Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Spilled water on computer!

M

mecolema

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 2, 2012
32
0
Yesterday, I spilled water on my brand new Macbook Pro. I gave it 24 hours to dry, and followed all the usual instructions, and it seems to be working okay. HOWEVER, the battery will not charge. The orange light doesn't even appear on the adapter.

What is the best solution for this? Should I just take it to Apple (given my warranty is voided)? Should I send it to some third-party company?
 
Last edited:
We will not help you to defraud Apple and MBPs also contain liquid sensors, thus they will see the liquid damage anyway.

If your Mac does not charge the battery, you can bring it to Apple and let them analyse the problem, and then either pay for their repair options or do the task yourself.
 
mecolema said:
Yesterday, I spilled water on my brand new Macbook Pro. I gave it 24 hours to dry, and followed all the usual instructions, and it seems to be working okay. HOWEVER, the battery will not charge. The orange light doesn't even appear on the adapter.

What is the best solution for this? I could (unethically) tell Apple the computer was just faulty, since it's only a week old. If I tell them there's a spill, won't it cost several hundred dollars to do replacements (e.g., of the logic board)?

I'm not really sure what to do here. Should I just take it to Apple? Should I send it to some third-party company?
Click to expand...

There's water sensors inside that'll tell them it's been in contact with liquid, even if it is totally dry (which it won't be after 24 hours).

Basically, you're screwed.
 
They will know, even if you lie to them. The evidence of liquid damage is pretty clear once they open the system up and take a look, especially if there's enough damage to stop the system from charging. That's indicative of a short of some type due to the liquid.

When they realize that you lied to them, it will only make things worse, and any chance that you may have had that they would take pity on you will be right out the window at that point.

Also, 24 hours is not nearly enough time for it to dry.

Tell the truth, and then cross your fingers and hope they'll fix it one time for free, but be prepared to pay out the wazoo to get it fixed.
 
Will it help to leave it drying for a few more days? Or is there no point now that I've turned it on?
 
Turning it off won't do it alone. You'd also have to disconnect the battery.

That will lower the risk of anymore damage being done, but not completely prevent it, and won't undo any damage already done.
 
Ouch…I hope your new computr get fixed somehow…I hate to see so many bad news about liquid spilled on new rMBP and MBP everyday. I hope it will not happen to my rMBP because I don't plan to drink near my rMBP! :apple:
 
mecolema said:
Yesterday, I spilled water on my brand new Macbook Pro. I gave it 24 hours to dry, and followed all the usual instructions, and it seems to be working okay. HOWEVER, the battery will not charge. The orange light doesn't even appear on the adapter.

What is the best solution for this? Should I just take it to Apple (given my warranty is voided)? Should I send it to some third-party company?
Click to expand...

Do you have home insurance coverage? That may help. Agree with others you best bet is to tell the truth.
 
Just tell the truth.
I've had "sympathy repairs" done on my Macs a few times now all because I didn't ******** my way out of it.
 
Call apple and tell them the truth. you spilled water on your mac by mistake, it still works, but now the battery doesn't charge. tell them you'll buy applecare+ in return of them fixing it.

Apple has awesome customer support.

mecolema said:
Yesterday, I spilled water on my brand new Macbook Pro. I gave it 24 hours to dry, and followed all the usual instructions, and it seems to be working okay. HOWEVER, the battery will not charge. The orange light doesn't even appear on the adapter.

What is the best solution for this? Should I just take it to Apple (given my warranty is voided)? Should I send it to some third-party company?
Click to expand...


----------

That voids your warranty just so you know. The only replaceable parts are the RAM and HDD for classic MBP. Retina has no replaceable parts.

duervo said:
Turning it off won't do it alone. You'd also have to disconnect the battery.

That will lower the risk of anymore damage being done, but not completely prevent it, and won't undo any damage already done.
Click to expand...
 
pragmatous said:
That voids your warranty just so you know. The only replaceable parts are the RAM and HDD for classic MBP. Retina has no replaceable parts.
Click to expand...

In the case of water being spilled onto the system, the warranty is already void. Can't get much more "voided" than it already is, even if what you say is true.
 
