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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: Naweo on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:18:39

Title: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Naweo on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:18:39
Hey guys, I spilled on my macbook air, some juice. I opened it up and I see stains everywhere. I tried to boot it once, it gets to the login screen, but the touchpad seems to not work.

Any steps I can do to try and make it work again?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: tp4tissue on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:23:12
If it's the version with the keyboard glued/ molded into the chassis,

You need a new chassis..
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Naweo on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:29:08
If it's the version with the keyboard glued/ molded into the chassis,

You need a new chassis..


Hey!

It is a 2013 or 2015 model. How do I check if it is glued?

Thanks
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: tp4tissue on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:41:33
Well.. at least the replacement part is only $150

Or you can follow this guide and do a 90% fix..


Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: romevi on Wed, 22 August 2018, 16:41:34
Install Gentoo.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: xtrafrood on Wed, 22 August 2018, 17:07:58
Install Gentoo.

Best plan :thumb:
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Leslieann on Wed, 22 August 2018, 17:54:01
If nothing got on the logic/mainboard, you're okay, however a spider peeing on it can kill a Mac mainboard (seriously) so you need to REALLY look it over carefully. Macs are TERRIBLE about fluid damage, just as they are terrible for repair, they're built like a cell phone, not a computer.

If you find water damage on the mainboard but it still runs you might be okay, but odds are it's damaged. Check in the areas you see damage and make sure no contacts are completely eaten away and clean that spot off with some alcohol then let it dry for a couple days or stick it in a VERY low temp over like a toaster oven after cleaning with alcohol. Since it comes on, chances are it's usable, but you may have taken out individual systems such as Thunderbolt. If it is serious though... More on that in a moment.

The keyboard is probably toast and they are glued in with industrial double sided tape and plastic rivets. Yes, you can replace it, but after watching a specialist do this, I would either buy a new chassis with keyboard in it or send it out to an expert, it's a nightmare to do properly from what I saw. The keyboads themselves are cheap, but a top with keyboard isn't too bad.Touchpads are similar to the keyboard, but easier to replace. Keyboards and touchpads will keep it from booting, so if the mainboard/logicboard is okay, you're ahead of the game. You can use anything from 2012- 2016 I think, so parts are easy to get.

My guess is you need at least a new keyboard and touchpad, you can do it yourself for probably $100 (my advice, buy a top/keyboard/touchpad combo so it all remains factory sealed). If it's more than that, just replace the whole computer in it's entirely. Seriously, the prices on logicboards are just silly and you can often replace the whole thing for the same price then sell off your old parts that still work (especially if it's an 11.6in model). If you do replace the logicboard, you need to find out the exact year as Apple used proprietary drive connectors and replaced them every couple years (thanks Apple!). If you do replace the whole thing you might be able to unplug the keyboard and touchpad then use a usb mouse and keyboard to get your data off, though my concern is that they tend to not boot at all if that is the problem. It getting part way in then failing is not the norm, but that could indicate only the touchpad is shorted.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: xtrafrood on Wed, 22 August 2018, 18:28:38
Phew. And I though the 2012 15" solder botch issue was (is) awful. s/OSX/FreeBSD/g

Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Leslieann on Thu, 23 August 2018, 00:03:42
Phew. And I though the 2012 15" solder botch issue was (is) awful. s/OSX/FreeBSD/g

If you like Apple, that is a bad channel to watch, or a good one, depending on how you look at it.
That said, Apple is far from the only terrible company to buy computers from.

From what I've gathered (not just from Louis), is that while people like to rag on the Air, it's historically one of the most reliable laptops you can get from Apple (by a HUGE margin in some cases) and you could even make a good argument that the Air is currently their best and only "Pro" offering.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 23 August 2018, 00:23:58
Phew. And I though the 2012 15" solder botch issue was (is) awful. s/OSX/FreeBSD/g

If you like Apple, that is a bad channel to watch, or a good one, depending on how you look at it.
That said, Apple is far from the only terrible company to buy computers from.

From what I've gathered (not just from Louis), is that while people like to rag on the Air, it's historically one of the most reliable laptops you can get from Apple (by a HUGE margin in some cases) and you could even make a good argument that the Air is currently their best and only "Pro" offering.

It may have to do with the Air being the lowest wattage, therefore lowest ware/tear due to thermal cycling..

Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Leslieann on Thu, 23 August 2018, 01:05:02
Phew. And I though the 2012 15" solder botch issue was (is) awful. s/OSX/FreeBSD/g

If you like Apple, that is a bad channel to watch, or a good one, depending on how you look at it.
That said, Apple is far from the only terrible company to buy computers from.

From what I've gathered (not just from Louis), is that while people like to rag on the Air, it's historically one of the most reliable laptops you can get from Apple (by a HUGE margin in some cases) and you could even make a good argument that the Air is currently their best and only "Pro" offering.

It may have to do with the Air being the lowest wattage, therefore lowest ware/tear due to thermal cycling..
It was a modern ultrabook, back in 2008. No gpu, soldered ram, soldered cpu, the drive was an ssd and the lcd was built into a stout aluminum housing, this meant Apple couldn't shop around for the lowest bidder on those parts but instead had to use good components supplied by their oem.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: fanpeople on Thu, 23 August 2018, 01:40:55
Have you tried turning it off and on again.... and then building a time machine to go back and warn past you not to spill juice on your macbook?

Worked for me.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 23 August 2018, 07:34:11
Have you tried turning it off and on again.... and then building a time machine to go back and warn past you not to spill juice on your macbook?

Worked for me.

Or use Lenovo T420,  it's probably the cheapest wurk-competant laptop on the market..

Only downside is it doesn't have a drop in IPS panel.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: fanpeople on Thu, 23 August 2018, 07:35:22
Have you tried turning it off and on again.... and then building a time machine to go back and warn past you not to spill juice on your macbook?

Worked for me.

Or use Lenovo T420,  it's probably the cheapest wurk-competant laptop on the market..

Only downside is it doesn't have a drop in IPS panel.


Or not even use a laptop.... juice cant hurt a printing press.
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: Blaise170 on Thu, 23 August 2018, 10:39:38
I don't know, I've dropped my 2017 MBP a few times and other than some dents it still works fine. That said, I'm starting to get the keyboard problem that plagues these so I'll have to get that fixed at some point. Fortunately, I didn't pay for it and I'm pretty sure my employer has Apple Care so it should be free for me.  ;D
Title: Re: Water spill on laptop, repair?
Post by: tp4tissue on Thu, 23 August 2018, 11:43:50
I don't know, I've dropped my 2017 MBP a few times and other than some dents it still works fine. That said, I'm starting to get the keyboard problem that plagues these so I'll have to get that fixed at some point. Fortunately, I didn't pay for it and I'm pretty sure my employer has Apple Care so it should be free for me.  ;D

That's not a Macbook pro,  that's the latest in digital enslavement-mindcontrol Devicer. !!