Water on iBook keyboard

Nearly a year ago my girlfriend spilt a glass of water on my iBook while it was on! I was outside so it took me a few minutes to rush in and turn it off. I disconnected power & battery and turned it over for a few days. It has not worked since, I have tried a few times over the months. I did buy a used motherboard from Ebay but that didn't work as it had the dreaded logic board problem. So Yesterday I tried the original motherboard it and it worked as normal! It was on for 14 hours, today it started but after 6 hours went off and is dead again. Is there any hope, why did it work so well yesterday? Should I try and dry it out with hairdryer? maybe if I give it more time but surely it would be dry after 10 months?

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Do NOT use a hair dryer on it. The heat can melt electronic components.
Unless you live in a very humid climate, after 10 months it is as dry as it's going to get.
Here is the recommended procedure for handling spills:
Turn it off, but leave it open.
Turn it upside down, rotating the display toward you so that any liquid runs away from the display. From this point on in the procedure, leave it upside down and work on it in that position. Gravity is your friend and will keep the liquid from getting any further down into your iBook if you leave it upside down.
Unplug it from the adapter.
Remove the battery.
Remove the keyboard. With a clean lint-free cloth or paper towel, gently blot (don't rub) away any visible liquid.
Leaving it open and upside down, allow to sit and air dry (no fans or hair dryers) for another three days before reassembling it and trying to use it.
Never try to use a laptop that has been spilled on before disassembling and drying it out. Doing so can allow the liquid to come in contact with circuit boards and permanently short them out.
If, after allowing to dry for several days, it does not work right, try reviving it by resetting the NVRAM and PRAM in open firmware:
Start up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command-Option-O-F key combination during startup.
If you get the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-nvram
Press Return.
When prompted for your password, enter it and press the Return key.
It responds OK.
At the Open Firmware prompt, type: reset-all
Press Return.
The computer restarts (hopefully).
I post this for others who may come here, searching for what to do in the event of a spill.
After this long a time, I would suggest trying to reset the PMU and see if that does any good.

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Water Spill on Keyboard Space Bar Not Working

Greetings,
One of my employees recently spilled a cup of water on their keyboard. I unplugged the keyboard, shook the water out of it and it seemed to work fine. A few days later, I was informed that the "space key" was no longer working.
Is there anything I should try to repair it? I am used to being "hands on" with repairs to our systems (we have about 30 Mac's on site). But, I wasn't sure if spills are considered irreversible damage to keyboards, etc. Any suggestions?
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Administrator
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[email protected]
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Don't use the dish washer trick with an eMac keyboard (the Mac keyboard with the nice crumb and liquid catching clear under-tray). I recently had a spill on my keyboard and decided to take apart the keyboard to investigate why some of my old keyboard cleaning tricks were not working. On disassembly I discovered these keyboards are not like the keyboards of yester-year.
Old keyboards were simply a rigid printed circuit board (PCB) and then the keys over it that pressed down and shorted traces on the PCB to make a key stroke. hen those got dirty you could very easily literally wash them, let them dry and continue to use.
These newer Mac keyboards do not use the same method. Now they have a few layers of thin flexible plastic sheets with traces imprinted in them. Several of these are sandwiched together. The keys above press down and make contact and also press the layers of contacts together.
The problem with the new method is once you get liquid in there, the liquid seeps between the thin plastic layers and simply sits forever with no air flow to dry out the liquid. So once you get liquid in there, it will either never dry out or take a very long time (months minimum) to dry out.
Once you get liquid in there, about the only solution is to pull the keyboard apart and separate all the layers and let them air dry or wipe them down. It is a PITA since each key has a little rubber dome that goes over each spot and they are not attached to the keys, so you have to put the layers back together, then put each of those 100+ rubbers in place then attach the backing rigid piece without moving any of the rubbers. It takes a fair amount of time.
My keyboard still doesn't work 100%, so I will buy a new one one of these days. Next time, I won't even bother with trying to clean it. I will just spend the $29.95 and get a new one.
Patrick

Spilled water over the keyboard of my MacBook Pro.

Spilled water over the keyboard of my MacBook Pro. 13 inches. Used paper and dried it straigt away, it was working fine. Now, a few days later, my left shift-button, the ctrl-button and right-arrow button do not work. What can I do to try to fix this?
My Mac is working completely fine. It was maybe 0,5 dl of water...

Nothing that you can do to fix it. Best to just leave it off and take it to your local Apple Store or AASP. No telling how much it's going to cost you - there are liquid sensors all around your computer so the service centers will be able to tell that it's a case of liquid damage, even if there is no corrosion yet.
You just have to be careful with any kind of liquids around notebooks - liquids and electricity just don't play well together.
Sorry,
Clinton

Water spilled on keyboard when laptop was on!

I am trying to fix a satellite for a client. He spilled a glass of water on his keyboard while using his laptop. When I press the power button the blue power light comes on but there’s nothing on the screen. Will replacing the motherboard fix the issue? Is there a possibility that other parts were damaged? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jon.

