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spilled whiskey on keyboard...

D

dtbadsjw

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 18, 2011
17
0
I spilled some whiskey on the keyboard.......I turned it upside down and wiped right away. There wasn't much to begin with but I'm assuming some must have gotten inside. Everything seems/works fine except one key felt little 'softer' but that went away after a while. However, when I slid an edge of paper tower under spacebar to make sure there is no moisture left inside, power-off window poped up and the computer turned off itself. It didn't turn back on for a while (-10secs) then turned back on. Now the power-off window pops up every 10 secs or so.
Anyone know what I should do about this? What's under spacebar that could cause this malfunction?
I just bought this computer a month ago.....Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you guys.
 
dtbadsjw said:
What's under spacebar that could cause this malfunction?
Click to expand...

My guess is whiskey.

I just bought this computer a month ago.....Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Don't drink and type? :confused:

Seriously, whiskey doesn't have any sugar, so it won't dry sticky - the best thing is to just leave it powered off, don't move it, and let it dry out. Leave the lid open in the meantime.
 
On a not-so-serious note, it may be all well and good this happened before you got to Facebook or reply to emails.... Hope it dries out and everything is ok. The fact that it does turn on is encouraging.
 
jackrv said:
On a not-so-serious note, it may be all well and good this happened before you got to Facebook or reply to emails.... Hope it dries out and everything is ok. The fact that it does turn on is encouraging.
Click to expand...

reading this all i can say is same as above, leave turned off till dried out and cross fingers... good luck mate..

secondly this is one very good reason not to buy second hand, you see them for sale "only a month old" etc, hmmm yea i was watching one on ebay thats 5 weeks old, but i think the insurance of brand new is worth it..

again good luck n i hope its ok
 
Consider yourself lucky that it is just giving you those errors for now. I had a similar incident involving a glass of wine with my 2010 MacBook Air. It shorted the logic board, and it would have been a $755 repair had Apple not waived the charges. They replaced the logic board, keyboard, and a few other connectors.

Let it dry out over the next few days and see if it goes back to normal. If not, take it to a Genius Bar for a repair (perhaps they will need to replace the keyboard. The inside has several liquid sensors, so just be upfront and see what they'll do for you.

The moral of the story is that Macs don't like alcoholic beverages (or any other beverages) the way humans do. With my 2011, I took out a personal articles policy with my insurance company for $33/year (it covers accidental damage with a $250 deductible), as I don't expect any more repair waivers from Apple. I also purchased a Rearth keyboard cover for use when I know I'll be in tight quarters or using the MacBook Air with liquids nearby (e.g. on an airplane).
 
If it only has been couple of min, stop using it, take off the Magsafe, flip it upside down and leave for about a week.

It changes a lot of things.

But if it has been couple of hours, its too late.
 
If you had to choose something to spill on a laptop, any type of alcohol would be the best thing. :rolleyes:. Good choice!


Preview
 
Last edited:
Better whiskey than water, it will evaporate faster, and less chance of causing a short on the circuit board.
 
coffee over keyboard

was the final test of the <not named radar> system computer & keyboard. It cost a few million more than an MBA tho, but it did pass.
Liquids - in theory - aren't so bad for a computer, as the logic board is washed in water during pick and place manufacture. The problem is conductive liquid over a system whilst even low voltage present, this does give current leakage over all sorts of unwanted paths and can start electrolytic corrosion.
I have successfully used an antique Leybold-Heraeus vacuum oven to warm devices up to +40degC whilst pumping slowly down and quickly recovered costly smartphones etcetera.

rules are get power off ASAP
then dry slowly.....
 
If your Whiskey is single-malt, I will give you a hand.

Seriously, let it dry out. Whiskey isn't 100% alochol - still plenty of water in there, and that's what murders electronics.

I'd say to pull the battery... but... not so easy. However, if it were mine, I would. Odds are good you tripped the water indicators, so your warranty is probably void from that alone. Removing power, and allowing things to dry BEFORE restoring it - is the only way to get this out alive.

Edit: 40C shouldn't hurt the battery. Now I'm sure there are batters that could fail - but considering how hot these get while operating - and most batteries having a vent / thermal fuse limit around 120-125F, 104F shouldn't be a big problem.
 
