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Take apart MacBook Pro to try to cure water damage?

B

bruxmiller

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
3
0
Embarrassing story: I drunkenly spill wine on my brand new 15" MacBook Pro and get convinced by my (also drunk) girlfriend to submerge the entire thing in plain white rice in order to magically suck the moisture out.
The thing won't charge or power on three days of "drying" later. I came across one guy's post that completely taking the laptop apart (guided by an intricate YouTube video) and cleaning the internal components with a special alcohol would solve this nightmare for me. My question: Is this just another horrible idea? Should I fess up to Apple (who I have ProCare with) or see what an independent repair guy says? Any advice would be very much appreciated.
 
You could try it, the worst that can happen is that it still doesn't work. Apple doesn't cover liquid damage.
 
Niiro13 said:
It's gonna cost you $1240 to fix it at an Apple store if it was non-accidental damage :/
Click to expand...

Good thing it was accidental then! :D

Though I'm pretty sure Apple doesn't cover accidental damage either. ;)

OP, in my humble opinion liquid damage by red wine would be too obvious to be "covered up".

And unfortunately, I think cleaning has a low chance of success as electrical components could have short-circuited and cleaning isn't gonna fix that.
 
LedCop said:
OP, in my humble opinion liquid damage by red wine would be too obvious to be "covered up".
Click to expand...

OP, I think the best you could hope for is to remove the residue from the wine, and restore the machine to a working order. If you take it apart, clean it, and it still doesn't work, then you haven't lost anything.
 
r.j.s said:
OP, I think the best you could hope for is to remove the residue from the wine, and restore the machine to a working order. If you take it apart, clean it, and it still doesn't work, then you haven't lost anything.
Click to expand...

Agreed. No apple store is gonna fix this unless you pay the cost to buy a new macbook or something.

If I were in your shoes, I would definitely take it apart and try to clean it the best you can.

You've got nothing to lose at this point. And you might learn something new in taking it apart as well.
 
Please Help...spilled Juice All Over My Friends Macbook Pro

Okay so i accidentally knocked into my friends desk that had juice sitting next to her macbook pro. I immediately flipped it over and unplugged it and wiped it down. I dont think a lot of the juice actually got into the keyboard but when we tried to turn it on only the white light in the front was on and the battery indicator on the bottom was on....the screen wouldnt turn on. It made some noises...CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THE COMPUTER HAS ANY HOPE AT STAYING ALIVE...IM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW.
 
bmlgirl1991 said:
Okay so i accidentally knocked into my friends desk that had juice sitting next to her macbook pro. I immediately flipped it over and unplugged it and wiped it down. I dont think a lot of the juice actually got into the keyboard but when we tried to turn it on only the white light in the front was on and the battery indicator on the bottom was on....the screen wouldnt turn on. It made some noises...CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THE COMPUTER HAS ANY HOPE AT STAYING ALIVE...IM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately turning it on is just about the worst thing you could have done. Turn it off, leave it off, open it up, clean out any residue, and leave it to dry with rice for 3 days or more.
 
bmlgirl1991 said:
Okay so i accidentally knocked into my friends desk that had juice sitting next to her macbook pro. I immediately flipped it over and unplugged it and wiped it down. I dont think a lot of the juice actually got into the keyboard but when we tried to turn it on only the white light in the front was on and the battery indicator on the bottom was on....the screen wouldnt turn on. It made some noises...CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THE COMPUTER HAS ANY HOPE AT STAYING ALIVE...IM FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW.
Click to expand...

It would have some hope if it was just water, but unfortunately the sugars in wine/juice tend to like aiding in the corrosion cycle of the sensitive parts on the logic board. Sorry :rolleyes: If it does work ,it will only be sporadically and until the connectors fully go bad.
 
Wait it out

I had a similar incident with my MacBook Pro 2 years ago. Took it to the Apple store and they said it needed a new logic board, the price of which came within $300 of a new MBP. I decided to just buy a new MBP with the hope of scavenging the busted one for parts.

Four months later the old one started working. I went to pull out the disk and to my surprise it powered up after pressing the button. Prior to that it would just make the slightest noise when attempting to power up.

Good luck

bruxmiller said:
Embarrassing story: I drunkenly spill wine on my brand new 15" MacBook Pro and get convinced by my (also drunk) girlfriend to submerge the entire thing in plain white rice in order to magically suck the moisture out.
The thing won't charge or power on three days of "drying" later. I came across one guy's post that completely taking the laptop apart (guided by an intricate YouTube video) and cleaning the internal components with a special alcohol would solve this nightmare for me. My question: Is this just another horrible idea? Should I fess up to Apple (who I have ProCare with) or see what an independent repair guy says? Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Moral of the story -

Do not put liquid near your computer.

Getting drunk is bad enough (I should know, I've done it many times) but spilling liquid on your machine is priceless.
 
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