Is corrosion slowing my Mac down?

[neilN]

I have an MBA [mid 2012].. It got completely submerged in water for an hour or so in a house flood.. It was off w/o the charger. I opened it out into a 'V' vent facing down and drained the water out. Panicking, I even used a hairdryer (with heat) for short durations via the vents openings, then stuck it in a sealed bag of rice.. A week after the spill, I took it to an Apple Store. They said $700 for repairs but my laptop somehow turned on with the AC connector (battery status-Replace Now), albeit a bit slower. Its been getting worse (as in much, much slower and with longer startup times of upto 40 seconds) now. I've done PRAM and SMC resets but in vain.. And kept it w/o any current/connections at all now. Is it logic board corrosion thats responsible?

PS-No other damage at all. SSD, wifi, bluetooth all fine.. its just this slowdown problem! :-S :|

 

[JACKHAMMER]

It could be so many things.vI'd sell it for parts on feebay and get a new one.

 

[BrightCandle]

We need to determine which components is most likely failing. To do that I recommend running some benchmark software and comparing to others with the same machine. You want to check the CPU performance, the RAM performance, the SSD/HDD performance as well as the GPU performance. Hopefully one or more of those will come out with a problem. I don't know how serviceable your machine is but you may find if its just the SSD/HDD its easy to replace, but if its a combination or all of the others it likely wont be repairable by anyone other than Apple.

 

[neilN]

If I try to run it now, won't the corrosion get worse? I've read that current through circuits worsens corrosion

 

[BrightCandle]

If I try to run it now, won't the corrosion get worse? I've read that current through circuits worsens corrosion

Do what you want. I don't get it but everytime I tell people to start testing individual components to determine which bit is broken I always get some sort of push back. I am just trying to bring a bit of science and testing into your approach to confirm where the problem lies and determine if it can be fixed. You want to not do it, then don't its no skin off my nose.

 

[metril]

@OP

Every time you run current through an object, you cause it to corrode. This is at the atomic level. You cause stable atoms to go unstable. You cause the molecular structure to change. But, these changes are so small and are enveloped by other stable atoms and molecules that you never notice this. But, remember that nothing lasts forever. Computers do and will eventually die.

That said, the water damage is already corroding your components. Even with the computer off, components are oxidizing with the air due to the water acting as a catalyst. Water is a polar molecule and tends to rip electrons from other atoms/molecules.

I don't understand how you think that there is no other damage even if your computer was off and unplugged when it was submerged. There is damage. The water has weakened the interconnects in the CPU, SDD, motherboard and every other electronic components. Your computer will die soon. There is no denying that fact.

 

[TerryMathews]

Could be as simple as the water damaging the TIM or as complicated as corrosion in the middle layers or the PCB (where you can't see or touch it).

There's a reason why electronics companies universally consider water contamination to be a total loss. It isn't practically repairable.

 

[Rakehellion]

It'll never be the same again.

You can either keep using it as is os sell it for parts. You should be able to get most of your money back if you sell it.

 

[neilN]

Do what you want. I don't get it but everytime I tell people to start testing individual components to determine which bit is broken I always get some sort of push back. I am just trying to bring a bit of science and testing into your approach to confirm where the problem lies and determine if it can be fixed. You want to not do it, then don't its no skin off my nose.

Look man, I didn't mean to tick you off.. I have very limited knowledge when it comes to hardware and I'm just scared I might do more damage if I run it again. That said, is there any particular benchmark software you'd recommend.

 

[andy2000]

The only chance at fixing it would be to completely disassemble it, and carefully inspect the motherboard for signs of damage. Small amounts of corrosion can often be cleaned up, but if there's damage under a BGA chip it's time for a new motherboard. Submerged electronics are usually not repairable since water gets everywhere (including under BGA chips). Even though it was off, there is probably significant damage because the battery was still supplying power to parts of it. An hour in dirty water is a LONG time for anything with a battery.