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imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
Hey guys.

I haven't spill water to my mba yet because im very careful about it. However i had my hands quite to almost non-wet because my coke was frozen. the thing is i rapidly notice that my keyboard keys and in-between-keys(in the center by the keys, "ert dfg") had very very very small drops of water which i cleaned them with my finger carefully.

Basically, i would like to ask, in the case a veeeeeeery small amount of water drops could have get into, would that be an issue, or could there be short circuit as the day pass through, or by now, 8 hours have passed since this small incident i shouldn't worry about.


Finally, how much water is it needed to destroy my mac?
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
It's not waterproof at all. Moisture and computers are not a good mix. Your MBA may have escaped unscathed this time, or you might have issues down the road.
Finally, how much water is it needed to destroy my mac?
It depends on where it is. A small amount could be costly, if it hit the right spot.
 

FX4568

macrumors 6502
Sep 6, 2010
315
0
I dont think theres a specific liquid amount. Its more about if you are lucky the water doesnt damage the motherboard.
 

imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
im getting paranoid with GGJstudio reply!

Yes right now, all my keys work perfectly, but what he mentioned, "Your MBA may have escaped unscathed this time, or you might have issues down the road."

damnit! haha
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
im getting paranoid with GGJstudio reply!

Yes right now, all my keys work perfectly, but what he mentioned, "Your MBA may have escaped unscathed this time, or you might have issues down the road."

damnit! haha

Well, there's no way to know for sure, since it's unclear how much water got through and where it went. It would be irresponsible for me to say, "Everything's cool. You have nothing to worry about."
 

ResPublica

macrumors regular
Jun 12, 2011
177
52
It's not waterproof at all. Moisture and computers are not a good mix. Your MBA may have escaped unscathed this time, or you might have issues down the road.

It depends on where it is. A small amount could be costly, if it hit the right spot.
Problems tend to show up early rather then late. You usually experience problems immediately, and if you are very lucky things improve after a long period of time, rather then vice-versa.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,556
950
Problems tend to show up early rather then late. You usually experience problems immediately, and if you are very lucky things improve after a long period of time, rather then vice-versa.
While that's generally true, many have reported problems that may have occurred early on, but they didn't discover until later.
 

imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
well i didn't shut it down because i had to keep doing a lot of essays(F you ib history)

the drops were almost very, very, very little , so i didn't care that much until now..

Ill admit it, im starting to baby my mba way to much now
 

alust2013

macrumors 601
Feb 6, 2010
4,779
2
On the fence
well i didn't shut it down because i had to keep doing a lot of essays(F you ib history)

the drops were almost very, very, very little , so i didn't care that much until now..

Ill admit it, im starting to baby my mba way to much now

You'll be fine, just grab a paper towel for your hands next time.
 

ccsicecoke

macrumors 6502
Aug 19, 2010
494
884
Wouldn't it be great if apple makes MBA waterproof? That means we can use it when we take a shower
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
If you can't take a break from the computer long enough to take a shower, don't you think some therapy might be in order? :D

I've actually got an older Toshiba laptop in my shower that I use to play pandora. That thing has seen it's fair share of moisture, especially when a song I cant stand comes on and I reach over to skip it. Water gets all over the touch pad and keyboard but the thing just keeps going and going. That said, I'd never do that to my MBA. It's my primary laptop in addition to my most expensive one. I use to use my old iphone for some tunes while in the shower but the speaker volume just wasn't cutting it.
 

orfeas0

macrumors 6502a
Aug 21, 2010
971
1
Athens, Greece
Problems tend to show up early rather then late. You usually experience problems immediately, and if you are very lucky things improve after a long period of time, rather then vice-versa.

my friend gave a punch to his laptop at some point (drunk+angry=not good:p), and suddenly everything that normally would be black, was green instead! very wierd stuff! and anyway after around 3 months of using it that way, the screen just came back to normal :confused::confused: no clue why.

