Spilled coffee in 4 day old Air. Trouble. What now?

[akm3]

It's worse.

So we let it dry out for a couple days, and tried to boot it up. Now, instead of letting you login, it just gets the opening BONG, has the Apple logo appear and the spinning wheel, and never goes further.

I've tried resetting the PRAM, and booting into safe mode.

Can anyone confirm this is a symptom of a dead logic board? I know this isn't covered by warranty, and I have no accidental damage protection through a credit card. With no Apple stores around, what is the process I do to get it repaired? Can anyone estimate how much it costs?

Very, very, very sad and devastated. It is completely our fault, but is still completely devastating. Not the 'new computer' experience we were hoping for

-Allen

 

[drewsof07]

Don't think its a dead logic board persay, because I don't think you would get that far. Which area of the keyboard was the liquid spilled? Sounds like it is having trouble finding system resources. I think the HD is in the upper right hand corner of keyboard. You may be looking at an issue with the connection there, or HD issue. But I'm not a certified tech, so don't take my words as gospel.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

Have you called Apple?

 

[akm3]

Have you called Apple?

I did call Apple, but they told me to let it dry 'completely' out and then call them back if it doesn't work.

I'm just trying everything I can do with the tech support here before I involve them again.

I'm pretty sure it's gonna need sending in and cost $$$, but can anyone give me an estimate on such a repair?

 

[trainguy77]

I did call Apple, but they told me to let it dry 'completely' out and then call them back if it doesn't work.

I'm just trying everything I can do with the tech support here before I involve them again.

I'm pretty sure it's gonna need sending in and cost $$$, but can anyone give me an estimate on such a repair?

It will need to be cleaned then maybe the keyboard replaced. So i am not sure.

 

[mac jones]

I did that once with coffee to a nice Dell D800.

I sent it into Dell without telling them what i did, partly out of embarrassment, but mostly I hoped they wouldn't notice, as it was under warranty.

A couple days later I got a call and they said it would cost me $700.

note: I distinctly remember a certain tone in 'her' voice when she said: " Oh, you spilled coffee and didn't tell us, so that makes you a .......)

So now it's $700+insinuating,insulting tone.

I SHOULD have taken it apart and cleaned it up before I sent it in.
I just might have gotten away with it. (or maybe they sniff around... I don't know)

I would 'expect' to pay about $1000 bucks to Apple. Hopefully it will be less.

DO NOT beat yourself up about this. It's very easy to do, especially with the Air sitting at about sea level.

 

[spjonesi]

<Shrugs>

I've done it before...to my iBook when I was all set to replace it. Almost exactly like this. I turned it over right away, and emptied that sucker out and it worked 100% right away. I guess it depends on how much got in there.

Keep everybody updated.

joneSi

 

[akm3]

It makes me sick because we are strictly 'middle class'. My wife saved nine months in her business to buy this for herself, the first 'nice' thing she's ever bought for herself. Her computer prior to this was an 8 year old dell laptop handed down by her IT brother as a reject from his company they were just going to throw away.

She got to use it four days.

It is now a paperweight. If it ends up costing $1000 to fix, we simply can't afford that. We'd have to have her go back to her dinosaur Dell and save up again, and instead of repairing it it would probably make sense to get a plain jane Macbook this time

Perhaps if you can't afford to replace something, you probably can't afford it in the first place

Oh well, life sucks. The older you get the more crap you have to pay for.

 

[mac jones]

It makes me sick because we are strictly 'middle class'. My wife saved nine months in her business to buy this for herself, the first 'nice' thing she's ever bought for herself. Her computer prior to this was an 8 year old dell laptop handed down by her IT brother as a reject from his company they were just going to throw away.

She got to use it four days.

It is now a paperweight. If it ends up costing $1000 to fix, we simply can't afford that. We'd have to have her go back to her dinosaur Dell and save up again, and instead of repairing it it would probably make sense to get a plain jane Macbook this time

Perhaps if you can't afford to replace something, you probably can't afford it in the first place

Oh well, life sucks. The older you get the more crap you have to pay for.

Ok

Your gonna have to do a little work then.

