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Spilling coffee on Macbook

N

Nobita

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
425
2
La la land
Hi everyone,

This morning I just spilled a tiny bit of coffee on the tip of my trackpad, nearby the magnetic latch. It's not that much, it really is just a little bit and I wipe it off immediately.

My question is would it affect the performance of my macbook? I've never done this before to my Mac and I really feel sorry for it... I have the aluminum 2.0Ghz Macbook by the way.

P.S. Now (15 minutes after the spill), the trackpad still works alright.
 
Caffeine is best known for its stimulant, or "wake-up," effect. Once a person consumes caffeine, it is readily absorbed by the body and carried around in the bloodstream, where its level peaks about one hour after consumption. Caffeine mildly stimulates the nervous and cardiovascular systems. It affects the brain and results in elevated mood, decreased fatigue, and increased attentiveness, so a person can think more clearly and work harder. It also increases the heart rate, blood flow, respiratory rate, and metabolic rate for several hours. When taken before bedtime, caffeine can interfere with getting to sleep or staying asleep.

Exactly how caffeine will affect an individual, and for how long, depends on many factors, including the amount of caffeine ingested, whether one is male or female, one's height and weight, one's age, and whether one is pregnant or smokes. Caffeine is converted by the liver into substances that are excreted in the urine.

Some people are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than others. With frequent use, tolerance to many of the effects of caffeine will develop. At doses of 600 milligrams (about six cups of coffee) or more daily, caffeine can cause nervousness, sweating, tenseness, upset stomach, anxiety, and insomnia. It can also prevent clear thinking and increase the side effects of certain medications. This level of caffeine intake represents a significant health risk.

Caffeine can be mildly addictive. Even when moderate amounts of caffeine are withdrawn for 18 to 24 hours, one may feel symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability, depression, and poor concentration. The symptoms peak within 24 to 48 hours and progressively decrease over the course of a week. To minimize withdrawal symptoms, experts recommend reducing caffeine intake gradually.
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source
 
i can't count the number of times i've done this.. i don't advise you to do as i do but as long as you clean it right off and don't let it drip inside you'll be fine.
 
People have done way worse and still had perfectly working Macbook. You'll be fine.
 
Wow, I cannot believe lately the number of posts from people that have spilled liquids on their Macbooks. Are you guys holding the drink right over the computer or something? Bad idea. I always push my Macbook away when I take a sip of my coffee.

Anyways it doesn't sound like it was serious, I would just wait rather than doing anything about it.
 
Nobita said:
This morning I just spilled a tiny bit of coffee on the tip of my trackpad, nearby the magnetic latch. It's not that much, it really is just a little bit and I wipe it off immediately.
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Consider yourself lucky and that this is a wakeup call.

First, implement a backup plan for your important data. Some of us clone our hard drives at regular intervals -- in my case weekly -- using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or SuperDuper (SD). Gives you peace of mind in case something catastrophic happens to your computer/hard drive.

Second, I suggest that you do not keep any liquids near your computer. Accidents do happen. It only takes one mistake and your computer could be toast. Recommend that you keep any liquid on a different table and not the same table that your computer is on. Personally, I only have bottled water near any computer and the cap is always on except when I am taking a sip of water. Over the years I've known numerous individuals who fried their computer due to liquid spills.
 
I know I was wrong. I always read news, schedules, and papers that I need to read on my macbook while having my breakfast. I'd be more careful next time and try to read in bigger fonts.

The coffee is actually spilled on the edge of the trackpad where there is some opening inside... would this really matter? If one day my mac broke, would apple care take care of that? Can they detect this spillage?

For those people who were more concerned about my coffee, it wasn't starbucks and it wasn't decaf. I brew my own coffee because that saves me a lot of money.
 
Nobita said:
The coffee is actually spilled on the edge of the trackpad where there is some opening inside... would this really matter? If one day my mac broke, would apple care take care of that? Can they detect this spillage?
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It's pretty easy for a tech to see if there has been spillage inside a computer or keyboard.

Just imagine if you had spilled the whole cup. :eek:

But if you are like most of us, your lifestyle will stay the same until you actually damage a computer and it is an expensive fix, if you are lucky. :)
 
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