<p>I seem to recall a thread about this recently but couldn’t find it. My daughter spilled water on her Mac laptop, it stopped working, and she had it looked over by them. They told her it would cost $790 (!) to fix it. She bought it 11 months ago, so it is still under warranty, but spills are not covered. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get this thing fixed for less? That’s almost the price of a new Mac! They told her that even though she didn’t spill much water, the spill impacted the most sensitive part, whatever that means. (I don’t think she has the extended warranty.)</p>
<p>Ouch! $790 - that HURTS. Sorry, I do not have any quick fix suggestions… Are there any independent shops or computer enthusiasts who can do Mac repairs for less? Since it is not covered by the Apple’s warranty, you are free to take it anywhere for repairs. </p>
<p>Does Apple offer any sort of accidental coverage for its machines? It might make sense to buy a policy if you decide to get a new laptop. We have Sony PCs, and bought coverage for one of the laptops that gets to travel to sunny CA very often.</p>
<p>I have spilled on my laptop before, getting it wet is not the problem, electricity traveling through the moisture us the issue. If you EVER spill on a laptop/cell phone/etc immediately turn it off and open up what you can so it can drip/drain/dry. Do not turn it on until you are sure it is dry, you may be surprised, I spilled a 16 oz hot tea (no sugar, which was apparently quite helpful) on my laptop and only spent $100 to replace the keyboard.</p>
<p>If hers is already dead I am not sure what you can do other than get competitive quotes, maybe from a non Apple repair shop, an independent may be cheaper.</p>
<p>Also, check into adding a computer policy to your homeowners, we did this AFTER DDs laptop was stolen in 2nd year of university and have not had any lost/stolen/spills since, of course ;)</p>
<p>If you go to an Apple authorized independent shop, it will probably be cheaper. Also, you did not say if your daughter was in college or not. If she is, and if you have student insurance for her, check the terms. My daughter’s Apple was fixed at least two times by her student insurance.</p>
<p>My friend “had an accident” with her brand new macbook. Never mentioned it; they got it fixed for her.</p>
<p>Worst case you might be able to sell the broken Mac on eBay for more money than you would expect–I spilled water on my Macbook 2 years ago and sold it for something like $600 on eBay, stating clearly in the ad that it was broken, had water damage, and was being sold as-is. I imagine someone bought it for parts. Just checked eBay and for example, a Macbook that someone spilled coffee on sold for $475 about a week ago.</p>
<p>Does this help any</p>
<p>[Micro</a> Center - MacBook 13.3" MB881LL/A](<a href=“http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0305909]Micro”>http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0305909)</p>
<p>was it a *lot of water?
generally if you shut it off, open it up right away and drain it out-
DONOT turn it on until it dries- it will be fine and dandy. ( goes for most electronics- try not to spill milkshakes or mai tais- * bigmess)
The most we have ever done is replace the keyboard, which you can do yourself for about $100.