KPOM said:
Consider yourself lucky that it is just giving you those errors for now. I had a similar incident involving a glass of wine with my 2010 MacBook Air. It shorted the logic board, and it would have been a $755 repair had Apple not waived the charges. They replaced the logic board, keyboard, and a few other connectors.
Click to expand...

Going randomly off topic, it kills me that Apple can give such quotes. $755 to replace a motherboard? Argh.
 
KPOM said:
Consider yourself lucky that it is just giving you those errors for now. I had a similar incident involving a glass of wine with my 2010 MacBook Air. It shorted the logic board, and it would have been a $755 repair had Apple not waived the charges. They replaced the logic board, keyboard, and a few other connectors.

Let it dry out over the next few days and see if it goes back to normal. If not, take it to a Genius Bar for a repair (perhaps they will need to replace the keyboard. The inside has several liquid sensors, so just be upfront and see what they'll do for you.

The moral of the story is that Macs don't like alcoholic beverages (or any other beverages) the way humans do. With my 2011, I took out a personal articles policy with my insurance company for $33/year (it covers accidental damage with a $250 deductible), as I don't expect any more repair waivers from Apple. I also purchased a Rearth keyboard cover for use when I know I'll be in tight quarters or using the MacBook Air with liquids nearby (e.g. on an airplane).
Click to expand...

pray tell, how did you get them to waive off the charges?
 
fade- said:
pray tell, how did you get them to waive off the charges?
Click to expand...

By not expecting or asking for it. I set up an appointment at the Genius Bar, and was upfront that all I wanted was an estimate for a repair since I had spilled liquid on it. He said he'd ship it out, but then he asked me how old it was (4 months at the time), and then to my surprise he said he'd make a one-time exception and fix it.


richpjr said:
I'd just toss it and buy a new one if I had to pay that amount.
Click to expand...


As it turns out, this happened a few days before the new Air came out, and I was upfront that I'd likely just buy a new model if the repair were not economical. Since I don't expect any more "one-time" exceptions, I purchased a personal articles policy from my homeowner's insurer to protect my 2011. It came out to $33/year with a $250 deductible.
 
So here's the follow up.
After a while, my computer shut down itself and wouldn't start again.
I left it overnight with the lid opened.
It still didn't work the following morning so I took it to the apple store.
I thought about insisting it just stopped working. Considering my machine's only a month old, I thought they might just replace it.
But I decided to just tell it as it is.
Turns out, they needed to replace the logic board, and it was gonna cost $600 in total.
But genius bar guy offered to make an exception and waive the charge.
So yeah...I got lucky.
 
dtbadsjw said:
So here's the follow up.
After a while, my computer shut down itself and wouldn't start again.
I left it overnight with the lid opened.
It still didn't work the following morning so I took it to the apple store.
I thought about insisting it just stopped working. Considering my machine's only a month old, I thought they might just replace it.
But I decided to just tell it as it is.
Turns out, they needed to replace the logic board, and it was gonna cost $600 in total.
But genius bar guy offered to make an exception and waive the charge.
So yeah...I got lucky.
Click to expand...

Good! Honesty does pay off...

You might consider a keyboard cover like Moshi next time. I had a previous gen MBA that my wife accidentally sprayed tonic water on. I got lucky as I let it dry before trying to turn it on. It worked but the key springs became a bit "sticky". I'm not taking any chances with my new MBA so I installed a Moshi keyboard membrane...
 
dtbadsjw said:
I spilled some whiskey on the keyboard.......
Click to expand...

Replacing the keyboard worked for a colleague with a white macbook. Apple asked ~650, keyboard replacement cost was ~150. I haven't seen the inside of a macbook air but maybe there is a replaceable layer between the logic board and your fingers.
G.
 
dborja said:
Good! Honesty does pay off...

You might consider a keyboard cover like Moshi next time. I had a previous gen MBA that my wife accidentally sprayed tonic water on. I got lucky as I let it dry before trying to turn it on. It worked but the key springs became a bit "sticky". I'm not taking any chances with my new MBA so I installed a Moshi keyboard membrane...
Click to expand...

I am actually considering a keyboard cover.
How's the heat dissipation?
 
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