It happens in slow motion. Your hand bumps the mug. The splash hits the keyboard. The screen goes black. In that split second, you aren’t just worried about a laptop; you’re worried about your project deadlines, your client files, and the R30,000+ it will cost to replace your MacBook Pro.

If you are reading this on your phone while your wet MacBook sits next to you, stop everything and read this guide carefully. What you do in the next hour will determine if your laptop lives or dies.

We have repaired over 5,000 liquid-damaged devices at our Sandton and Johannesburg workshops. We have seen everything from wine spills to swimming pool accidents. This article is the brutal truth about liquid damage—why the “internet hacks” are dangerous, and how professional chemistry is the only way to reverse the damage.

1. The “Rice Myth” Debunked: Why You Must Stop Doing This

Here is the scientific reality: Rice is a passive desiccant with very low absorption capabilities. It might dry the outside of the case, but it cannot pull moisture out from under the microscopic chips on the motherboard.

Worse, it causes damage: Rice contains starch dust. When this dust enters your charging ports and keyboard, it mixes with the sticky liquid (especially coffee, juice, or wine) to create a cement-like paste. We frequently open “rice-treated” MacBooks to find the cooling fans clogged with rice starch, which ruins the thermal management system even if the liquid didn’t kill the board.

2. The Real Enemy: It’s Not Water, It’s Electricity + Corrosion

Even if the laptop is off, the battery is still sending power to the board. The moment liquid hits, a chemical process called Electrolysis begins. The metal copper traces on your motherboard literally start to dissolve and grow green oxidation (corrosion).

The “It Still Works” Trap: Sometimes, you spill water, dry it off, and the laptop turns on. You think you’re lucky. You aren’t. The liquid is still inside, slowly eating through the copper traces like rust on a car. A week or a month later, the laptop will die suddenly and permanently. This is why immediate professional cleaning is non-negotiable.

3. Emergency First Aid: What To Do Right Now

If the spill just happened, follow these steps immediately to increase your chances of survival:

• 1
  Turn It Off Immediately

  Do not save your work. Do not shut down gracefully. Hold the power button for 10 seconds until the screen goes black. Cutting power stops the electrolysis.

• 2
  Unplug Everything

  Remove the charger, USB drives, dongles, and any peripherals.

• 3
  The “Tent” Position

  Open the laptop lid and flip it upside down like a tent (A-frame shape) on a towel. This encourages liquid to drain away from the delicate logic board and towards the keyboard/vents.

• 4
  Do Not Turn It Back On

  This is crucial. Even if it looks dry after an hour, liquid is trapped under the battery and chips. Turning it on sends electricity through wet components, guaranteeing a short circuit.

4. The Only Real Cure: Ultrasonic Chemical Cleaning

At Fix My Gadget in Johannesburg, we don’t just “wipe down” the board. We use the same process used in aerospace and medical electronics repair. Here is how we save a R40,000 MacBook Pro:

5. The Economics: Repair vs. Replace

If you take a liquid-damaged Mac to an official store, they will often quote you a “Tier 4” repair cost, which essentially replaces the entire logic board, top case (keyboard/battery), and Touch ID. This often costs R20,000 to R30,000—basically the price of a new machine.

The Fix My Gadget Alternative:

Because we repair the existing board rather than replacing it, our liquid damage recovery services typically range from R2,500 to R6,500 depending on the severity.

• Saving: You save up to 80% compared to buying a new MacBook.
• Data: Repairing the board is often the only way to recover your data, as modern MacBooks have soldered SSDs that cannot be removed.
• Environment: Repair is far greener than e-waste.

6. What About Sticky Keys?

Often, the logic board survives, but the keyboard becomes sticky due to sugar in coffee or soft drinks. For modern MacBooks (2016+), the keyboard is riveted into the aluminum top case. Replacing it is a difficult, labor-intensive job that many shops refuse to do.

We specialize in **keyboard assembly replacement**. If your Mac runs fine but the keys are crunchy, we can replace just the keyboard layer, saving you from replacing the entire expensive aluminum palm rest assembly.