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semicollante

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2009
7
0
Alright, I'll admit it's stupid, but I spilled around 2 teaspoons of oil on my keyboard, I was able to get up around 1 teaspoon with a paper towel, but the rest seeped in. Lucky for me, the keyboard still works great, but the backlight is very weird.
In the middle part, it is good, but in the left and right parts, it is much dimmer than it should be. (You know if you equally divide the keyboard into three sections). What have I damaged? If I want to replace something, should it be the keyboard or the top case?
 
But it happened 4 months ago. Luckily, it hasn't fried something yet, or at least I think. I should have posted then, but I forgot. So now I really want to know which part I should get, the keyboard or the top case?
 
But it happened 4 months ago. Luckily, it hasn't fried something yet, or at least I think. I should have posted then, but I forgot. So now I really want to know which part I should get, the keyboard or the top case?

If its a UniBody the keyboard is attached to the upper case, so you'll have to buy an upper case. Or if you don't mind about the backlight you can just leave it how it is...
 
No, it isn't the unibody. It is the early 2008 one. The backlight do kind of bug me though. so which part have i damaged?
 
No, it isn't the unibody. It is the early 2008 one. The backlight do kind of bug me though. so which part have i damaged?

If all they keys and everything else works normally, the backlight is screwed up a bit. I'm pretty sure you can get the keyboard and backlight replaced, or maybe just the backlight. It shouldn't cost too much. Good Luck!
 
This reminds me of about a week ago when i spilled half a glass of water on my trackpad and it seeped in. Immediately turned it off and got a blowdryer to dry it out. Worked an hour later =]
 
haha, it was vitamin e oil for my nails...

If all they keys and everything else works normally, the backlight is screwed up a bit. I'm pretty sure you can get the keyboard and backlight replaced, or maybe just the backlight. It shouldn't cost too much. Good Luck!

Thank you so much! Do you know where I might be able to get the backlight? Or is it too tricky? I could get a whole keyboard if it is.
 
Many oils are non-conductive, so everyone should stop freaking out. Silica and rice isn't going to do anything either... it's oil...

My best guess is that the oil is covering one of the LED's that light the keyboard. It's not going to be easy, but the best way fix it is to tear the whole laptop apart down to the keyboard and soak up the oil as best as possible with a paper towel. I wouldn't worry about it that much though. That little bit of oil will likely never go any farther.

You just have an ultra lubricated keyboard now.

I'm not sure what Vitamin E oil comes from... but Mineral oil can be used around electronics... In fact, here's a computer that uses mineral oil to keep it cool... and the large transformers for power stations use mineral oil for coolant as well.

Sometimes, the people here freak out too easily... Put it in silica... Haha...

Also, I just read that it wasn't a Unibody. mrsir2009 is probably correct with the fact that you can get a keyboard relatively cheap. Really, it's just like any other laptop keyboard except it has a back light. It will be difficult to clean up the oil on that keyboard.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SD-Keyboard...mQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item439b12efc8

Personally, I wouldn't bother with it unless it really bothers you or it breaks later on. Don't fix it if it isn't broken.
 
Thank you so much! Do you know where I might be able to get the backlight? Or is it too tricky? I could get a whole keyboard if it is.

I don't think you can get just the backlight, but you can get pretty cheap keyboards off eBay for the MBP. As far as I know the keyboard can be clicked out, so its not too hard. If it is you could get someone to do it in an Apple shop for a small fee (or for free if they're nice:D)

Or, you could click the keyboard out and try clean the oil off the inside of the keyboard to see if it makes a difference...

Good Luck!
 
Apple genius bars might actually do it for me? That sounds too good to be true if it is free. Isn't it against the store policy? Thanks, everyone. I'll try to disassemble it myself, and let everyone know how it goes. I am also upgrading ram from 2GB to 4GB..
 
Many oils are non-conductive, so everyone should stop freaking out. Silica and rice isn't going to do anything either... it's oil...

My best guess is that the oil is covering one of the LED's that light the keyboard. It's not going to be easy, but the best way fix it is to tear the whole laptop apart down to the keyboard and soak up the oil as best as possible with a paper towel. I wouldn't worry about it that much though. That little bit of oil will likely never go any farther.

You just have an ultra lubricated keyboard now.

I'm not sure what Vitamin E oil comes from... but Mineral oil can be used around electronics... In fact, here's a computer that uses mineral oil to keep it cool... and the large transformers for power stations use mineral oil for coolant as well.

Sometimes, the people here freak out too easily... Put it in silica... Haha...

Also, I just read that it wasn't a Unibody. mrsir2009 is probably correct with the fact that you can get a keyboard relatively cheap. Really, it's just like any other laptop keyboard except it has a back light. It will be difficult to clean up the oil on that keyboard.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SD-Keyboard...mQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item439b12efc8

Personally, I wouldn't bother with it unless it really bothers you or it breaks later on. Don't fix it if it isn't broken.

This overlooks the problem of non-conductive liquids loosening all of the little conductive substances and pieces of gunk that sit on the keyboard and transporting them to places they should not be in.
 
Apple genius bars might actually do it for me? That sounds too good to be true if it is free. Isn't it against the store policy? Thanks, everyone. I'll try to disassemble it myself, and let everyone know how it goes. I am also upgrading ram from 2GB to 4GB..

Yeah that does seem too good to be true... They might not do it for free because it was not under normal conditions... Your computer isn't still under AppleCare by any chance is it?
 
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