@OP: ALWAYS HAVE DRY HANDS AND ENVIRONMENT NEAR YOUR LAPTOP.
DO NOT use it open in the shower (if it's shutdown, it's ok as long as you let it dry up before opening it). water damages (AND steam damages!!) are not covered by apple's warranty (my toshiba is covered even from coffee spill ftw).
Be careful with liquids around any kind of technology! But to be honest, that small amount from the frozen coke won't do that much harm, although dry them a bit on your shirt (it's water, not dirt..) before using the laptop..
 

imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
welp, thanks for the replies guys, im much more calmed now! haha

it booted normally so i guess it won't happen anything. But i will be totally after this month. If everything runs normally i believe nothing will happen later on.

and yes atleast it was small little drops of water instead of coke!
 

islanders

macrumors 6502
Jul 21, 2006
272
0
Charleston, SC
relax, it would have shorted out when it was wet.. as the water would have conducted the electricity to parts that were not supposed to be connected.. once it dries there is no more bridge of water.. that's why it's a good idea not start something that has gotten wet until it has fully dried.. plain water doesn't leave a residue either so you are fine.. it's dry now, no harm done..

good thing you are being careful and recognized the potential..

I've managed not to spill anything on my lap tops for over 15 years.. knock on wook.. a new MBP is being delivered tomorrow and I'm going to be extra careful..
 

imHappy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
187
14
thx for that post islander!

but i don't know if i clarified myself totally. I took out the water in the aluminuim case between the keys and were holes are there. like i said before i certainly don't knwo if any little bit of water could have gotten into. But like u said, there was no short circuit or whatsoever so now, im calmed!!


this mba better last me 4 years atleast haha
 

orfeas0

macrumors 6502a
Aug 21, 2010
971
1
Athens, Greece
once it dries there is no more bridge of water.. that's why it's a good idea not start something that has gotten wet until it has fully dried.. plain water doesn't leave a residue either so you are fine.. it's dry now, no harm done..

is that true? don't the "salts" from the water leave something behind when dried? if no, that means you can give your laptop a bath and wait a safe time (a week?) before booting it and it will work?
 

madmaxmedia

macrumors 68030
Dec 17, 2003
2,933
42
Los Angeles, CA
It seems like you're a very careful guy, the amount of water you're describing probably wouldn't reach the motherboard.

Some notebook computers have an internal 'tray' to collect and channel spilt water away from the motherboard, I think that's a nice feature because accidents do happen. Not enough room in a MBA though- ;)

well i didn't shut it down because i had to keep doing a lot of essays(F you ib history)

the drops were almost very, very, very little , so i didn't care that much until now..

Ill admit it, im starting to baby my mba way to much now
 

madmaxmedia

macrumors 68030
Dec 17, 2003
2,933
42
Los Angeles, CA
is that true? don't the "salts" from the water leave something behind when dried? if no, that means you can give your laptop a bath and wait a safe time (a week?) before booting it and it will work?

Depends on the exact sample of water, but most tap water probably doesn't have enough stuff in it to leave significant amounts after drying. That's why people drop iPods in water and can often escape unscathed if they leave them unpowered until they dry up.

Actually giving your laptop a bath would be a different situation, there are probably 10 other ways it might render your laptop inoperable.
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
I've never not seen tap water leave a residue if it's just left to dry.
 

islanders

macrumors 6502
Jul 21, 2006
272
0
Charleston, SC
is that true? don't the "salts" from the water leave something behind when dried? if no, that means you can give your laptop a bath and wait a safe time (a week?) before booting it and it will work?

I have managed to dry out cell phones from fresh water immersion. That's all I was trying to pass on. That had it been a soda or ocean water it's ruined. However you are implying that it would not help to let a device fully dry out after an accident? Why do you have a problem with others offering constructive advice after an accident?

If you think a small drop of water is going to leave a residue and ruin the computer why don't you just say so without latching on to me?
 
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