How long should I dry out a Mac Mini after a coffee spill?
March 2, 2014 4:36 AM Subscribe
I am trying to determine how long to air dry a computer that suffered a liquid spill.
My 5-year old Mac Mini is still going strong. That's great! Friday night, I spilled about 10 oz of black coffee on it. That's not great. I guess what got immediately soaked was the back panel. The video died at once. An unpleasant sound came from the speakers. There was a lag of a second or so before I matched the power cord out.
So. I mopped up what I could. I have the case off, and am going to et it dry out thoroughly before trying to boot it. But how long should I wait? A week? More? Less?
My 5-year old Mac Mini is still going strong. That's great! Friday night, I spilled about 10 oz of black coffee on it. That's not great. I guess what got immediately soaked was the back panel. The video died at once. An unpleasant sound came from the speakers. There was a lag of a second or so before I matched the power cord out.
So. I mopped up what I could. I have the case off, and am going to et it dry out thoroughly before trying to boot it. But how long should I wait? A week? More? Less?
Best answer: So I have more experience dousing Macs (all laptops) and smartphones in liquids than I'd like to admit. During the Summer of Fried Electronics, I dumped various liquids on laptops in three instances and immersed a phone w no case for 5 seconds. I have an overall save ratio (e.g. the machine comes back with no apparent damage and works for years without issues) of 80% overall.
However, I attribute this to several factors:
*Each time I was able to turn the computer/phone off and unplug it/pop the battery before it did anything. This is in part speed and part luck, but I was able to stop it before it tried to work.
*Immediately removing as much liquid as possible, inverting the device if there is a lot of liquid, cracking the case (you don't have Applecare so you're not voiding a warrantee), removing batteries and using both q tips and paper napkins to remove all residue.
*Immerse your device in rice. Don't put it in a plastic bag unless you leave the top open. If you close the seal you're locking the moisture inside which is very bad. I like a punch bowl. I don't like inverting the device after the initial inversion - remember, if you get liquid to drip back out, you're impacting the innards of your device coming and going. I'd rather leave it in its original orientation and trust the magic of the rice and the lack of humidity to do their work.
*Immediately putting it in a dry place and leaving it the hell alone for several days. Like, seriously, don't even go look at it. For me this meant a walk-in closet with a dehumidifier turned on high.
*For laptops and phones, I like to leave them for a minimum of 72 hours (no cheating!). For a mac mini I think I'd go a lot longer - I'd suggest leaving it for 5-7 days. At the end of the period you're leaving it in for, take it out and carefully inspect everything you can see. If you see anything even slightly damp or moist, it goes back into the low humidity closet for another 48 hours minimum. If everything is as dry as you can imagine it being, try booting it up.
If the liquid isn't water, srboisvert is onto something - you may be able to try it out but you'll still leave a sticky substance which could bollocks things up when you do try to boot up. Put distilled water into a mister and gently spritz water onto the areas you have coffee residue. Better yet, spritz it on a toothpick or q tip and use that to remove the residue.
Good luck!
posted by arnicae at 5:46 AM on March 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
However, I attribute this to several factors:
*Each time I was able to turn the computer/phone off and unplug it/pop the battery before it did anything. This is in part speed and part luck, but I was able to stop it before it tried to work.
*Immediately removing as much liquid as possible, inverting the device if there is a lot of liquid, cracking the case (you don't have Applecare so you're not voiding a warrantee), removing batteries and using both q tips and paper napkins to remove all residue.
*Immerse your device in rice. Don't put it in a plastic bag unless you leave the top open. If you close the seal you're locking the moisture inside which is very bad. I like a punch bowl. I don't like inverting the device after the initial inversion - remember, if you get liquid to drip back out, you're impacting the innards of your device coming and going. I'd rather leave it in its original orientation and trust the magic of the rice and the lack of humidity to do their work.
*Immediately putting it in a dry place and leaving it the hell alone for several days. Like, seriously, don't even go look at it. For me this meant a walk-in closet with a dehumidifier turned on high.
