Water Spill on MacBook Air
December 17, 2011 9:10 AM   Subscribe

Water spill on MacBook Air (4 months old). Currently drying out. What next - Genius Bar? Applecare? Some other thing?

I'm hopeful that it'll work after I dry it for another 12 hours or so, because I got to it very quickly, but if not - what is the next step most likely to result in either a fixed or replaced computer? Would buying Applecare help my cause?
posted by malhouse to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)
 
I don't think you should get AppleCare at this point. As far as I know, AppleCare doesn't work retroactively, in the same way that buying car insurance doesn't help you after an accident. What's more, AppleCare doesn't cover liquid damage (because, as a Genius so eloquently explained to me, "it's the most common kind of damage.")

The Genius Bar will be able to fix your laptop, though, if you find that it won't turn on after you've thoroughly dried it. However, don't try to turn it on until after it's absolutely dry.

There are a number of AskMes that deal with drying out your laptop -- be sure to check those out.
posted by runningwithscissors at 9:18 AM on December 17, 2011


Applecare doesn't cover that kind of damage. It might if you played dumb and there were no evidence.

I would also let it dry out longer than a day.

I would give it 72 hours. It can take a while for water to dry out from inside something. This on condensation on a watch face.

If you are lucky it may fire up fine. It may fire up without keyboard input. It may be completely dead.

If it's completely dead it's going to be expensive to fix. The RAM and drive are permanently affixed to the motherboard. I have never had to have that model repaired, so won't give you a ballpark.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:19 AM on December 17, 2011


Give it a good 48 hours to dry, turn it on and see what happens. If it looks bad, go to the Genius Bar and be honest. Make your case and be nice. If they're in a good mood, they do have the ability to do some repairs for free.
posted by richrad at 9:20 AM on December 17, 2011


Also, if it's only 4 months old it should be covered under the Applecare you get with the laptop. Water isn't covered though. Just pointing out that you don't need to buy it.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:20 AM on December 17, 2011


When I spilled beer on my boyfriend's Macbook Air (at least 2 years old), in a fit of ... uh ... moving around, the genius bar told him that it'd be $800 to fix. Minimum. And that he was better off selling it for parts and getting a new computer. I hope YMMV.
posted by ChuraChura at 9:34 AM on December 17, 2011


You're right, cjorgensen. I totally forgot that a year of AppleCare comes with a new Mac.
posted by runningwithscissors at 9:41 AM on December 17, 2011


First year of applecare is automatic so you're good there.

Without turning it upside down or tilting it, remove the battery if it's removable (don't know about the Air). Also of course disconnect it from power if you haven't already.

First, get it as dry as you can before you go turning it upside down etc. You say 'spill' so it sounds relatively minor (compared to dropping it into water or something where it would have had time soaking). Try sticking shreds of paper towel under the keys on the keyboard; the nice thing about this is you can do it without tilting the computer and spreading the water any. If the paper towel comes back damp, do another - you want to get this thing as dry as you possibly can on your own.

If you're pretty techy check iFixit and take apart anything that got wet. Then give it - well, depends on severity; in tech service we'd do three days as a matter of policy, but we also saw cases like the guy who woke up after a drunken evening to find his laptop sitting in a tub of water. For me if I spill a glass of water or diet coke I'll often do just the paper towel trick and a day or two (depending on whether it was just a few drops that got in, or more).

The genius bar can help you retrieve your data and find out if your system can be repaired and how much it'll cost. Water care is not covered though.
posted by Lady Li at 9:47 AM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Submerge it in a giant tray of rice for the 72 hrs. And or use those dessicant packs you can get for closets. Is the heat on in your house right now? Because that would be good, this creates dry air in your home. DO NOT PUT COMPUTER NEXT TO A HEATER. Just in the same room, yeah? This is what I did with my iPhone. Turned out fine.

Usually, when it's just water you will be totally fine once it dries. But follow everyone's advice about not turning it on, etc.

There is a little chemical tab inside cell phones and computers that turn color if the device has ever been wet. This will null your AppleCare. BUT, not every adventure with water reaches the tab. There may also be ways around the tab giving you away... Google will help you with that.

Rice. Desiccant bags if you want. A dry room. Time.

You'll be fine. Good luck!
posted by jbenben at 10:04 AM on December 17, 2011


You definitely have a year of automatic applecare, so awesome! I have no tech advice about the dry out, but I have had sample experience at the genius bar. In my experience there are a couple ways to go:

1) Be really upset. (This may not work as well since you're a dude...) I spilled an entire tall mocha on my 11 inch air that was only like 10 days old last spring. I was distraught, and went to the genius bar. The technician took pity on me, and Apple replaced it for free. Other relevant facts, I'm a girl, have been a long time apple user, had been there for repairs before, and purchased my computer there too. It's definitely not a sure thing, but sometimes you get lucky. ::shrug::

2) The other slightly more disreputable way to go is to let it dry out, play dumb, and see what happens. The whole issue here, I guess, is if it hits that water detecting tab inside. I spilled some tea on a prior air, and it messed up my display slightly but was still usable once it dried. The next time I went in for a hard drive repair, I pointed out the display issue and they replaced the whole top half on my computer too. If the damage isn't too serious, you might be able to get away with that.

