Discussion: TURN IT OFF

I get electronics wet all the time. After doing solder work, we rinse off the flux under the faucet. The important thing, though, is that there is no power applied when we're doing this. Electronics don't mind water as long as there's no voltage. Turn it off, remove the battery, and let it sit for a day or two to dry out. With the low humidity this time of year, the drying should be pretty effective.

No water in the battery compartment, but OK, bye. But I'm not giving it a day or two, I'd start to get the shakes....

Taking the battery out isn't because I think there's water in there, it's to make sure that the power is off. This would have been a good move as soon as the spill occurred, and definitely before you rinsed it off.

You can take your chances, but if you don't wait long enough and it stops working permanently, then you'll really get the shakes. (If it were me, I'd open up the case to speed the drying process, but I have no idea what tools are required to do that for your computer.)

I would remove battery and put it to sauna to make it dry faster. Sauna cures everything.

Li ion battery is dangerous, be carefull with it.

especially in the sauna

Also, we have this problem repeatedly with our phone in the bedroom. Rhonda likes a glass of water by the bed. Never finishes it, and doesn't bring it down in the morning. The cat then runs upstairs and dumps it on the phone, which stops working. So unplug it and turn it upside down for a while, and good as new.

Don't know how old your Mac is, but my wife had to bring her ~2006-era MacBook in for free battery replacement at the Apple Store.

Water itself is not a particularly effective conductor; water with citric acid mixed in would have to be considered an efficient electrolyte, able to short out power components leading to battery overheating and failure I imagine.

Jagge is correct, such a situation can be dangerous. Here's a video of a malfunctioning laptop battery...note that once this process starts, you really don't want to be anywhere close...6' flames. And the fire just gets worse and worse by stages. Note that a Class D fire extinguisher is required to put out a laptop fire once started; water will just spread the flames.

Mine was bought in mid-2007.

Took it in for repairs (hopefully, as opposed to burial). The place where the power cord plugs into is fried, also the USB port next to it, who knows what else. So for the time being I will poach on Gail's from time to time. But still feel quite deprived.

I have a daily back-up process, though I have not tested the reverse process. Hope I don't have to.