*For laptops and phones, I like to leave them for a minimum of 72 hours (no cheating!). For a mac mini I think I'd go a lot longer - I'd suggest leaving it for 5-7 days. At the end of the period you're leaving it in for, take it out and carefully inspect everything you can see. If you see anything even slightly damp or moist, it goes back into the low humidity closet for another 48 hours minimum. If everything is as dry as you can imagine it being, try booting it up.
If the liquid isn't water, srboisvert is onto something - you may be able to try it out but you'll still leave a sticky substance which could bollocks things up when you do try to boot up. Put distilled water into a mister and gently spritz water onto the areas you have coffee residue. Better yet, spritz it on a toothpick or q tip and use that to remove the residue.
Good luck!
posted by arnicae at 5:46 AM on March 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
Having ruined a MacMini trying to wash it out (the insides were dusted with sea salt from a marine environment and it sort of worked), you need to be careful and wait quite a while. The motherboard is mounted very close to the bottom of the case, and water will sit between the motherboard and the bottom of the case for quite a while. I waited 24 hours, turned it on, saw it was dead, then took it apart and found standing water in the bottom of the machine under the motherboard. After I dried it all out again it was dead.
posted by procrastination at 5:57 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by procrastination at 5:57 AM on March 2, 2014
Response by poster: the power supply is in an external unit on Mac Minis, spitbull
posted by thelonius at 6:31 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by thelonius at 6:31 AM on March 2, 2014
(A five-year old Mac mini would look like this at the back. Note the connector for the external power supply underneath the power button. Carry on.)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:37 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:37 AM on March 2, 2014
Response by poster: The possibility that things inside are fried is, of course, still there.
posted by thelonius at 6:41 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by thelonius at 6:41 AM on March 2, 2014
I would not use distilled water to clean any electronics. I'd use denatured alcohol to clean and help evaporate any liquid that my still be present after the rice treatment.
posted by eatcake at 10:34 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by eatcake at 10:34 AM on March 2, 2014
I'm more concerned you were seeing damage before you got the computer off. That is definitely not a good sign.
Rice is useful, but with a device that big make sure you sift the rice for any tiny pieces that could get lodged in your unit.
If your coffee had milk and/or sugar in it, you are going to need to do a cleaning. Coffee without anything else in it, I'm not sure I'd bother cleaning more. It would depend for me on how valuable and useful the electronic was. Eatcakes suggestion is the way I would clean it.
Good luck.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:43 AM on March 2, 2014
Rice is useful, but with a device that big make sure you sift the rice for any tiny pieces that could get lodged in your unit.
If your coffee had milk and/or sugar in it, you are going to need to do a cleaning. Coffee without anything else in it, I'm not sure I'd bother cleaning more. It would depend for me on how valuable and useful the electronic was. Eatcakes suggestion is the way I would clean it.
Good luck.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:43 AM on March 2, 2014
Best answer: It can take up to a week to dry out completely.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:49 AM on March 2, 2014
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:49 AM on March 2, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I do not expect success here, honestly, but it seems premature to give up.
posted by thelonius at 1:36 PM on March 2, 2014
posted by thelonius at 1:36 PM on March 2, 2014
Response by poster: I have about two weeks of random unbacked-up files on it, since the last Time Machine I did. Nothing important. So, even if I can't get the drive up, I'm pretty much OK. I was going to replace this soon, it is the oldest Mini that runs Mavericks, this i just a bad time, and not how I wanted it to happen. It deserved a better death.
I didn't even know that the brick was gone from newer Minis, btw.
posted by thelonius at 7:23 AM on March 3, 2014
I didn't even know that the brick was gone from newer Minis, btw.
posted by thelonius at 7:23 AM on March 3, 2014
Response by poster: Hey, it boots up! I am using it RIGHT NOW. 5 days of air and sunlight by the South-facing windows. No rice.
Headphone out seems to be dead, though.
posted by thelonius at 2:33 AM on March 5, 2014
Headphone out seems to be dead, though.
posted by thelonius at 2:33 AM on March 5, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by srboisvert at 5:19 AM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]