Spilled water on the already troubled macbook, but it works..?

Question

Yesterday afternoon, while studying for final exams, I spilled some water on the upper left-hand side of my several month old Macbook. I had a 12-ounce glass on the desk, and I figure about 2-3 ounces of water spilled on the computer. Water got into the keyboard and the occupied USB, firewire, power, and Ethernet ports on the macbook's left side.
The computer continued to respond for a bit. After a couple minutes, it stopped responding. I tried to turn it on again, and it booted up. But, once the desktop came up, it powered down. I tried to turn it on again, but then I turned it off, took out the battery, and set it display and keyboard down to drain out. I left it like that for a short time -- not more than about an hour. I turned it on, and it has been working ever since. I’m typing on it now.
The battery charged up successfully, the screen works, and all auxiliary devices including the external HDD, printer, speakers, etc. do not seem to have been affected. They themselves were not wet, but the water inside the USB and firewire ports to which they were plugged doesn’t seem to have done any damage.
I have read other threads on this board about spillage, and I realize I may have rushed the process. In other words, I should have left it without power to dry for longer. My question is, at this point, should I take out the battery and let it dry out further? Or, would all damage already have been done? Will things go wrong in the future if they are not going wrong now?
To complicate things a little bit, I had this Macbook at the local genius bar last week to examine problems I've been having. Before the spill, the OS had been freezing a lot and there had been problems starting up, with the folder and flashing question mark. Sometimes when I tried to save documents, it stopped responding, and I heard a clicking sound coming from the right-hand side of the keyboard. I feared the worst -- hard drive failure, i.e. the “click of death.” After some brief tests, the technician couldn't find any HDD problem. He wanted me to leave the computer over for a few days so they could run some more tests. He suggested an erase install. Because of finals and because I don't have another machine, I decided to open a ticket and bring it back in over winter vacation.
Though the system has been working all right since the spill, it seems to be having moving a bit slower than before. When I hold keys down, the repeat rate is not as fast. Programs don’t open as quickly. Do you think this could have been caused by the water damage? I have gleaned from other posts that admitting I spilled water will void my warranty. So, if any repairs are needed for the initial problem, the genius's knowledge of the water spillage will make me have to pay for any repairs? Should I have the genius take a look at the innards to see if anything is messed up due to water? Is there anything in particular I should ask about, and if he/she cannot see anything wrong, should I insist on any particular course of action?
Understandably, I’m agitated about this. I spent a lot on the computer and haven’t had it for long. Fortunately, I cashed in on after Thanksgiving sales to get a solid external hard drive for backups. This is my first Mac product, and it’s frustrating having problems already without me spilling. I trust that this can all be fixed, however. I’m just wondering if there are any land mines I should watch out for now that water has been spilled. What do you think?
Message was edited by: surrealfx

Answer 1

Spilled water without flavorings and especially without sugar is something from which your computer may recover. The best thing to do is to shut off as quickly as possible and remove the battery pack. Place the computer in a sunny window with the lid open to promote evaporation of the water. On top of a refrigerator is also a warm perch that'll promote drying. It is difficult to say exactly how long it takes to dry the computer; that depends on ambient temperature and humidity, and how how water is in there.
The biggest threat from the water is corrosion of metal parts, so drying quickly is a must. Also, water can form mineral salt deposits that can grow conductive dendrites between adjacent traces on printed circuit boards. The formation of dendrites is aggravated if you apply power before the machine is dried out. The worst damage would be if water managed to get in the breather hole of the hard drive - luckily, the way the drive is mounted, that would be fairly unlikely.
Bill