Spilled Milk

[dlthomas]

I recently spilled close to a tablespoon of milk onto the keyboard. Most of this landed on the keys themselves.

I thought nothing of this and continued working for 4 hours. I left for 6 hours and came home to a non working Powerbook G4.

The green powerlight does come on. I let sit for one day. Still nothing.

Help?

 

[skorpien]

Doubtful there's much you could do short of a logic board replacement. The damage seems to already be done, even if you did clean out the milk. Seems to me like it's the perfect excuse to get a new machine Oh, and since this is burning me up inside, "no use crying over spilt milk." (I know, I'm bad.)

 

[NT1440]

I'd be crying over that spilled milk.

 

[maflynn]

Did you pull the battery out of it?

 

[204353]

I'm surprised that such a small amount of liquid seems to have fried your logic board...

I spilt almost an entire cup of coffee on my old MacBook Pro and it's still working, although it now reeks of coffee.

Sadly skorpien is probably right, though. It sounds like it's gonna need a new logic board. Given the price of such a replacement, I'd say it's definitely worth getting a new Mac. Even if it were still working, that PowerBook wouldn't be much good in a couple of years' time.

 

[gorn]

I would open it up and wash the board down with alcohol. the spill could have fried the logic board, or maybe it's just causing a short somewhere that prevents it from booting but hasn't (yet) burned anything. milk is going to leave a (possibly conductive) residue when it dries.

 

[maflynn]

I'm surprised that such a small amount of liquid seems to have fried your logic board...

I spilt almost an entire cup of coffee on my old MacBook Pro and it's still working, although it now reeks of coffee.

Why? It only takes that liquid to hit just right and poof. Plus we don't know if the OP pulled the battery and the power in time. If he just unplugged it, or didn't use it, its very possible that power was still coursing through the system to short out some of the circuitry.

 

[dlthomas]

Thanks all. I did not pull the battery out because it was so little of a spill and nothing happened immediately. LIke I said, it continued working for nearly 4 hours afterwards. I've definitely learned my lesson. Ugh.

I would open it up and wash the board down with alcohol. the spill could have fried the logic board, or maybe it's just causing a short somewhere that prevents it from booting but hasn't (yet) burned anything. milk is going to leave a (possibly conductive) residue when it dries.

If it is not working by next week, I may try this "washing of the board". How exactly would one go about this?

Also, I've heard of a cheap USB device to recover my files from my (assumingly still good) hardrive. Does anyone know of this?

Congrats Yankees!

 

[204353]

Why? It only takes that liquid to hit just right and poof. Plus we don't know if the OP pulled the battery and the power in time. If he just unplugged it, or didn't use it, its very possible that power was still coursing through the system to short out some of the circuitry.

That's true, I guess. I didn't even unplug or remove the battery on my old MacBook Pro when the coffee spill happened. I just immediately flipped it and let the coffee drain out back the way it came. Sadly it messed up the screen quite a bit, so I just use it at home in clamshell mode.

I guess I got lucky, though, because the thing could've died completely.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Another reason to always use a rubber....

...keyboard cover.

 

[wesrk]

I recently spilled close to a tablespoon of milk onto the keyboard. Most of this landed on the keys themselves.

I thought nothing of this and continued working for 4 hours. I left for 6 hours and came home to a non working Powerbook G4.

The green powerlight does come on. I let sit for one day. Still nothing.

Help?

If there ever is a next time, shut down the computer, unplug the battery and whatever over advice you see here or in some of the other threads. Never keep working as if nothing had happened.

A tablespoon of liquid is a very small amount compared to what others have spilled, but still, it's almost impossible to have it land on the keys only and not have any of it filter around.

As another member pointed out, seems like a good excuse to buy a new one.

 

[cfitz7111]

Also, I've heard of a cheap USB device to recover my files from my (assumingly still good) hardrive. Does anyone know of this?

Never heard of this. But I would assume that without any power to spin up the drive, I doubt anything would work, maybe pulling the drive and putting it in a USB enclosure?

 

[dlthomas]

Never heard of this. But I would assume that without any power to spin up the drive, I doubt anything would work, maybe pulling the drive and putting it in a USB enclosure?

Thanks, the enclosure is actually what I was looking for!

I'm still interested in how I can posiibly clean w alcohol. Just in case...

 

[cfitz7111]

Thanks, the enclosure is actually what I was looking for!

I'm still interested in how I can posiibly clean w alcohol. Just in case...

I have never used one, but from what I hear they work well. But do some research to find a good one, and you may not want to go cheap on this, as you may only have one shot of getting your stuff off. I would hate to hear you say you got a cheap one, and it trashed your HDD, though I have never heard of it happening, I wouldnt be penny wise and pound foolish

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

What Powerbook do you have, 12" or 15"? You will have your luck cut out for you if it's a 12" since it requires a lot of work to remove. Where at on the keyboard did you spill it? The logicboard is on the left side of the PB typically from the "G" key and over.

(eating a bowl of cereal while reading this thread)

 

[juliancs]

No food, or drink, goes anywhere near my desk.

 

[gorn]

I'm still interested in how I can posiibly clean w alcohol. Just in case...

You want rather pure alcohol, some rubbing alcohol is only 70% which isn't great for cleaning electronics. 99% is best but ~90% would probably be okay too.

Open it up and look for the spill, you'll probably see something that looks like dried milk/water/whatever. Damp a microfiber cloth (or toothbrush or even paper towel, but microfiber cloth is best) with the rubbing alcohol and wipe the board down. The alcohol will dissolve residue and allow you to easily wipe it up. And the alcohol itself will evaporate quickly and if it's 99% it won't leave much residue behind itself.

You could also try those alcohol wipes which would probably work well too. Just make sure it's just alcohol not a bunch of additives.

 

[maflynn]

No food, or drink, goes anywhere near my desk.

That's the rule I live by.

Plus my MBP is up on a laptop cooler (Aeolus) and so its off the desk, so that also minimizes the risk. Regardless, I don't let any liquids near my laptop

 

[dlthomas]

What Powerbook do you have, 12" or 15"? You will have your luck cut out for you if it's a 12" since it requires a lot of work to remove. Where at on the keyboard did you spill it? The logicboard is on the left side of the PB typically from the "G" key and over.

(eating a bowl of cereal while reading this thread)

It was on the left side. I suppose Ill give it a shot next week after plenty of drying time.

Enjoy ur cereal!

 

[segers909]

If you're still looking for that usb enclosure, i recommend you get this one:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9478

I've already bought 3 of them cause they're super cheap (free shipping too!)