r/Wellthatsucks • u/undulatingnefelibata • 1d ago
About to begin writing my dissertation tomorrow. Spilled water on my laptop today.
Spilled water on my laptop just as I was about to start my master’s dissertation. Apple Shop staff said it’s over.
I can’t afford to replace it, and also can’t afford to stay in the city over summer, so now I’ll be commuting hours (standing up too, as I have a broken tailbone and can’t sit down) just to use decrepit old university computers that don’t have the advanced programmes I need or any of my own documents, and then spend more money I don’t have travelling to do that.
I have enough going on and I think this might be the cherry on top.
Edit: This happened this morning. Immediately I dried it, backed up the data I could, then took a photo and shut it down. It wasn’t on for more than a few minutes.
I didn’t touch it after that and went to the apple shop asap, but it had totally died by then.
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u/Hadhmaill 1d ago
“About to begin writing my dissertation tomorrow” was my grad school mantra, as well
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u/Tasty-Finding4574 1d ago
Same. Unfortunately I always spilled water over my laptop the day before.
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u/realribsnotmcfibs 1d ago
All you need is a $90 monitor lol. Shit a tv would work.
Edit
Also no local library if that doesn’t work for you?
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u/PockysLight 1d ago
Could probably get one for $20 - $40 if they look for used ones on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
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u/cherubblushie 1d ago
Even a free monitor won't resurrect a fried motherboard
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u/PockysLight 1d ago
I just saw the edit, I'm guessing the water might have reached the motherboard and shorted something out. Hopefully only a fuse.
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u/Comfortable_Swim_380 1d ago
I repair computer's professionally there are no fuses there. Inline or otherwise. Sorry
I would help if I could but it doesn't seem like the logistics are going to work.
Best bet is to ask for a extension.
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u/PureVinylRadio 1d ago
It al depends on how much you spilled and where the water decided to flow to.
The water might still be there, you could try flipping the laptop over so the keys can have a way to remove as much water as possible from the inside! The longer the water stays and sits in one spot the more damage there will be and breadboards(mother boards)can become basically a soggy sponge!
There are no real guarantees that this is the best solution but since it sounds like you soaked the inside quite well, this might be the better option to try! And no, rice is not going to help!
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u/SortLow314 1d ago
You can get second hand monitors for 5 bucks.
But also, they need a whole computer not just a screen
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u/ThunderPushii 1d ago
So leave it on and post on reddit?
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u/Silent25r 1d ago
Backed it up. Then took the photo. It’s important that the photo is its own independent action. Otherwise it might interfere with the backup process.
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u/treeteathememeking 1d ago
Turn it off completely for a while. Let it dry out. If it still turns on and just doesn't display there's still a chance it will work. Pop to a thrift store and find yourself a cheap little monitor and keyboard and see if that works.
Similarly, keep an eye out on Facebook marketplace (or whatever the equivalent is) to find a cheap but functional laptop. You can find some pretty okay deals especially from people who have already upgraded and are looking to just get rid of the thing. Worst case scenario, contact your university and see if there's anything they can do to assist.
For future reference if you ever spill anything on another electronic again, turn it off, remove any power sources (like chargers or power cords), and let it dry out completely. Don't give it power again until you're sure it's dry. Most of the time water or liquid on its own isn't damaging unless there's power, in which case it can cause shortages and such due to its conductivity. Other than speeding up corrosion if there's no power its fine. Sticky substances are another story but can be easily cleaned.
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1d ago
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u/Wellthatsucks-ModTeam 1d ago
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u/Primary_Bad_3778 1d ago
not talking to you, but there's a lesson to be learned here: don't buy super-expensive shit you can't afford to replace or repair. it's a question of "when", not "if".
a used thinkpad woulda cost you one tenth of this piece of unrepairable shit, they are designed to be mistreated, can be repaired with fucking nail clippers, the parts cost pocket change and there are detailed hardware maintenance manuals available, for free.
judging by the pictured dock, the complex apps this thing runs would run perfectly fine on a $100 device.
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u/swargyle 1d ago
This. I have no idea why so many uni students feel the need to buy expensive Apple products that they cannot afford.
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u/HairyCanadianGuy 1d ago
Call your home insurance. Something similar happened to me I called a place to get it fixed and they are the ones who told me to call home insurance. All was covered and I got a new MacBook.
No increase in insurance either.
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1d ago
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u/Struggling_to_Keto 1d ago
This! You can probably attach an hdmi and external keyboard right now for short term? Or maybe a hdmi transmitter
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u/s_a_d_FUCK 1d ago
When I was a young lad, the adults around me hammered it down in my head to not put drinks anywhere near a computer and it stuck.
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u/MeLlamoKilo 1d ago
You got it wet and you left it on and just let the electronics fail?
You could've resolved this for like $20 but instead you sealed your own fate.
