water spill and charging issues

[jmgm]

So a couple weeks ago I spilled about a cup of water on my Macbook Air and it instantly shut itself down. I thought it was probably a goner, but I gave it a week to dry out and then tried turning it on. Amazingly, it started up as usual and everything was just as I had left it and seemed to be functioning fine! I thought it was too good to be true! It was. I noticed that when I plugged in the power cord the light didn't come on, but the charge icon showed that it was plugged in. But when I would unplug it I would see that it hadn't actually gained any charge when plugged in. And the amount of charge when unplugged was slowly decreasing. (So it was holding the charge it had when plugged in but not gaining any?) I used it this way for a few days, and then I did a REALLY STUPID THING which was that I closed it and left it unplugged overnight. Now when I try to turn it on it shows the black screen with white battery symbol and a lightning bolt under it. It knows it's plugged in (the icon changes to the plug-me-in symbol when I unplug it) but it does not seem to be charging.



So, what do you think? I assumed it was just the battery but it seems others' similar problems have been the logic board. I live far from any Apple Stores/apple repairing stores, and it looks like it will cost money just to call Apple for support. If I can figure out it's the battery I might mail it in for repair, but if it's the logic board I might be better off just buying a new computer.



Any advice much appreciated!!

 

[_Kiki_]

because of liquid damage, repair in Apple Store will be very expensive

what's your MacBook Air spec ?

 

[Audit13]

Disconnect the laptop from the charger, remove the bottom panel using a 1.2 pentalobe screw driver, disconnect the battery, place the panel back on the Macbook but don't replace the screws, connect the charger, wait a few minutes and, hopefully, the Macbook will power itself on.

If it powers on by itself and the magsafe led turns green, it's probably the battery which can be ordered online.

 

[ZapNZs]

IMO, buying a new computer is the way to go unless you have AppleCare+. If you spilled a cup of water on it, the logic board almost certainly got wet, and multiple components are probably damaged.

What year and specs does your system have? (If this is a base model or an older model, IMO it is definitely not worth putting money into because liquid-damaged electronics are almost never as reliable/predictable as those without such damage - consequently, the money for a new battery is probably best put towards a new system.)

Have you inspected the logic board and Magsafe board for corrosion?

Do you have AppleCare+? - this covers liquid damage (with a deductible that you pay.)

 

[old-wiz]

If you don't have apple care, repairs could run to around $ 600 us. probably not worth a repair especially if not nearly new.

 

[Audit13]

Depending on the configuration, it may be worth it to have it examined by a repair shop that can perform board level repairs.

 

[Mosaic63]

So a couple weeks ago I spilled about a cup of water on my Macbook Air and it instantly shut itself down. I thought it was probably a goner, but I gave it a week to dry out and then tried turning it on. Amazingly, it started up as usual and everything was just as I had left it and seemed to be functioning fine! I thought it was too good to be true! It was. I noticed that when I plugged in the power cord the light didn't come on, but the charge icon showed that it was plugged in. But when I would unplug it I would see that it hadn't actually gained any charge when plugged in. And the amount of charge when unplugged was slowly decreasing. (So it was holding the charge it had when plugged in but not gaining any?) I used it this way for a few days, and then I did a REALLY STUPID THING which was that I closed it and left it unplugged overnight. Now when I try to turn it on it shows the black screen with white battery symbol and a lightning bolt under it. It knows it's plugged in (the icon changes to the plug-me-in symbol when I unplug it) but it does not seem to be charging.



So, what do you think? I assumed it was just the battery but it seems others' similar problems have been the logic board. I live far from any Apple Stores/apple repairing stores, and it looks like it will cost money just to call Apple for support. If I can figure out it's the battery I might mail it in for repair, but if it's the logic board I might be better off just buying a new computer.



Any advice much appreciated!!

So a couple weeks ago I spilled about a cup of water on my Macbook Air and it instantly shut itself down. I thought it was probably a goner, but I gave it a week to dry out and then tried turning it on. Amazingly, it started up as usual and everything was just as I had left it and seemed to be functioning fine! I thought it was too good to be true! It was. I noticed that when I plugged in the power cord the light didn't come on, but the charge icon showed that it was plugged in. But when I would unplug it I would see that it hadn't actually gained any charge when plugged in. And the amount of charge when unplugged was slowly decreasing. (So it was holding the charge it had when plugged in but not gaining any?) I used it this way for a few days, and then I did a REALLY STUPID THING which was that I closed it and left it unplugged overnight. Now when I try to turn it on it shows the black screen with white battery symbol and a lightning bolt under it. It knows it's plugged in (the icon changes to the plug-me-in symbol when I unplug it) but it does not seem to be charging.



So, what do you think? I assumed it was just the battery but it seems others' similar problems have been the logic board. I live far from any Apple Stores/apple repairing stores, and it looks like it will cost money just to call Apple for support. If I can figure out it's the battery I might mail it in for repair, but if it's the logic board I might be better off just buying a new computer.



Any advice much appreciated!!

Did you ever get your MacBook Air to work? I have just the same exact problem you are having from a slight water spill.