Coffee on MacBook Pro - Diagnostic test help

I drink a lot of coffee. Embarrassingly, I also spill a lot of coffee. Today, I decided to spill nearly a full cup over my entire MacBook Pro–straight over the entire width of the keyboard, from A to ". The screen got it, too. Well, apparently, I acted swiftly enough and got all the coffee off. My machine has been working perfectly all day. (I even squeezed in one more back up, just in case.) I have but one question: is there any kind of diagnostic that I can run to test if there is anything malfunctioning that I might not be seeing?

Coffee is corrosive, the damage may not happen for a while.

FWIW my hubby only allows one keyboard fix per person per lifetime. It required removing absolutely eveything, cleaning and then in some cases redoing the wires to something under his big microscope with a very specialized soldering iron. I am smart enough to stay the heck out of his way and I just sort of watched from afar. As I recall it took several days to get it all cleaned and working and some of the keys had to be replaced which took a bit longer.

I am under strict orders that if I spill anything on any other keyboards I have to go buy a new one. I used up my one fix per lifetime :slight_smile:

5 Likes

When I spilt coffee of my mx mechanical I used an electrical contact cleaner - but not used one on my MacBook Pro.

+1

Just as sure as I post this I’ll jinx myself and dump a pot of coffee on my laptop.:crossed_fingers:t3:

But thus far, I have never spilled liquid of any quantity on my laptop and I too drink a LOT of coffee. :rofl:

th-2119878558

To guard against spills–and to keep my coffee hot–I drink my coffee from this:

and this

I highly recommend both.

2 Likes

I do the same.

Yeti’s coolers are horrifically overpriced, but their drinkware is within the realm of the reasonable, and worth it.

2 Likes

Yeti products are expensive–some are overpriced–but I agree, their drinking products are worth it in the long run. I’ve never had to replace a Yeti product.

1 Like

Coca Cola is way worse; much more corrosive. it’s the acids in each that do the damage.

2 Likes

I try to keep an air gap between the surface my coffee cup is on and whatever my Mac rests on. Even better if the coffee cup sits lower than my Mac. Won’t prevent every spill but I think it helps.

4 Likes

Good suggestions. What happened here is that my coffee was to the left of my laptop not even in grab range. I was lucky enough that my wife made me lunch and brought it to my desk. She set it further to the left of the coffee. In my eagerness to eat lunch, I grabbed the plate, but failed to get achieve sufficient altitude to avoid colliding with the coffee cup, which fell over like a set of dominos.

All would have been avoided had I purchased a Yeti, which I will certainly do today.

By they way, everything still seems to be working as normal.

1 Like

I’m more than tempted to mark your post as the solution; which, ultimately, I think it is. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Are your husband’s once-in-a-life fix services available only for family or do they extend to members of the MPU community? If the latter, please send me a quote for the de-corroding services and mailing instructions. :star_struck:

Don’t want to give you false hope… But this happened to me about 3 years ago on an old MBP 2014
Stil working perfectly to this day. Mind you, it was a thick latté, so maybe it didn’t get all the way to the bottom of the case…

Well, though I’m seldom able to provide good tech solutions in this forum, at least I can occasionally give some basic practical advice. :slightly_smiling_face: Should I apologize to your wife for causing you to purchase an expensive coffee mug? :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

Short answer to original post… Nope!

Longer response is you are a lucky, lucky person. Please purchase a lotto ticket in the near future. YETI products are amazing. Any liquid is bad for electronics. Those with sugar or salt are the worse.

Apple has improved the design of notebook keyboards over the years to help prevent liquid from instantly shorting out a system. Nothing foolproof still but every step helps. Those of us who remember removing keyboard assemblies from PowerBooks and iBooks understand. 12" PowerBook repairs bring back memories that make my eye twitch to this day.

2 Likes

Gecko urine can also etch plastic while mouse urine can also corrode the boards themselves.

1 Like

Family and a few select neighbors (the ones with the winery next door for example :wink:) Sorry.

2 Likes

Well, that’s more than I needed to know. :joy:

2 Likes

Coffee is mildy acidic so is only slightly corrosive (depends on how you brewed it). More worrysome might be the sugar you may have stirred in, that will turn sticky. If you can/dare, open the unit and clean as much of the affected areas with IPA (iso prop alcohol). The IPA will help drive out any water and dissolve grease. IPA is not conductive, use it liberally. Do let it evaporate before turning on the unit, this is not to avoid a short (again, it is not conductive) but to avoid a boiling spot i.e., an area under a chip or othe components that gets hot, boils the IPA and thereby stresses the solder joints and/or chip.

1 Like

The machine has been running like a gem, but I brought it in to the Apple Store to have it checked. The tech brought it back opened it up and did the IPA treatment as you suggested. He took before and after photos and showed me. First, I was surprised how little coffee actually intruded. Although, he didn’t take everything down to the logic board. So, there could have been more. Second, the IPA cleaned what was there so well there was no evidence of any liquid intrusion after cleaning it. Very impressive. Third, there was no evidence of any corrosion (as of today!), so that’s good. I drink my coffee as black as tar, so maybe my drinking preferences have saved me some headache.

My AppleCare+ does not lapse until the fall of 2024, so he recommended that I ride this out and see if anything crops up in the future.

I’m really impressed that this was not worse. Now, @MacGuyMI, I’m heading out for that lottery ticket. With the winnings, @Bmosbacker and @acavender, I’ll be acquiring a brand new overpriced yeti thermos.

Thanks all!

2 Likes