours ago. It fell on the keyboard and trackpad area. I opened up the MBA and tried to wipe off the oil with rubbing alcohol. I am not sure what to do in the mean time though. What is the best way to clean up this mess?? Also the oil did not touch the logic board, it is on the battery area and the trackpad.

Any help appreciated!!
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big bummer :(

I know that talcum powder (baby powder) absorbs coconut oil, but I'd be wary of using anything inside an Air.

just patiently keep wiping it off with kleenex.

failing that, stick it outside in the sun for a great tan
 
halledise said:
big bummer :(

I know that talcum powder (baby powder) absorbs coconut oil, but I'd be wary of using anything inside an Air.

just patiently keep wiping it off with kleenex.

failing that, stick it outside in the sun for a great tan
Click to expand...

is it ok to clean the battery with rubbing alcohol?
 
Oil is not generally conductive, so just clean up the mess gently and you're probably fine.
 
I brought it to my campus IT department and they are a partner with Apple. They told me they can't open it and clean it because of the damage. I read reports where other schools cleaned up MBAs that had spilled liquid.

I ordered a T5 screwdriver to open and external enclosure, which should come tomorrow. I plan to open up the battery and clean it separately since that's where the majority of the damage occurred. If I wipe all the oil off the battery area, will the MBA be ok?

Worst case scenario, how much can I sell the computer for? The logic board was undamaged and only the battery and keyboard got liquid on it.
 
Chances are if it got onto the keys - depending on how much spilled, some of it got into the rest of the board...hard to say how much it's worth without knowing the exact extent of the damage, but probably a few hundred bucks or so.


radiocity25 said:
I brought it to my campus IT department and they are a partner with Apple. They told me they can't open it and clean it because of the damage. I read reports where other schools cleaned up MBAs that had spilled liquid.

I ordered a T5 screwdriver to open and external enclosure, which should come tomorrow. I plan to open up the battery and clean it separately since that's where the majority of the damage occurred. If I wipe all the oil off the battery area, will the MBA be ok?

Worst case scenario, how much can I sell the computer for? The logic board was undamaged and only the battery and keyboard got liquid on it.
Click to expand...
 
The mail came today and I got the OWC Envoy so I can see if the drive still works, and it does! I put the MBA's SSD in the enclosure and was able to access all its files. The problem is...it is running Lion and I am using another MBA that has Mountain Lion on it. I would like to clone the drive to another drive I have so I can dual boot. But Mountain Lion won't let me run Lion OS since it is older.

How can I upgrade the broken MBA's SSD from Lion to Mountain Lion through USB?
 
I sold my mother's 2010 13" MBP that she spilled diet Coke on for $250. The monitor, trackpad, and keyboard all did not work but worked as desktop sort of system.
 
:eek: I don't think it's best that you used alcohol to clean it :( I'm pretty sure alcohol cannot remove the grease of coconut oil if that's what you would like to do. Plus the fact that alcohol might do something bad on your Mac as well :(
 
fruitloverlady said:
:eek: I don't think it's best that you used alcohol to clean it :( I'm pretty sure alcohol cannot remove the grease of coconut oil if that's what you would like to do. Plus the fact that alcohol might do something bad on your Mac as well :(
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You want to use alcohol. It evaporates and leaves no moisture. I use rubbing alcohol on circuit boards all the time to clean up messes (like remotes). When you get it clean, buy a keyboard cover. The one by iPearl I think is the best. It's rubber but not mushy.
 
lysol said:
You want to use alcohol. It evaporates and leaves no moisture. I use rubbing alcohol on circuit boards all the time to clean up messes (like remotes). When you get it clean, buy a keyboard cover. The one by iPearl I think is the best. It's rubber but not mushy.
Click to expand...

I'd just like to add that it is contingent that the particular alcohol that you are using is able to dissolve the coconut oil, and depending on the type of alcohol that you are using, it has a particular purity. As an example, you cannot have 100% Ethyl Alcohol outside of a laboratory setting because of the inherent behavior to attract water vapors into the solution.
 
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