1) Don't call Apple and give them the details with a case #. Call and get an estimate without giving your name or with a false name ( I know ...WTF?). If the repair cost is by some miracle something you can afford (don't count on it), then go-for-it. .....If not, go to step 2.


2) your going to have to clean it yourself or have a 'competent' person do this. It's not hard to open this up compared to other Apple products, so it shouldn't be to hard to clean it up and remove the 'accident' evidence completely (I emphasize completely here).

note:
You should try a light cleaning to see if you can repair it yourself and if that doesn't work a more thorough cleaning to remove the evidence.

It might even be nessasary to rinse off all the coffee even from the motherboard. This won't matter as it will be replaced anyway.

The preson who goes into the machine must be aware that they should not leave any eveidence that it's been opened (this should be doable).

Then you call and lie and send it in. You are a liar and it's unethical but anyone who say's this isn't the best option is an idiot. Better being a smart liar then a broke idiot. : )

I mean , at this point what is there to lose?

 

[Hawkeye411]

ewww .. coffee with sugar and cream .. yuck!

 

[akm3]

Ok

Your gonna have to do a little work then.

1) Don't call Apple and give them the details with a case #. Call and get an estimate without giving your name or with a false name ( I know ...WTF?). If the repair cost is by some miracle something you can afford (don't count on it), then go-for-it. .....If not, go to step 2.


2) your going to have to clean it yourself or have a 'competent' person do this. It's not hard to open this up compared to other Apple products, so it shouldn't be to hard to clean it up and remove the 'accident' evidence completely (I emphasize completely here).

note:
You should try a light cleaning to see if you can repair it yourself and if that doesn't work a more thorough cleaning to remove the evidence.

It might even be nessasary to rinse off all the coffee even from the motherboard. This won't matter as it will be replaced anyway.

The preson who goes into the machine must be aware that they should not leave any eveidence that it's been opened (this should be doable).

Then you call and lie and send it in. You are a liar and it's unethical but anyone who say's this isn't the best option is an idiot. Better being a smart liar then a broke idiot. : )

I mean , at this point what is there to lose?

I did consider this advice, but I've been broke (honest) idiot my entire life, and will be sticking with that

I have called Apple and got a case#, told them that it was the result of a spill, and am mailing it off once the RMA box arrives. They will open it, conclude it is spill damage, and fix it. If it's a hard drive, we are good. If it's the motherboard, we are toast. If it's just a keyboard key stuck down that won't let it boot (do any keys do that?) then we are OK. Time will tell.

Thank you EVERYONE on this thread for your support. I'll update the info when I get it. No one came out and said "UR an idiot for spillingzz lololozz" and I appreciate it. This is a pretty top caliber forum, if you can get people to read your questions

 

[MacinDoc]

Did you ever try it with an external keyboard? That's how my iMac acted after one of my kids spilled a drink on its keyboard. So, with any luck, you will just need a replacement keyboard.

 

[HotAir]

I agree with your method. Much better to take the honest route and know it'll all work out. If it's too costly for now, put it aside and save-up. If you're in USA use your upcoming tax-rebate check... and help stimulate the Apple economy (as if it needs it!)---

 

[krimsen]

I did consider this advice, but I've been broke (honest) idiot my entire life, and will be sticking with that

I just have to congratulate you on this! And I really don't think that honesty is idiotic in any way.

 

[akm3]

Did you ever try it with an external keyboard? That's how my iMac acted after one of my kids spilled a drink on its keyboard. So, with any luck, you will just need a replacement keyboard.

Originally, when it was booting far enough to enter a password and then boot up, the external keyboard DID work. The built in one wouldn't register the proper keys. But after drying for another 24 hours, it won't get to that screen. Nothing gets it past the Grey Screen / Apple Logo / 'Gears of light' (Apple care term). I used the external keyboard to try to reset the PRAM, boot into single user mode, boot from network, etc, but none of it worked. It won't go past that screen. The rep seemed to think it was either the hard drive or the logic board or both.

 

[bericd]

Ok

Your gonna have to do a little work then.

1) Don't call Apple and give them the details with a case #. Call and get an estimate without giving your name or with a false name ( I know ...WTF?). If the repair cost is by some miracle something you can afford (don't count on it), then go-for-it. .....If not, go to step 2.


