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THERE IS A SPIDER INSIDE MY PB!!!

TheMonarch

TheMonarch

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 6, 2005
1,467
1
Bay Area
I have a spider :eek: in my brand new 17" powerbook, its kinda big, about as big as... umm... the apple logo on the apple manu (can't find anything better to compare its size to). I saw it crawl out of the vents under the PB's screen while I was checking my email... As soon a I moved to grab someting to smash it with, back in it goes... Now, I'm not afraid of spiders, I'm more afraid of what might happen to my PB if it stays there.

So now the questions:

1: Do you think a spider can cause any damage to my PB? Will it short out my PB? Will it do anything at all?

2: Lets say it does do something horrible. Will that spider have taken all the warrenty/apple care down with it?

Silly/evil question: What if I render something so my PB gets really hot and the spider dies due to the heat? I'm taking about taking the spider down before it crawls somewhere and does some damage. Also will PB fans flush the spider out? I know its really mean, but its either the PB or the spider.

Help!
 
well.... spider poop is kinda caustic and if it's a kind that's always trailing a "safety line" then it'll eventually gum up the void spaces with cobwebs, ruining the cooling. Try a can of compressed inert gas through an opposite vent or aperture. Maybe you can fire the little bugger across the room. The other options are to either get the machine running hot enough to get it to abandon ship or to open the case, clean out any spider refuse and evict the little poop by force.
 
Well it'll probably lose a leg or something in there. What about that housefly that was the first "virus" for PC's? Lol. Apple menu aka on the screen big? That's not so big, smaller than a fingernail you're saying?

That's pretty nasty however. Hope you find a solution soon. I wouldn't suggest frying it in there, because then you wouldn't be able to get it out (may turn to goo?) But then, it wouldn't be feasable too to keep an eye on your powerbook waiting to see the spider's next move.

Meh. :confused:
 
FoxyKaye said:
I wonder if this is covered by AppleCare? :p
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Not unless it shipped with the spider pre-installed.

I once opened up a sealed iBook (Tangerine clamshel) to install some extra RAM for a customer only to find a neatly re-folded Wrigleys Spearmint Gum sleeve-and-foil in the RAM slot under the keyboard. It made me really glad I hadn't booted it yet.
 
mischief said:
Not unless it shipped with the spider pre-installed.

I once opened up a sealed iBook (Tangerine clamshel) to install some extra RAM for a customer only to find a neatly re-folded Wrigleys Spearmint Gum sleeve-and-foil in the RAM slot under the keyboard. It made me really glad I hadn't booted it yet.
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OMG! thats gotta be illegal, someone at apple is playing pranks! that surely would have fried the comp completely, and who would have believed it shipped with that in it?!
 
orijinal said:
I wouldn't suggest frying it in there, because then you wouldn't be able to get it out (may turn to goo?)
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Don't think it will turn to goo ;).
It'll just dry out and crisp up, which would make it more prone to losing bits. Trying to toast it might just push him/her further down the innards of your PB.
In the end it has to come out, or die inside.

Toast it and blow it out or open it up and track down the bug (erm, spider).
 
Hehe, that has to be one of the best subject lines ever. Normally I hate it when people type in all caps... but in your case, it was completely necessary. :D

What made it even funnier is when I read the part about how big the spider was, at first I thought you meant it was as big as the Apple logo on the back of the screen.

As far as what to do about the situation... I agree that cranking up the heat in the PowerBook might get that little bugger to crawl out (or cook him). Spiders like dark COOL places, not dark HOT places.
 
atari1356 said:
I agree that cranking up the heat in the PowerBook might get that little bugger to crawl out (or cook him). Spiders like dark COOL places, not dark HOT places.
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Yup. Endotherms are pretty reliable on that score. :D
 
atari1356 said:
As far as what to do about the situation... I agree that cranking up the heat in the PowerBook might get that little bugger to crawl out (or cook him). Spiders like dark COOL places, not dark HOT places.
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Stick your PB in the oven and bake at 400 deg F for 30 minutes. That'll take care of it.... ;)
 
Change your powerbooks power mode to "Better Performance" and lets do some serious rendering! :D The spider will be forced to get out, I doubt it would let itself die inside your powerbook with the temp exceeding 65º C (or 149 degrees fareinheight!). As a side note these are the temps my 15" powerbook hits (as recorded with temp monitor) when the fans start to run full blast. If 149 degrees doesn't scare the spiders, the fans running full blast should. :D
 
If you're at all comfortable opening the case, I would definitely go that route. Lay a big white sheet down so you can lay the parts out, keeping an eye for a moving black dot. Chances are good the spider won't do any damage at all, and will move out on it's own (or die and be blown out once dessicated) but why take the chance? Unless you're a bit clumsy in which case it's riskier to open the 'book. So, how confident are you? :)

(and for the record, i think the original "bug" was a moth, not a housefly :p)
 
Look-ALL life is sacred-no matter how small*
-even spiders. I bet that once it realizes there is no food to be had in there-s/he will move to greener pastures...Im sure the heat of running it will also drive it out. No need to kill.



* Arthur O'Connell to Edmund O'Brien, FANTASTIC VOYAGE
 
seashellz said:
Look-ALL life is sacred-no matter how small*
-even spiders. I bet that once it realizes there is no food to be had in there-s/he will move to greener pastures...Im sure the heat of running it will also drive it out. No need to kill.



* Arthur O'Connell to Edmund O'Brien, FANTASTIC VOYAGE
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Hey now! Most of us have been talking about forced eviction, sure but not killing the little guy..... :confused:
 
i opened an old PowerMac 8500 at Art School once to put in a new hard drive and it had cobwebs and what looked to be mouse/rat turds in it.

Of course, the 8500 was old and neglected but STILL.

Sheesh!

m
 
I don't suppose you have other bugs in there, so the spyder has no food. I If you're uncomfortable opening your computer (or have a warranty to care about), you should put a sheet of fly-paper outside each vent of the PB and leave it for a day or so, until it comes out... I think it's your best chance of getting the whole spyder out with the computer undamaged.
 
Linkjeniero said:
I don't suppose you have other bugs in there, so the spyder has no food. I If you're uncomfortable opening your computer (or have a warranty to care about), you should put a sheet of fly-paper outside each vent of the PB and leave it for a day or so, until it comes out... I think it's your best chance of getting the whole spyder out with the computer undamaged.
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According to many posts in this forum, there are a lot of bugs in his new PB running Panther.
 
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