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2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz), 2.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz), or 2.8 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.0 GHz) quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 6 MB shared L3 cache.

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Liquid spilled on Mac; battery won’t charge and won’t boot

I live in Southern Californiaand someone spilled tea on my laptop a week ago. I immediately took my computer, turned it off, dried it off and put it in a towel in my car windshield defroster on full heat. This did help extract the liquids and dry out the computer. All seemed fine until I turned it on...


PROBLEMS:

  1. The battery symbol in the upper right hand corner has a triangle in it with an exclamation point in the center... “!”
    • My interpretation here is that the battery is not functioning and needs replacement.
    • When I attempt to login to the computer it launches the loading bar across the screen(as it does after logins following restarts or shutdowns). As soon as the loading bar reaches 50-75% of the way across the screen it turns black and returns back to the login screen.
      • Not sure what to do here. This is clearly not a battery issue solely.
      • The laptop trackpad didn’t work particularly well when I used it for the login attempts.
  2. this could be minor but I didn’t get to use the laptop long enough to tell if it made any difference.


 I went to Apple 2 days later and they indicated that(due to Apple’s inflated pricing and profit margins) it would cost 1500$ to fix + 100$ for labor. This is approximately the same cost as a bottom of the line current generation laptop in a smaller size. They also said that the computer shouldbe able to start up with or without the battery design. So this indicates deeper issues than the battery alone could explain.


NOTES:

  • Computer hasn’t been backed up in the last month or so.

QUESTIONS:

  1. Do I need a new battery?
  2. What other parts do I need?
  3. Is there anyone/a location I can take this to have it fixed(NOT Apple)? Specific recommendations would be very helpful. I can drive anywhere from LA- San Diego if need be.
  4. If no recommendations, what is all I need to do this on my own?
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Chosen Solution

Try disconnecting the battery from the logic board and see if that changes the picture. However, even if that would fix the booting issue expect troubles dows the road unless the board is properly taken care of. Drying liquids doesn’t make much of a difference as it’s the mineral residues that kill electronics by creating new improper paths current can flow through and corrosion. If without battery connected the Mac runs fine you can think about buying a replacement battery, otherwise avoid as what you would need is a Pro in component level repairs. Depending on parts involved expect to pay 200/400$ for the repair, plus parts. I’m in EU and can’t indicate a Lab in Cali, buy I’m sure someone here may help with that. Have a look at the following guide, it shows what needs to be done in case of liquid damage, the sooner the better:

MacBook water damage - The definitive guide

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Sounds like the tea did some serious damage to the laptop - probably the motherboard is damaged. But there are lots of electronic circuits in the computer besides those on the motherboard — the keyboard, the hard drive, the memory, etc. Any one of those could be the culprit here.

The easiest thing to do would be to try to find replacement memory real cheap on Ebay, and then swap out the memory. If the memory was the culprit, that should fix it. If you have a spare hard drive laying around, swap out the hard drive; that may fix it.

If you know what you are doing, you might try to replace the keyboard with one from Ebay.

Beyond that, you will be better off simply looking for a good used replacement for your laptop.

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Standard RAM: 16 GB Maximum RAM: 16 GB

Details: 16 GB of RAM is onboard and cannot be upgraded to a higher capacity at the initial time of system purchase or later.

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dalbers1997 will be eternally grateful.
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