Forums | MacLife

I once spilled a beverage on my beloved PB Pismo. It was only a small amount of water on the right side; most of the water hit the table but some hit my computer on the right upper side near the speaker. After that the sound wouldn't work at all.

At first I thought I had fried something permanently, but I let it dry out and it worked later on in the day (3-5 hours later). However, what worked for me, may not for you, since I dealt with a relatively small amount of liquid.

Since your talking about a much larger amount of liquid, I'm not quite sure what's gonna happen (and mine was water not alcohol). I would try to clean the affected areas as much as possible and let dry until completely free of moisture. I'm not sure what kind of cleaning solution is the best for this situation but Isopropyl alcohol is commonly used for cleaning electronic components. And make sure it's completely dry before powering up. I would not run it while wet or with dried wine residue on its internal components as unwanted side-effects may occur.

Good luck and never drink while driving your Mac - OK you can, but may suffer some expensive consequences as a result.

Last edited by adamjg (2006-11-24 7:45 pm)

3 hours ago, you let it dry for "some time too."

that is not nearly enough time to be sure all moisture has disappeared.
unplug the power cable, then put a running household fan in front of the computer for at least 12 hours. take the side covers off, and don't go anywhere near it with liquid.
moisture can hide between electrical contacts for a long - long time.

unfortunately, wine can have a corrosive effect on metals even after it has "dried". odds are good that electrical contacts have not been splashed, though, since the power button and front board would seem to be the most likely damaged elements. the machine powers on, so that's a good sign.

the problem doesn't necessarily indicate that a component has "shorted". it sounds more like a drive directory, OS, or PRAM / NVRAM problem.

i've seen something similar occur without the introduction of fluids. make as sure as you possibly can that the machine is 100% dry before plugging it back in.
you may be in luck. (crosses fingers)

when you do start it again, reset the NVRAM as the first thing you do.
if it doesn't boot, try single user mode and run fsck -yf.
if it still doesn't run, try booting from a CD.
...

Last edited by [MA] Flying_Meat (2006-11-24 7:26 pm)

I had a scanner completely snuffed out by a tiny splash of red wine that dripped inside the glass.    Hope you have better luck.

"As I drew closer I discovered that their cat had defecated on top of my PowerBook! Not only that, it had also urinated on it and the deflated inflatable mattress it was sitting on had provided a perfect waterproof dish for my computer to sit in cat pee for 24 hrs. When I slipped the battery out, cat urine literally poured out of my computer's case. The cat also saved up some urine and then crossed the room to piss on my report cards. I was pretty depressed."

A good ending to the story might have been – you went back to their house exacting revenge by urinating and defecating in the cat's food dish, sleeping area, and on top of the television. Seems only fair.

wow - had that happened to me I likely would have brought new meaning to the phrase: "there's more than one way to skin a cat"

And I like cats!!