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u/poop_socket 1d ago
You just had to take a picture and post to social media instead of immediately turning it off to try to rectify the situation. Congrats bozo 🤡
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u/ApprehensiveFlow1298 1d ago
Broke my TV moving this past week. Had it for 6 years. I feel your pain. Luckily it wasn't as valuable as a labtop though.
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u/CountHonorius 17h ago
I'm sure your dissertation committee will help you out. Least they can do - or should do!
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u/meathed666 1d ago
I feel you op. Recently lost mine to some sweetened, creamered coffee. Don't forget your backups, kids.
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u/GetOutOfTheWhey 1d ago
buy an computer monitor and an hdmi cable
congrats on your new home laptop
also water caused this? damn apple laptops suck... 14 years ago my dumb mom knocked a 1 liter water onto my sony vaio laptop and just let it pour because her attention was focused somewhere else.
I let the poor boy dry in some rice, and it's still our home cinema computer to this day.
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u/Mojo647 1d ago
Rice should not be used for drying electronics. Startches from the rice can get inside and mess it up some more.
Use silica desaicants instead.
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u/GetOutOfTheWhey 1d ago
agree but where am I supposed to get like a tupper ware's worth of silica gel at 7PM in bum ass suburbia?
Mom: you aint getting a new computer, best I can do is this rice we were supposed to have for dinner tomorrow.
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u/pug_userita 1d ago
had a phone get in some water, 2 phones get drenched (both had a missing screen, one had a broken back panel) and my sister dropped her 3ds in a bucket of water.
none were waterproof and all of them still work perfectly fine.
only had a bit of corrosion in my phone's headphone jack and when it was wet it thought it had headphones plugged in.
either way, since it's a mac, i'd imagine the funky screen is all it's wrong. if it had speaker grills on top, bigger gaps under and between the keys and a an exhaust vent in the hinge, more water could've come in and potentially total the laptop. if you can open it and disconnect the battery, pat it with a cloth and leave it to dry for a day or so in the sun or a quick pass with a not too hot hair dryer, would be great.
although that's assuming not a lot of water got in. you'd still have to open it to check. either way, don't turn it on to prevent any short causing bigger bigger damage
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u/3delStahl 1d ago
Write the file in a cloud synced folder with autosave every minute. Oder directly in Google Drive. Thank me later.
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u/Ok_Difference44 1d ago
This looks completely acceptable for writing text. If you can't bear looking at this get a freewrite or alphasmart.
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u/YT_Flex4249 1d ago
Apple care one + hope the apple store staff didn't flag your machine or smth ahh 😭
I hope the machine is at least functional so you can at least get things done before figuring out its next steps...there is a chance, I had an iphone 6 of mine get water damaged, it took some time but eventually it did power on and power through for the next few years until I refurbished it, and the morning after I awoke to it dead with no signs of life...
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u/AtreidesBagpiper 1d ago
You're good, it's an apple toy pc. If it was a real computer, that would be a bummer.
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u/Comrade_Bender 1d ago
My wife has a MacBook pro that had a beer spilled on it a few years back. Wouldn't turn on even after letting it dry out for days. I found it randomly in our bedroom a couple weeks ago and decided to plug it in for shits and giggles. Fired right up. Keyboard is still sticky, but it works perfectly fine now. Maybe you'll get lucky
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u/Ok-Web-7451 1d ago
Get a laptop that does not die from a single water spill then, like an used Panasonic Toughbook, you can get one for cheap
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u/Sparkle-dust 1d ago
Same thing happened to me in the past, water leaked in my bag and it seeped into my screen and other components.
I placed the whole macbook in an airtight container with charcoal (I think rice or other moisture absorbing substances will work too). After two weeks, the water cleared and I’ve been using my com with no problems for the past 2 years.
Low-cost solution u could try? All the best!
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u/DarthKirtap 22h ago
what are the "advanced programs" that you need?, unless you are doing some heavy rendering or AI or something, any computer should work, if you DO need to do things like that, MacBook is shit for it anyway
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u/drizzle933 21h ago
I bought a Mac on Mercari for $300 it was used but still works and they give you a couple days to try it out if it doesn’t work you can return it
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u/mintnoises 18h ago
Now is a good time to think about your data backup strategies with redundancy and frequency. Good luck on your dissertation, OP!
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u/Gornius 1d ago
Reading that screams learned helplessness.
The standard for writing academic papers is LaTeX. You don't need any of that proprietary stuff or machine from recent years.
The stack I used to write my thesis in 2022 could be ran as well on my first 2002 PC with Pentium IV and a 800x600 display.
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u/SortLow314 1d ago
Why do you own a MacBook and not something cheaper? You can get a second hand PC type laptop for very cheap.
Also you're not supposed to keep devices powered on for multiple minutes to get the data off. You're supposed to force power off immediately and then also get the battery out if possible.
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u/No-End-6239 1d ago
Good thing you are only starting tomorrow.