MacBook Pro spill cleanup

[binaryzero]

The modern MacGyver. 

[offroadaaron]

For some reason I feel like you like to bring pain on yourself and enjoy letting everyone know...

[binaryzero]

Wanna know a cool story?

 

My old house mate used to love finding things on the side of the road. One day we were driving down the street and he shouted stop, reverse! So I did. He runs into a junk pile and finds a Macbook pro with a busted screen lol. We take it home, plug it up to a DVI adapter and boom computer turned on. Full functional. Reinstalled OS and he used it as a desktop! LOL!!!! Classsssic. 

 

[offroadaaron]

30 minutes ago, Jared- said:

Wanna know a cool story?

 

My old house mate used to love finding things on the side of the road. One day we were driving down the street and he shouted stop, reverse! So I did. He runs into a junk pile and finds a Macbook pro with a busted screen lol. We take it home, plug it up to a DVI adapter and boom computer turned on. Full functional. Reinstalled OS and he used it as a desktop! LOL!!!! Classsssic. 

 

Awesome, such a good story! You should make a thread about it so everyone can discuss it! Macklemore might even make a song about it!

Edited February 5, 2016 by offroadaaron

[adrynalyne]

1 hour ago, offroadaaron said:

Awesome, such a good story! You should make a thread about it so everyone can discuss it! Macklemore might even make a song about it!

I'm waiting for the sequel to come out.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

18 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

I'm waiting for the sequel to come out.

Michael Bay want's the movie rights.  How big was the explosion when your mate reversed into it?

[xrobwx71]

1 hour ago, Nik L said:

Michael Bay want's the movie rights.  How big was the explosion when your mate reversed into it?

I had rather John Woo get it..... So we can see somethig shot at with 47,000,000 bullets in slo mo.

 

[binaryzero]

Sequel is my mate sold it on ebay, and then bought beers. 

[Gurkin]

I did a couple of "liquid spillage" repairs a couple of decades ago. One was cat pee (eauw!) and one was Coca Cola. After repair and washing with Isopropyl alcohol, they went back to their owners. 

 

A few weeks later they bounced back as "faulty again" and the owners expected a warranty repair. I just refunded the money and wrote off the hours of work. Lesson learned.

 

The problem with liquid is that it sneaks beneath the surface-mount components and gradually corrodes the connections, causing disconnections and/or dendritic growth forming short-circuits. You can never "deep clean" with just a bottle of alcohol and a brush. You need an ultrasonic cleaning bath as a minimum.

 

Here's a typical corroded SMD PCB that I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

[chrisj1968]

On 11/19/2015 at 4:52 PM, illegaloperation said:

She should have brought it straight to me instead of waiting a week.

my best guess is, sad to say that, the water/liquid spill crossed the current between those electronic circuits and killed the system. yikes. that looks like something I'm adept at doing.

 

[offroadaaron]

On 2/7/2016 at 10:35 AM, Jared- said:

Sequel is my mate sold it on ebay, and then bought beers. 

Still a better love story than the OP's story.

[Circaflex]

This wouldn't happen to be the "hypothetical" stolen laptop would it?

[Mockingbird]

9 hours ago, Gurkin said:

I did a couple of "liquid spillage" repairs a couple of decades ago. One was cat pee (eauw!) and one was Coca Cola. After repair and washing with Isopropyl alcohol, they went back to their owners. 

 

A few weeks later they bounced back as "faulty again" and the owners expected a warranty repair. I just refunded the money and wrote off the hours of work. Lesson learned.

 

The problem with liquid is that it sneaks beneath the surface-mount components and gradually corrodes the connections, causing disconnections and/or dendritic growth forming short-circuits. You can never "deep clean" with just a bottle of alcohol and a brush. You need an ultrasonic cleaning bath as a minimum.

 

Here's a typical corroded SMD PCB that I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

My school does have ultrasonic cleaners. I'll see if I can use one tomorrow.

Well, adding to the headache is that this model is notorious for GPU issues.

 

Edited February 23, 2016 by illegaloperation

[binaryzero]

You'd be more productive jackin' it instead of messing with that lemon. 

[Mockingbird]

Apparently the optical drive doesn't work. It just make sounds and eject the discs.

 

I guess there aren't much uses for one anyway these days.

[Circaflex]

On April 3, 2016 at 6:13 PM, illegaloperation said:

Apparently the optical drive doesn't work. It just make sounds and eject the discs.

 

I guess there aren't much uses for one anyway these days.

They sell an adapter that allows you to install a hdd or ssd in place of the CD-ROM. The adapter is essentially a shell that is about the same dimensions as the CD-ROM but has a slot for a drive. You could always use one of those if the CD-ROM doesn't see much use. I can't remember the name off the top of my head I bought one years back I'll see if I can find the name. 

 

 

It was called optibay http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

[Astra.Xtreme]

I'm fairly certain that isopropyl alcohol breaks down conformal coating, so if you just do the cleaning and don't reapply the conformal coating to the area right away, it's a matter of time before something oxidizes and corrodes.

[Mockingbird]

8 hours ago, Astra.Xtreme said:

I'm fairly certain that isopropyl alcohol breaks down conformal coating, so if you just do the cleaning and don't reapply the conformal coating to the area right away, it's a matter of time before something oxidizes and corrodes.

Well, I basically cleaned it 5 months ago, so too late now.

 

TBH, I've never heard of applying any coting after a spill before.

 

Come to think of it, it has been almost 3 months since I've completed the repair and I still didn't received my money.

[Haggis Veteran]

sell it

[Roundpeg]

That sucks. Pretty much friend mine with a spill. That was an expensive IPA.