The first thing to do is take it apart and dry it out thoroughly and see if there is any visible damage or burned componants.
It's possible the motherboard is indeed burned out or shorted out and it's also quite possible that any number of other componants have burned out as well. The only way to know is to test them out. For the most part it could easily cost almost as much to repiar that laptop as it would to replace it so unless you know exactly what componant has failed it probably isn't a good idea to just start replacing parts trying to diagnoise the problem.
If you don't post your COMPLETE model number it's very difficult to assist you. Please try to post in complete sentences with punctuation, capitals, and correct spelling. Toshiba does NOT provide any direct support in these forums. All support is User to User in their spare time.

I spilled WATER on my keyboard!!!!!!!!

I had an open water bottle next to my laptop as I was using it, and somehow moved my left arm in such a manner that it knocked over the bottle and splashed water all over my open computer. I had tissues nearby since I have a cold and immediately cleaned up every instance of water, yet...well, the computer worked absolutely fine for a few minutes, and I left the room and came back, but when I tried to resume usage the mouse was just FROZEN. I dabbed a tissue at the mouse area, in that crack between thetouch-sensitive pad and the clicker, and, guess what...there was water residue there. I promptly Freaked Out and called some people I know for help, and I'm typing this on someone else's PC right now.
A few minutes ago I tried my laptop mouse again and okay, here is the new problem:
When I try to select something, the selection jumps all around the screen, from icon to icon on my desktop. The mouse moves fine, but what it clicks is just insane now. I have never seen this happen before.
Should I expect the rest to slowly resume usage? Or am I now doomed to drive to the nearest Apple store for emergency help?
PS:. How do I know if my G4's made of aluminum or titanium? I'm an art student who works with metal sometimes so I feel like a moron for being unsure of that

Hi, Marissa. IMMEDIATELY disconnect your AC adapter from the Powerbook and remove the main battery. Do not attempt to turn it on AT ALL until every bit of moisture has been removed or evaporated from it. Short circuits caused by the water can cause (and may already have caused) extensive damage, but you won't know how things stand until the PB is COMPLETELY dry again and you can test it.
Release the keyboard catches and flip the keyboard back onto the palm rest. Disconnect the keyboard cable's connector from the logic board. If you need something more than a fingernail to pry the connector up and off, use something nonmetallic and nonconductive. Blow as much moisture off the keyboard and out from all its nooks and crannies as you can with a can of compressed air, then set the keyboard aside to dry. If there is water under the keyboard (as is very likely if you spilled more than a teaspoon or two), blot up all you can of it with tissues, Q-Tips, etc. Remove every trace of water you can, any way you can. If you have or can borrow a Torx T-8 screwdriver, remove the Powerbook's bottom panel to provide more air circulation and give you more access to the interior for swabbing away water. When you've gotten all you can, arrange the PB so air can move very freely all around it, then set up a fan to blow room-temperature air directly over and through it to evaporate away whatever moisture remains inside (there are many crannies and crevices you can't get at without totally dismantling it). Leave the fan blowing over it 24 hours a day for a minimum of 2-3 days no less before putting the keyboard and battery back in place and trying again to start it up. Good luck.
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20041012075239848

Spilled water on iBook

Glass of water was dumped on my iBook G4. It booted up okay, but problem seems to be that the power input won't recognize the AC adapter. Any ideas (ballpark) how much this would cost to fix?
Also, when I was using it before the AC adapter started to fizzle, my arrow froze up. The trackpad wouldn't work, but an external mouse would. Do I need to fear greater water damage?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Matt

Hey RevMD,
Here's an earlier post of mine:
"Here's a mod of an earlier post of mine.
"Whenever any liquid/water is spilled on the iBook especially in the keyboard area which affords a direct path to the mother board, all power should be immediately removed from the iBook. In fact I might go so far as to say you should immediately pull the power plug and remove the battery, crashing the computer, because that would be better than causing an electrical problem on the logic board.
In other words:
Crashing iBook - worst case scenerio - corrupted system - reinstall software
probability ~ 5%
Water on the board - worst case scenerio - damaged logic board replacement cost
$300 depending on model plus labor - probability - 80%.
So once all power is off the computer it will have to be completely disassembled down to the board level and all parts will have to be inspected for signs of water. Even the tiniest drop will cause disaster. This would be especially true in the area of and under the larger LSI chips and surface mount chips. These sit very low to the board and can wick water underneath them very easily. In the case of the graphics chip, CPU chips which are ball grid mounted, there are hundreds of connections under these chips, separated by less that 1 mm. Water wicking into that area would need to be blown out with compressed air and then the board should be placed in a drying oven.
It could still take weeks or months to dry out naturally."
Keeping power on the computer, i.e. plugged in or battery in even if it's off, will cause a rapid erosion of the wet traces on the logic board via electolytic action. Some of these traces are .1 mm wide or less, so you can see that erosion of a trace that tiny will happen very quickly.
Richard

I stupidly spilled water through the keyboard on my MacBook Pro the other night!! :-(

