A story of what happened when my laptop suffered liquid damage, and what you should do if it happens.
First, the back-story! The birth of this new laptop arose from the need to replace my old fujitsu S6510 which has faithfully served me for the past 5.5 years. The old laptop was half a decade old and still working really well- save for a creaky fan whose whirrs where akin to the persistent snores of a person sleeping with a blocked nose. The noise easily creates embarrassing situations, such a third of the lecture hall’s population turning their head towards me the moment the creaky fan started spinning rapidly within the machine’s body when I turned it on. Anyway, the laptop could be considered a grandma in people-age and it was due to be replaced with something that didn’t emit excessive heat, noise and embarrassment.
After weeks of research, I finally put my finger down (literally) and ordered a MacBook from Apple’s web store. Everything went smoothly enough- the order was processed quickly and I was also happy to get a small student discount! The new laptop was sent to my doorstep within 5 working days, which is really quick. Tinkered with it for several days and then brought it out for its first excursion to school.
The second time I brought it out, which is just six days after receiving it… disaster struck. I remember collecting my lunch from the Yong Tau Foo stall in Makan Place when Kingsly apprehensively approached me and carefully said, “Don’t panic, but I’ve something to tell you”. The first thing that crossed my mind was that my entire bag got snatched/stolen from our table along with the new laptop nestled within it. It was a plausible fear since my bag was stolen several years back when it was left unattended along with some friends’ when we were jogging at Ngee Ann’s. But that’s a story for another day.
He then continued, “Your bottle leaked and your entire bag is drenched”.
- When I returned to the table, my friends were already helping to wipe down all my belongings. This included my new laptop, which they first rescued from the sopping wet backpack. Apparently when they helped to stack up all our bags onto a chair, the cap of my bottle (which was inside my bag) clicked open when the bag got tilted and its entire contents, which is about 400ml of water, spilled out. But because I wasn’t present when the laptop was fished out and cleaned, I had no idea how much water had been in direct contact with it.
This caused me to make several decisions that could have indirectly led to the damage of the laptop. Firstly, I decided to have lunch first before checking on the device since I knew that I wouldn’t have any appetite if it really ended up being spoilt. And that was precisely what happened after lunch. The laptop was totally unresponsive. That was when my heart sank and reality set in.
We then sat stunned for a moment and did what regular people would- we googled for help. After reading through several forums, it was then decided that the best thing to do would be to head home and put the laptop in a bag of rice. That’s something I won’t recommend anyone to do, by the way. Unless you’re absolutely sure that all optical ports are covered and safe from the danger of rice bits entering the device.
After keeping the laptop in a large gallon-sized ziplock bag with about six cups of rice and several packs of silica gel meant for camera gear, we waited. A week. When we retrieved the laptop again and tried to switch it on, nothing happened. The light indicator for the charger had no response when turned on and plugged in as well. The funniest thing is that some rice managed to make their way into the body of the laptop although I made a conscious effort to tape up all the ports on the sides and we could hear it when shaking the device, It was one of those moments where I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Anyway, I managed to get it fixed by sending it to an authorized service provider (QCD @ Tradehub 21) for repairs. The verdict? Visible corrosion on the logic board that had to be replaced entirely. And the worse thing is that it wasn’t covered under warranty since the liquid contact indicator had changed colour. I tried calling up all the other service providers listed on Apple’s site but the prices they quoted for pretty much the same. Even contacted Apple’s customer service (the call got routed overseas) who couldn’t help me out as well.
The final cost ended up to be $941.00- a hefty amount for a student who just paid for the brand new laptop and an expensive lesson to be remembered for a long, long time.
TL;DR
Brand new Macbook Air 2013 suffered liquid damage after unintentional water spill
Kept it in bag of rice and silica gel but didn't work. DO NOT put your laptop in rice!!
Not covered by warranty because liquid contact indicator was exposed to the water
Had to pay full amount for repairs
Tips: Immediately after spill, put laptop on its side to drain out excess water. Keep laptop in airtight bag with appropriate drying agent (silica gel should work). Wait as long as possible before attempting to turn on laptop again. If it's really damaged, pray hard that the indicator wasn't exposed to liquids! Good luck!!