2) your going to have to clean it yourself or have a 'competent' person do this. It's not hard to open this up compared to other Apple products, so it shouldn't be to hard to clean it up and remove the 'accident' evidence completely (I emphasize completely here).

note:
You should try a light cleaning to see if you can repair it yourself and if that doesn't work a more thorough cleaning to remove the evidence.

It might even be nessasary to rinse off all the coffee even from the motherboard. This won't matter as it will be replaced anyway.

The preson who goes into the machine must be aware that they should not leave any eveidence that it's been opened (this should be doable).

Then you call and lie and send it in. You are a liar and it's unethical but anyone who say's this isn't the best option is an idiot. Better being a smart liar then a broke idiot. : )

I mean , at this point what is there to lose?

I did this with an old dell laptop about 5 years ago. A cup of coffee landed in it. I tried the week long dry out and that didn't work, so I took it all apart and cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol (99.9%) and q-tips - with the aim of sending it to dell afterwards sans coffee.
The laptop booted up fine once I'd cleaned it out and 5 years on is still going fine.

Take a look here: (http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/Mac/MacBook-Air) and see if that's something you would consider doing.

B.

 

[TheNorthWaves]

I killed my Dell inspiron laptop in 2003 by doing this...
At least my school's forcible purchase of a Thinkpad came with the accidental coffee spill insurance, heheh.
(PS I'm pro-mac anti-MS but have gotta give two thumbs up to the thinkpad protection plan)

 

[brn2ski00]

I hope all works out for you bud!

 

[thegosh]

Did you contact your credit card company?

I saw that 'island' suggested that you contact them at the beginning of this thread, but I didn't see a response to the point.

if you bought your MBA with an Amex, more often than not you're covered through buyer protection:

Purchase Protection: Protects covered items for up to 90 days from the date of purchase if it is stolen or accidentally damaged.

regardless, if you did buy it with a credit card (Amex or not), I would check your terms and conditions ASAP.

it worked for YDJDMBFAN: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/461316/

 

[queshy]

protection! protection protection!

http://www.iskin.com/product_kbrd_air.html

the damage has been done. how is this supposed to help the OP?

 

[BanjoBanker]

I did consider this advice, but I've been broke (honest) idiot my entire life, and will be sticking with that

Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy, and I admire your stance on honesty vs maybe saving some money. My son spilled something, beer probably, on his MacBook last fall. I went to the Apple store and was upfront with the Genius about what had happened. He said he would have the repair guy test it to see if it was anything other than a bad keyboard before they sent it to Apple. Due entirely to the kindness of the Genius, I paid $275 for a new keyboard instead of the $500 +/- I was quoted by Apple. Stick with the truth when you are talking to the Apple folks, you may have one who values honesty take care of you, pay it forward as it were.
Good luck.

 

[akm3]

Well, I called my credit card company as a long shot, and it turns out YES I have Purchase Assurance that covers accidental damage (e.g. dropping)...except liquid damage.

So still out of luck.

Citibank Mastercard, foiled me again. The amount of money I've paid them in interest over the years while I was in debt and stupid is staggering. They could have thrown me this bone, but policies are policies I suppose.

-Allen

 

[ktbubster]

At this point you really have nothing to lose at all by just taking it apart yourself and trying to clean everything with alcohol to the best of your ability. If that doesn't work THEN send it in and get a repair estimate... I doubt the cost will change much if at all if you do this without breaking anything, and it's really not that hard to do.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[wordy]

The irony... you're more likely to get money back if you tell them it was stolen rather than there was liquid damage.

Is it too late to tell them it was stolen??

 

[mackstar]

Swallowing my pride

I can not believe it!

Only yesterday did I read this article and say to myself "It serves him right for spilling coffee on it!"

Today, after owning macs for over 8 years I spill coffee on my keyboard for the first time ever!

Although it is not a 4 day old Mac Air, it is my trusty 17inch MBP, it is 2 years old and I know that I would't be able to get it fixed under warranty. It turns out that it is just the keyboard that is bad, I took that out and cleaned it but it didn't help, so I will probably get a used keyboard off Ebay and install it myself! I am using my computer now, I just detached the cable for the internal keyboard and am using an external one, which works but isn't ideal.

Well I guess God maybe trying to tell me something!