[iFixit:</a> iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories](<a href=“http://www.ifixit.com/]iFixit:”>http://www.ifixit.com/)</p>
<p>Our cat knocked an open water bottle on my Ds Macbook two weeks ago. The only thing that was damaged was the screen. She is in hs and paid for half of this herself and it is only 7 months old. We took it to the Apple store and they told us they could replace the screen for $550! The technician was really nice and gave us the cards of two places they reccommend for screen replacement and they were only $250. My D has not sent the computer in yet to be fixed as she can still see most things on the screen and needs it right now for school. We will send it away next month after APs to get fixed.</p>
<p>It happened to my laptop (not a Mac) and I let it dry out and I am using it now. I hope yours will come back some time. </p>
<p>I have heard of people who dropped their cell phone into the toilet and cell phone working after it was dried out.</p>
<p>Did you buy it using a credit card that might have a warranty associated with it?</p>
<p>Where do you live? This exact thing happened to my D’s Macbook and we had it repaired locally for less than half the price of what Apple quoted.</p>
<p>Water should not cause major issues in most cases–but sugary drinks make parts sticky and attract dirt so the mess can’t simply dry up and go away like spilled water.</p>
<p>Don’t let anyone fix your computer if they tell you something impacted “the most sensitive part.” If they can’t tell you the names for things and explain why those things work the way they do, they should not have their hands inside your computer.</p>
<p>After sufficient drying time, what’s still not working on the computer?</p>
<p>
Good advice - and remove the battery as well (as long as it’s not one of the Apples with a non-removable battery). </p>
<p>I agree with the thorough drying (which I assume was done of it was taken to Apple). If it still doesn’t work take it to someplace willing to take a real look at it (I agree with Mrs. Weasley’s assessment on ‘the most sensitive part’ comment). It could be that an on-board fuse or power supply fuse blew and needs to be replaced. These fuses are cheap but might be soldered in so someone who knows what they’re doing should check it. The ICs these days are remarkably robust in what they can tolerate so there’s a good chance ‘the most sensitive part’ wasn’t really damaged.</p>
<p>I agree that especially for a college student the ‘accidental damage coverage’ is good to have. I have it for my D’s Dell laptop. They’ll basically replace anything except for the battery and it’s quick and easy.</p>
<p>Ugh. Thanks, everybody.
‘the most sensitive part’ is actually my words. I’ll have to check with D to see what exactly Apple told her.
I wish she had known about turning it off and letting it dry out. It was just water, so chances are that she might have been able to save it.</p>
<p>I’m in NYC, so if anyone can recommend a place around here… (there should be a place around here, right?) Charliesmom, I have my fingers crossed that you live near me!</p>
<p>I’m going to look in on student insurance (yes, she’s in college) and the credit card terms (Amex).</p>
<p>I’m kind of dumbfounded that this is such a big deal to fix (spills, I mean) and that it’s not covered under warranty. You see people everywhere using their laptops around coffee, drinks, etc. Who would have thought that a little water could be so costly?
The lesson here is that water bottles are very dangerous! Mugs of coffee are OK if they have a wide, flat bottom, but I would still keep a minimum two feet distance. Everyone, move your drink away from your computer right now!!</p>
<p>My D has already used her “accidental damage coverage” - it is must.<br>
Warning - they should not be walking around with computer ON, that is how D’s got damaged, she did not drop it, did not spill anything. If you move computer, the best is to have it OFF.</p>
<p>I’m not such a fan of Apple anymore. I mean, come on, she should have to pay something to have it fixed but $790?? Seems like gouging to me. Even a car mechanic wouldn’t charge 75% of the new car price!</p>
<p>We had to get a warranty repair but the initially required billing authorization - I had to later call AppleCare to get Apple to cover it as it was slightly out of warranty. They quoted us $300+ for a depot repair which could take up to a week and a much higher price if they fixed it in-house. The most expensive part of the laptop should be the motherboard and it’s possible that it would need replacement. You’d probably get a refurbished motherboard. You might contact Apple to see if a depot repair would be cheaper.</p>
<p>you can get a netbook (ee pc, msi, etc) for less than $790 to replace the broken mac.</p>
<p>
It’s the old saying - electricity and water don’t mix.</p>
<p>Water on a powered up circuit will usually result in a short circuit which could damage the components, literally ‘fry’ them, or hopefully, do nothing more than blow a fuse or cause the power supply to shut down. Some circuit boards have fuses on them (I’ve designed some boards like this) for some protection against shorts and more importantly, for safety in preventing fires. </p>
<p>Of course, a good design for a laptop would have a fairly ‘sealed’ keyboard so that the spill would damage only the keyboard and not the motherboard or other components. Keyboards are generally fairly inexpensive (about $30-$100) and are easy and quick to replace.</p>
<p>You can get a new full-fledged laptop for less than $790 to replace the Apple.</p>