I had my MBP on my nightstand, was changing sheets on my bed...I knocked a big glass of water over RIGHT ON TO MY MBP's Keyboard. It was open and running at the time. It immediately goes black! I turn it over and water literally pours out of it. OMG, I've had it like 2 months! Anyway, I immediately removed the back and sprayed high pressure air from inside to hopefully clear as much water as possible out as I can. Then, luckily, I remembered I had some VERY BIG Ziploc bags (Big Bags 15" x 15"). So I put it in the bag with about 2 cups of rice and a handful (5 or 6) small silica gel packets that I keep in my safe. This was 4 days ago. I tried it last night...attached the MagSafe power cord and the light just blinked rapid amber on the indicator. I put it back in the bag...no hope left! :-(
Tonight I gave it another try, attached the MagSafe power adapter....and GREEN!!! Trying not to be overly excited I gingerly hit the power button...SWEET LORD the thing fired right up!!! A few quirks with the trackpad, but they slowly seem to be diminishing! I just had to say Apple builds a helluva computer! Now I just need to remember not to put it on the nightstand next to my water glass!! Dumb move, but it worked out ok!! I am in disbelief. Had to thank God tonight that my $2K+ laptop wasn't ruined by my stupidity AND thank this forum for the rice in the bag advice! This is my first Mac and besides beating the Windows based units to ****, they're TOUGH!
Recommendation: water + MBP = BAD. Stupid blind luck and good advice on this forum = working MBP and my thanks to all of you! :-)

Glad to hear things are working out well for you. It is extraordinarily fortunate that you did not permanently damage the MacBook Pro. It is good that you are being more careful.
Enjoy your machine.
Safe computing.

IMac (24-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.8) small water spill on keyboard. Why can't I access web now?

I accidentally spilled water on keyboard for my iMac (24-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.8). Since then, I have dryed it out. Several keys aren't working so I tried another, albeit older, keyboard. That one worked fine but for some reason I cannot access tthe web on Safari or Firefox. It's still picking up my wiireless network and every other devise on the vetwork access the web just fine. There is also a progress bar that shows up while the computer is starting up that didn't used to be there. What can I do to fix this?

Sounds like your system is starting up in Safe Mode. Go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your hard drive and then restart your system.

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Hi Peter...
I can't see how the Ram could be the problem from what you describe. I suggest removing and then connecting the keyboard ribbon just to make sure all the pins are well attached. The pbfixit site has good instructions if you need them...
http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/49.4.0.html
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Without knowing more, one would guess there was a spill, maybe?
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You have posted in the iBook G3 (Dual USB) Forum.

IBook Keyboard.

I just recently got an iBook G3 for collage. I am using my iMac G5 20'' for more heavy things like Photoshop etc. I am interested about getting the G4 keyboard as I do not like the G3 ones. It is a 700mhz model so has teh exact same look as the G4 except for the keyboard. Is it possible to replace my G3 keyboard with a G4 one? I saw this on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/iBook-G3-White-Keyboard-for-12-or-14in-iBook_W0QQitemZ8705 740911QQcategoryZ4602QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting
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HI Joe, I looked very closely at the keyboard on the e-bay page and the key directly beneath the escape key(esc) and the key above the return/enter on my G3 iBook are different than the e-bay page--it appears that they moved them which may not be a problem but they added a key--The one below the escape is not present on the G3 keyboard--this is a problem unless apple used a universal cable that was used on all keyboards and just opted not to use that contact on my type of G3--
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Soon after switching on for the first time I could tell something wasnt quite right. It turns out that the number 4 key is 'sticking', I only worked this out once I opened the text editor. There is nothing physically wrong with the key however. But if im typing a document I get random 4s appearing, sometime rows of them at a time. When not in text editor I get the sound of a key being pressed like its being held down. It also makes it difficult to navigate/control the drop down menus. It makes the machine difficult to use in any capacity.
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Almost a week later and Im still waiting for this keyboard to arrive. :((
The whole buzz and fun experience of getting a new 'toy' has being ruined.

@MrMen ,
I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).
If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.
I work for HP. However I speak only for myself, not for HP nor anyone else

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Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Has there been anything spilled on the keyboard? Could there be potato chip crumbs in there, or something? (It's been known to happen.)
Have you tried removing and replacing the keyboard to make sure it's seated properly? (While it's out, you could put an old nylon sock over your vacuum nozzle so you don't vacuum the keys off and run the vacuum nozzle over it to clean dust out of it.)
If there are no spills, crumbs, dirt, or debris in the keyboard, and removing it and replacing it doesn't help, then, regrettably, you are probably going to have to replace it.

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Im working on some ibooks for a school...one of them has a strange issue when you press the "t" key it starts typing [5tgb over and over again....
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Problem solved... me the n00b...
After reading the log in /var/dt/Xerrors more closely this time I found that it was trying to load module "Keyboard" for the device "Keyboard1" and was not able to find that module. The log was also suggesting that this module is deprecated and I should use "kbd" instead... Made the changes in xorg.conf and things are good now...

Water on iBook keyboard

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