Good luck! I know the soul crushing feeling of spilling on a computer... :(
posted by amileighs at 10:23 AM on December 17, 2011


If it's really just water, you may be fine. Just follow jbenben's advice and wait longer than you think you have to for all the water to get out. I spilled a cappuccino in mine :( and even then it still worked pretty well for a while. Long enough for me to get all my stuff off of it, anyway.
posted by empath at 12:08 PM on December 17, 2011


jbenben's advice is spot on. I would add that no matter how curious or dried out you think your Mac is, wait at least three days before you try and turn it on again. When my iPhone took a dip into a cup of water that was hard to do. You might be surprised that it will work again.

If in at least three days you fire it up and and it still doesn't work, you might try the Apple Store. As liquid damage is probably the number one electronics killer, they'll look for water damage. And you can try to throw yourself on the mercy of the Genius Bar person. Since it is newish, they might have more sympathy for you.

AppleCare doesn't cover user damage so that won't help. If you have to pay for repairs, check to make sure you might have if covered by some protection plan on your credit card. Or check to see if it can be fixed under your homeowners/renters policy. The math you'll need to do is whether the deductible and ding to your claims record is worth it. Al the Apple Store, if the machine is dead, they probably have a fixed price for repairs. If you get it to work but things like the trackpad only works on the left side, they have another estimate for that. You don't have to decide at that moment. You can shop around for a better repair deal or decide if you want to instead put that money toward a new computer (remember if you do go with the worst case scenario and have to get a new one, consider the Apple's Refurbished Store.

To protect your future products, look into getting a personal articles policy as part of your homeowner/renter policy. Mine is $42 a year to cover my iPhone and MacBook Pro. When my other iPhone took a bath I bought a out-of-warranty replacement for $199 and my insurance company gave me a check three days later. The policy would have allowed me to buy a new one, but I didn't have the cash that weekend and didn't realize they'd pay me so fast. When my 2008 MacBook Pro died a few months ago, I contacted my insurance company and they asked me to get a quote from Apple to repair it, and if it costs too much (~$900) they'd buy me a brand new MacBook Pro. As it turned out, my Mac died due to a bad GPU and Apple had extended the warranty for that problem so they fixed it for free and I didn't have to file a claim after all (I was sort of disappointed since I was already imagining a brand new computer...the repair estimate would was $600 on it so they wouldn't have replaced it anyway). The personal articles policies generally do not cover warranty issue just theft and user-related breakage.
posted by birdherder at 12:41 PM on December 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


The rice advice(or dessicant) is good. It absorbs water and speeds drying. Put it in a warm, sunny space, and leave it alone *much* longer than you think is necessary.
posted by theora55 at 4:33 PM on December 17, 2011


Great advice so far.

1) Be really upset. (This may not work as well since you're a dude...) I spilled an entire tall mocha on my 11 inch air that was only like 10 days old last spring. I was distraught, and went to the genius bar. The technician took pity on me, and Apple replaced it for free. Other relevant facts, I'm a girl, have been a long time apple user, had been there for repairs before, and purchased my computer there too. It's definitely not a sure thing, but sometimes you get lucky. ::shrug:

I'm a dude and Apple has pretty much fixed everything for free. These include me dropping my laptop and breaking the screen. My tip is to be super polite and remorseful. They deal with assholes all day (when I was there to get the screen fixed, a dude in a suit was yelling for the supervisor). The geniuses have considerable leeway (mine just looked at me and said "Looks like it was always this way. wink wink).

Make an appointment at a less busy time also helps and be persistent but polite ("Please, is there anything you can do for me? /sad face)

But water damage is a whole other beast so YMMV.

birdherder's advice is spot on. Even when I dropped my laptop, I had a personal articles policy on it so I had little to lose. Mine costs me $30 per year (that's six fancy lattes) and covers accidental damage and theft. Such a shame not to get one.

good luck.
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 5:13 PM on December 17, 2011


yeah ... been there, done that, 3 days in a bag of rice ... worked out fine.
posted by jannw at 2:09 AM on December 18, 2011


Not good news :-( Spilled about 1 1/2 to 2 cups Fiji water into my 14 month-old MacBook (SS drive, etc., etc.). The machine was on and the water went right into the keyboard area. Immediately the display went black and the machine shut down. I shook the water out, and in the process my thumb touched the power button and the white LED on the front edge lit briefly before shutting off. Put the machine in a very large Ziplock bag, filled it with rice and kept it under a bright light for a little more than 48 hours. Plucked it out of the bag, blew off the rice dust and got nothin'. Zip, zilch, nada, no power. Brought it to the Genius bar and because it couldn't power up the Genius handed me a menu of service charges, pointed to the $1240 for water damage and told me that's the cost for fixing it. I was insured because I scheduled the laptop separately on the homeowner's insurance policy. If you have an expensive machine, BUY THE INSURNACE FOR IT! Water damage, as you'll read here, is not covered by AppleCare but is covered by homeowners if you schedule separately. So I paid into to for 8 years and now I don't have to shell out more than $1K to fix it.
posted by Duspin at 7:09 PM on October 5, 2012


« Older Can I test/check a Battery Tender Pro?   |   What was this logo? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.