GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
#252712 - 04/24/11 03:46 AM
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It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried right away to power it on and no response.
She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to turn it on again and still no response.
Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and give it several days to completely dry out.
Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
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| Moose |
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Don't make me assume my ultimate form!
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252713 - 04/24/11 04:04 AM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
>
> She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to
> turn it on again and still no response.
>
> Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
>
> Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and
> give it several days to completely dry out.
>
> Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
My advice is to take it to a service center for advice / repairs.
Laptops can be bitches to pull apart and put together again.
Spilling anything in modern electronics devices, with their traces and contacts so close together, tends to be a very bad thing to do. Even the slightest residue can short contacts, cause very strange / intermittent behaviour, etc.
In addition, there are a lot of components inside that will not like getting wet. The drive mechanisms, the fans, the power supply, etc. If it has a spinning harddrive (rather than solid state), then any liquid leaking in through the vents, etc will destroy the drive.
If you want to have a crack at fixing the laptop yourself, pull it apart, see where the coffee went, see if you can clean the coffee out very gently (some sort of alcohol - e.g. clear metho, and cotton buds are probably best). Go slow, be thorough, and remember where the hell everything goes again, cause they can be sods to reassemble.
If coffee has gone inside the power supply or drive mechanisms, replace them.
Otherwise, who knows, if it wasn't too much coffee, it you got lucky and nothing has shorted or been damaged so far, you might be able to get it working again without replacing too much.
Needless to say: in the future keep all liquids, (and dust, fine powders, etc for that matter), etc away from sensitive electronic devices. 
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Moose
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252714 - 04/24/11 04:18 AM
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It being on at the time and trying to power it on immediately are the 2 fails. Otherwise if you opened it up and cleaned it all with 99% alcohol then I don't see it dying. It's possible it's just shorting out and if you open it up and clean it perfectly it will work again. I wouldn't wait for it to dry or whatever. If it was water then maybe it would all evaporate but coffee might leave a gunk residue that could carry electricity for a long time. Plus if she used creamer it's going to smell like a butthole.
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252715 - 04/24/11 04:19 AM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
>
> Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
>
> Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and
> give it several days to completely dry out.
>
> Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
Worst you can do after spilling liquids on electronics is to try power them on. Next time it happens anything like that, remove battery and AC power cord ASAP. For water, waiting several days is usually enough. But for sticky substances when dried is best to disassemble and clean it. I would had suggested submerge motherboard on isopropyl alcohol (it mixes with water and evaporates quickly) and hope it turns on fine when re-assembled. I think it's too late for that.
I suggest selling it honestly on Ebay as replacement parts (maybe LCD screen still works?) or risk yourselves repairing cost as much as buying a new one.
EDIT:
> She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to
> turn it on again and still no response.
So basically did she make sure to spread liquid everywhere inside instead of only the bottom edges and make a big short circuit? Unfortunately I can't think of any other way it could get any worse save using a sledgehammer. :/
Edited by BIOS-D (04/24/11 05:34 AM)
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| redk9258 |
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Regular
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252719 - 04/24/11 04:38 AM
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Maybe your homeowners insurance will cover that. If you bought it with a credit card you may also be protected.
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| Fever |
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Reformed Sk3n3 Quitter
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252824 - 04/25/11 07:07 PM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
>
> She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to
> turn it on again and still no response.
>
> Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
>
> Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and
> give it several days to completely dry out.
>
> Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
I'd give taking it apart a go, I take lappy apart all the time at work, you get used to it after a while
Look for disassembly instructions on-line, if Mac don't release them themselves then there's bound to be a YouTube vid or something
NB - taking it apart could invalidate you warranty but then spilling coffee on the thing has probably invalidated it already - check the terms - did you pay extra for accidental cover?
If it was a PC I'd say that worse case, provided the coffee wasn't in the vicinity of the HD, you could at least yank that out, stick it on an external caddy and take off any files you want to keep, never tried that with a MAC though, obviously the file system is different to PCs so you'd a least need another MAC to plug it into - were there any precious files on it?
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| Foxhack |
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Furry guy
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252838 - 04/25/11 09:09 PM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
>
> She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to
> turn it on again and still no response.
>
> Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
>
> Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and
> give it several days to completely dry out.
>
> Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
Take it to an Apple store. If anything they'll be able to rescue the hard drive.
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: Foxhack]
#252842 - 04/25/11 09:32 PM
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When the same has happened to me, my macbook was simply ready for the bin (exact words used by the guy at Apple Store). Dead HD too.
If the macbook is recent, they also added some green stuff that melts down when liquids enter, so that they can refuse to apply warranty as user-caused damage (just in case you wanted to try some lie to get free assistence  )
good luck, but be prepared for the worst scenario...
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Stop drinking coffee.....
[Re: GatKong]
#252862 - 04/25/11 10:56 PM
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Just as seriously....there is a spray cleaner for electronics, that evaporates. (Good for huffing, too.)
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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| GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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First: Never go to Geek Squad!
[Re: Foxhack]
#252899 - 04/26/11 05:37 AM
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We went to Geek Squad where we bought it... first thing the bozo did was try to turn it on. Gatinha trying this is forgivable, she's not a computer repair professional. Geek Squad, not so much. I specifically said we dumped coffee on it and it won't work, and I watched his finger go right to pressing the "ON" button.
"I thought you weren't supposed to power-on wet electronics"
"Yeah, probably not, sorry."
"Can I have the laptop back please."
