I spilled a small amount of wine on my 2005 iBook. I took out the battery, which had some liquid in it, took off the keyboard plate, which had liquid under it, and turned it upside down. Unfortunately I left it on that whole time while it was plugged in, not realizing that was a very bad idea. I started it up again and the scrollpad and apps wouldn't work although it did turn on. Now I have it off and upside down. What do I do? I've been told to use a hair drier, and then to not use a hair drier. I'd like to take off the little cover underneath the keyboard, where I added memory a few years ago, but I don't have the right size screwdriver. Is my machine totally dead? I can go get a screwdriver tomorrow but wouldn't know what to do after that. Help please!
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machead3 Nov 5 @ 4:34 PM
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Sbd719 Nov 5 @ 4:45 PM
When I click on that link I get an invitation to a mailing list for ifixit beta.
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machead3 Nov 5 @ 6:23 PM
Pull the power cord and remove the battery if possible.
No hair dyers or any forced air on/into a closed device! you'll only be spreading any liquid not drained around inside where you can't see or get at it.
In my opinion 72hrs is a conservative wait time for drying- hours or a day mean nothing Best way to dry it is to seal it with a desiccant like silica packs (though even something like pasta can work in a pinch) or in a room with a dehumidifier.
Liquid and electrons don't mix. You really ought to open and dismantle the device as much as possible so that you can clean up, rinse off any residue that's right if it's already wet you can wash it and clean it so that there will be no corrosion occurring later. Spraying with an electronic contact cleaner, and/or 99% alcohol will also speed the drying process.
Forced air on the open parts is OK, but if you're in a humid environment packing up with desiccant in a trash bag or rubbermaid container and making changes over three days or so would be better.
There's been a lot of well I spilled on laptop my keyboard, but it still worked at first..., If you're lucky enough not to kill it straight off, then at least remove, clean and dry the keyboard best as possible before continued use. With most laptop designs there's ''nothing between the bottom of the keyboard and the RAM, FAN, Optical Drive, and all the other parts of the logic board but AIR
N.
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machead3 Nov 5 @ 6:26 PM
also see http://www.ifixit.com/blog/?p=1168