Need advice on repairs after wine spill - won't boot

Question

Trying to help a friend fix her MacBook Pro 17" mid-2009 laptop.  A fairly small amount of wine was spilled on the keyboard and it was turned off, however not knowing what else to do they used canned air to dry it out.  They did not turn it upside down so wine could have been blown deeper into the laptop.  She took it to a repair shop and they apparently cleaned it but said the upper assembly containing the keyboard needed to be replaced.  It powered up once after this incident but never got passed the start scene with the Apple logo.  Since then it won't power up.  My question it this... is the power button integrated with the keyboard assembly and possibly damaged?  Would buying a used keyboard assembly fix the problem or could there be more unseen damage.  Any ideas will be appreciated.  Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi everyone,
I've been using forums like this one looking for advice on what to do, expect and what not to do when faced with a spillage on your mac and I appreciate everyone's stories and advice from their experience so, I'll gladly reciprocate.
So, I spilled soda pop on my macbook air recently. It was about 2/3 of a shot glass full of diet root beer in the upper right hand corner. I was completely devastated. I thought: "not only would this be a unnecessary and expensive waste of money, but all of my intake files were on that Mac and I'll lose literally thousands of dollars in potential sales if my data is corrupted too!"
Under pressure, I succumb to the two newbie mistakes that almost every newbie makes. First, I froze.  Completely. "Maybe is the liquid didn't make it's way into the system? - it really wasn't that much.." I then waited to see what would happen (stupid). The Mac shut off. In a panic, i switched it back on (STUPID) and a blank white screen appeared with a text in the middle. the first paragraph was in english and read "There was a problem attempting to turn your device on … etc, etc". There was a paragraph beneath it written in Chinese or Korean characters. Then, mac shut off again. I frantically ran down stairs to get a bag of rice. I return to our room and, in a panic, i wanted to try turing on the macbook one more time before dumping it in rice (very STUPID). My Mac was working and I was thrilled (for about 5 minutes). All of a sudden, my keys strokes stopped registering, everything froze and it shut down. I did not turn it back on after that. I closed it and quickly flipped it over to let it dry and attempt to save it's life. About 30 seconds later, a motor like noise emanated from the Mac. It started quiet and then quickly got louder and louder. It got so loud that it sounded like the fan was screaming (i've never heard it that loud before). Then, it quickly simmered right down. I THEN submersed it into a rice coffin.
I was so upset, I had so many potential customer intakes on that device and, due to the volume i get on a daily basis, didn't back it up. I made sure rice got in every visible crevice without actually opening up the device. 3 hours later, I put my ear up to the back of the mac. I could hear a faint motor hum still active in the device (like the normal sign it makes when it's on). I though "ok, ok… that's a good sign right?!". It's about that time where I started surfing forums likes these to have a better idea of how to handle this, what to expect and shared/common signs from others experiences that indicate damage has been done.
I kept it closed, tipped over and submersed in it's rice coffin for 37 hours until I took it to the Apply store. All great new and I had the best possible scenario happen to me
The tech said there were no signs of any liquid damage in the system (not even the spill detectors picked it up) and that it's running perfectly fine.
So, to recap:
1. I spilled 2/3 of a shot glass full of diet root beer in the upper right hand corner of my Macbook Air (where the power button is.
2. The computer shut itself down.
3.I tried to turn it back on twice. Once right after and I got blank screen with text saying it's experiencing difficulties trying to start - then it shut itself off. A second time, I attempted to turn it back on 10 minutes later and it ran smoothly for 5 minutes then, keys stopped registering, the computer froze and shut itself off again.
4. Mac let out a very loud scream and then the sound died down (but still lightly hummed for hours later).
5. I closed it and turned it upside down (with the shell closed).
5. I submersed it in a bag of rice (I made sure it got into every possible visible crevice).
6. I left it in it's rice coffin for 37 hours.
7. Took it to the Apple store - and turns out it was perfectly fine and there were no fees!
I'm also really impressed with Apple. It would have been so easy and profitable for them to take advantage of the situation and at least charge and assessment fee - but they didn't. It was completely free. They even replaced one of my screws before sending me off. Apple is honest and respectful with their customers! it if it's broke - they really don't "fix" it like a lot of these other mainstream stores who sell computer repair services. Apple, you rule in so many ways. You know what you're doing as a business and are owning the market for it. Great service and great products Apple.
So that is my spillage story, hope you all find it as usefully as I found your stories (these forums gave me the idea to use rice and it worked!).
Wish you all good luck with your macbook spillage issues. Don't be so quick to write it off as a loss just yet