Now I see why Apple doesn't authorize Geek Squad to repair Apple stuff. Ok, so after calling Apple, they directed me to an AUTHORIZED repair center...
>Take it to an Apple store. If anything they'll be able to rescue the hard drive.
That's exactly where it stands... recovering the data from the paper weight's hard drive... if possible, we'll know tomorrow.
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| Hizzout |
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70's baby, early 80's child
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Re: First: Never go to Geek Squad!
[Re: GatKong]
#252952 - 04/26/11 03:06 PM
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Geek Squad "techs" are more salesmen than any other staff in the store. They're more interested in the upsell than really fixing your problem.
If you're not up for upgrading then they'll keep your PC for a day or two to run diagnostics and such before telling you that your hard drive is bad. Then charging you about $180 for all of that, as was the case with one of my friends.
After paying me with a case of brew, I ran a chkdsk /r on his PC and had the problem fixed in an hour.
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Re: First: Never go to Geek Squad!
[Re: Hizzout]
#252953 - 04/26/11 03:16 PM
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> Geek Squad "techs" are more salesmen than any other staff in the store. They're more
> interested in the upsell than really fixing your problem.
>
> If you're not up for upgrading then they'll keep your PC for a day or two to run
> diagnostics and such before telling you that your hard drive is bad. Then charging
> you about $180 for all of that, as was the case with one of my friends.
>
> After paying me with a case of brew, I ran a chkdsk /r on his PC and had the problem
> fixed in an hour.
Whenever I get the 'family/friends IT manager' calls, and get the guilt ridden question 'How much do I owe you for this?' question. (You know the one that you always answer 'Nah, don't worry about it' to) I always tell em that Geek Squad would've charged them $200 to 'fix' it (where the 'fix' would probably be a flush and fill) and let them decide from there.
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Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
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| Hizzout |
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70's baby, early 80's child
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Re: First: Never go to Geek Squad!
[Re: igamabob]
#252954 - 04/26/11 03:32 PM
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If I have to do some serious work on the computer I'll charge money, and charge roughly half of what Geek Squad would for the same job. Usually they're so happy about that they'll throw in a little extra as a tip or add a bottle of wine, or some beer.
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252968 - 04/26/11 07:31 PM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
Don't say she really did THAT?
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#252973 - 04/26/11 08:39 PM
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You just shortened Steve Job's life by a month and now the Apple fanboi's will be on a search and destroy mission.  Do you have a bomb shelter in the back yard?
Kevin Eshbach
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| Foxhack |
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Furry guy
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Re: First: Never go to Geek Squad!
[Re: GatKong]
#252981 - 04/26/11 11:58 PM
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> We went to Geek Squad where we bought it... first thing the bozo did was try to turn
> it on. Gatinha trying this is forgivable, she's not a computer repair professional.
> Geek Squad, not so much. I specifically said we dumped coffee on it and it won't
> work, and I watched his finger go right to pressing the "ON" button.
>
> "I thought you weren't supposed to power-on wet electronics"
>
> "Yeah, probably not, sorry."
>
> "Can I have the laptop back please."
>
> Now I see why Apple doesn't authorize Geek Squad to repair Apple stuff. Ok, so after
> calling Apple, they directed me to an AUTHORIZED repair center...
>
> > Take it to an Apple store. If anything they'll be able to rescue the hard drive.
>
> That's exactly where it stands... recovering the data from the paper weight's hard
> drive... if possible, we'll know tomorrow.
Exactly, man. I don't trust a store that sells a $4 cable for $50. I may dislike Apple but at least their stores hire people who know their shit.
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italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: GatKong]
#307947 - 04/28/13 06:14 AM
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> It was likely on at the time but sleeping, but now shows no signs of life. She tried
> right away to power it on and no response.
>
> She put it upside down and drained out the coffee, then hair dried it, and tried to
> turn it on again and still no response.
>
> Anybody know any tricks to revive it?
>
> Up 'til now, my advice to her is quit trying to turn it on, leave it unplugged, and
> give it several days to completely dry out.
>
> Take it apart? Take it in for service? Use it as a paper weight?
Wish I would have seen this sooner..
Coffee was the kicker, you were at minimum disassembling it. It leaves a residue that is mildly conductive. You can usually get things running again if you are thorough, but the powering on repetitively probably did you in worse...
Rules for emergency care on electrical devices getting wet:
1. Power down.
2. If possible, remove the battery.
3. Leave device in the orientation it was spilled on.
4. Wick as much liquid off as you can.
5. Fill an airtight bag with rice, put device in it for 2 days minimum.
6. Disassemble and clean PCB with alcohol.
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: italie]
#307949 - 04/28/13 07:44 AM
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Holy necropost, Batman!
The scariest thing is that this thread is from *two* years ago. I feel like the last year of my life just flitted by without me noticing.
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| italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Re: Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
[Re: DMala]
#307950 - 04/28/13 07:45 AM
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> Holy necropost, Batman!
>
> The scariest thing is that this thread is from *two* years ago. I feel like the last
> year of my life just flitted by without me noticing.
holy shit. I am REALLY slipping lately.
I don't even know how I'd see this post without trying...
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| GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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I've been waiting for ever for a response... FINALLY.
[Re: italie]
#307972 - 04/29/13 04:36 AM
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It should already be good and dry.
I'll try all those things, and see if it works now. The mold is going to be an issue now, though.
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Help! Gatinha spilled coffee on her macbook!
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[Re: 
)
Do you have a bomb shelter in the back yard?
