A Sticky Situation: How To Handle A Coffee Spill On Your Macbook

Nooooooooooooo!

After years and years of owning computers, I have finally done the unthinkable and spilled coffee on my laptop. Ironically, it wasn't my coffee and I wasn't drinking it but I somehow splashed some on the keyboard. After the initial freak out during which I frantically wiped off the keys and thought for a moment that it might be alright, my poor macbook turned off and I knew coffee had made its way into the insides of the computer. Since Apple doesn't cover liquid damage and my macbook is outside the warranty period anyway, the only way to save "Ping" was to open him up and dry him out.

Currently, E and I are house sitting in Agoura Hills. This means that I didn't have my tools with me and the house is somewhat unfamiliar. To fix Ping, we needed a lot of drying apparatuses and all of them pull a lot of power. We found a fan and a hair dryer but ended up unintentionally plugging them in to an outlet on the same breaker as the TV and all the electronics. This of course blew the breaker and we had NO clue where the breaker box was. It was 11pm, we couldn't find flashlights, and once we found a flashlight we couldn't find batteries for it. Note to self: Make sure there's always a flashlight WITH batteries in an obvious place. After an hour spent walking the perimeter of the house and checking cubbies and closets, E eventually found the panel in the front of the house (duh) and we reset the breaker. With our lights and power restored, it was time to tackle the macbook!

How to (Attempt) to rescue a Macbook from coffee:

Disclaimer: This guide is entirely use at your own risk. Opening your macbook is likely to void your factory warranty if it hasn't already been voided by you spilling on it. If you've already spilled, you pretty much have nothing left to lose. If you haven't spilled yet, keep these instructions handy in case you do. 

Tools:
- Fan, hairdryer, drying apparatus
- Super tiny phillips head screw driver, preferably with magnetic tip and short handle
- Q-tips
- Dishes/bags for screws
* Compressed air (optional)
* Rubbing alcohol (optional)