UPDATE:

So I went to the Apple store today, and they wouldn't even look at my computer! They told me they would have to send it away, at a cost of $750, regardless of what was wrong with it.

I have no idea what to do at this point. Any third-party recommendations? Honestly, I was just hoping Apple would open up the computer and diagnose it, but they didn't even do that... :(
 
For $750 just to diagnose? I'd have to tell them to pound sand. Perhaps Best Buy or a local computer store? Hard to say if any of them have any Mac experience or if they're any good at it. There are also authorized Apple repair locations and you can search online for the one nearest you. Maybe they can diagnose with no guarantee of success since it was water intrusion, but the cost should be something reasonable and related to the time needed to diagnose/troubleshoot, not some made-up ridiculous minimum amount like they quoted you.

If that $750 is your only option, go buy a refurbished cMPB or get a MBA refurbished and chalk it up to a terrible learning experience.
 
mecolema said:
UPDATE:

So I went to the Apple store today, and they wouldn't even look at my computer! They told me they would have to send it away, at a cost of $750, regardless of what was wrong with it.

I have no idea what to do at this point. Any third-party recommendations? Honestly, I was just hoping Apple would open up the computer and diagnose it, but they didn't even do that... :(
Click to expand...

It sounds to me like you believe that it's possible that it can be a quick $10 fix to get your system working again. I seriously doubt it will be that cheap.

There is an hourly labor charge (usually minimum of 1hr, and lots of places increment in chunks of 30 min), as well as the cost of parts to consider with this. IMO, a flat rate fee of $750 to fix, which includes diagnosis and repair to like-new condition, is not a bad deal at all, and is still a lot cheaper than having to buy a new laptop.

SMDBill said:
For $750 just to diagnose? I'd have to tell them to pound sand.
Click to expand...

That fee includes repair, "regardless of what's wrong with it." Considering it's a liquid spill, with enough liquid involved to cause some sort of electrical short, they're probably looking at having the logic board replaced, plus more. $750 to get that done is not unreasonable, and the system will come back like new, with warranty intact.
 
A flat rate of $750 does not sound that bad, someone comment about a website called liquid spill or something like that, so there may be other options too.
 
Yeah, LiquidSpill charges $480 and includes a 1-year warranty; Mac Genuises Repair charges $299 plus parts (they say usually $400 total).
 
Okay, final question. (Thanks for your help, everyone!)

Should I go with LiquidSpill and pay $480, or should I get it diagnosed locally in the hope that it won't be the logic board? The advantage of LiquidSpill is that they give a new 1-year warranty.
 
mecolema said:
Okay, final question. (Thanks for your help, everyone!)

Should I go with LiquidSpill and pay $480, or should I get it diagnosed locally in the hope that it won't be the logic board? The advantage of LiquidSpill is that they give a new 1-year warranty.
Click to expand...

Given those two choices, I would go with LiquidSpill.
 
Ya but Apple is more likely to help you if you just call them instead of tinkering further.

duervo said:
In the case of water being spilled onto the system, the warranty is already void. Can't get much more "voided" than it already is, even if what you say is true.
Click to expand...


----------

Meh try calling apple. It really depends on who you get.

mecolema said:
UPDATE:

So I went to the Apple store today, and they wouldn't even look at my computer! They told me they would have to send it away, at a cost of $750, regardless of what was wrong with it.

I have no idea what to do at this point. Any third-party recommendations? Honestly, I was just hoping Apple would open up the computer and diagnose it, but they didn't even do that... :(
Click to expand...
 
mecolema said:
Yesterday, I spilled water on my brand new Macbook Pro. I gave it 24 hours to dry, and followed all the usual instructions, and it seems to be working okay. HOWEVER, the battery will not charge. The orange light doesn't even appear on the adapter.

What is the best solution for this? Should I just take it to Apple (given my warranty is voided)? Should I send it to some third-party company?
Click to expand...
I, unlike others I don't think your trying to pull a fast one, but the warranty is Void, however if you have home owners or renters insurance it usually covers stuff like this. I actually have extra computer insurance just because of the price of all my apple computers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audit13
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back