water is spilled straight into the back of the MacBook (fan)

OK, you did something dumb. Welcome to the club. We've all run across these things...especially those of us who fix them. Heck, I've done it to my 17" MacBook Pro and my wife accidentally left her near new MacBook in about 4 inches of spilled Egg Nog at the bottom of a backpack.

Anyway, enough reminiscing. Here's the scoop...you may be s-o-l, but only maybe. It was good that you packed it in rice, but unless you took it apart there is probably moisture still hanging around. And even if it has dried up there may be hard water deposits left behind that form unique and unusual circuits. Here's the general procedure for anyone who has spilled anything on their laptop...you may have done any or all of these and good on ya if so:

1) As soon as you notice the spill immediately disconnect the power cord, remove the battery. Open the laptop halfway and turn it over...like a tent...on a dry cloth. leave it there for a couple of days. Any leftover water should drain out the front edge of the keyboard...hopefully away from the more sensitive and expensive components.

2) Test the laptop with the power cord ONLY. If it boots up then check it out and immediately copy all data to another external drive. If it fails to boot then you'll have to take it apart. ifixit has lots of good take apart procedures. Your main goal here is to remove and test the hard drive in another machine...and if possible copy all data off onto an external drive.

3) Once your data is secure you can try a few things, but they aren't for the faint of heart. Check out all components visually...especially around the battery connections and the power plug. Turquoise Blue deposits mean that you've got copper sulphate deposits and they usually occur where there is a n electrical current, copper connectors and water. If you're game you can start removing parts...mainly circuit boards and connections. Unless your hard drive or optical drive is extremely valuable (they can easily be replaced) don't bother with them. For the rest of the stuff you can dunk them in a solution of distilled water (de-ionized water) for several days. The distilled water will help absorb any conductive deposits on circuit boards.

4) After several days in water you can remove the parts, dry them off and hang them in front of one of those electric fans. Let them air dry for another few days and then re-assemble your laptop. You can test it with the power supply even without the hard drive and optical drive in place if you wish. They won't likely boot up, but if you get a start up bong you'll know that something is alive.

5) if you get it back together and nothing happens then its up to you whether its worth taking it in to be repaired. You time and money may be better spent on a new laptop...sorry.

And a final warning to anyone in this situation...speed it the most important thing right away. The faster you get the current off and the faster you get it drained the less likely deposits can form. Good luck!

Brian