This month marks two separate anniversaries for my 1 GHz TiBook: the day I bought it, and the day I spilled a 16 ounce Pepsi One on it while it was running! Another in our ongoing series of Extreme PowerBook stories. Read on…
This month marks two separate anniversaries for my 1 GHz TiBook: the day I bought it, and the day I spilled a 16 ounce Pepsi One on it while it was running!
I happened innocently enough. I had my Mac playing tunes in the living room while I got myself a drink. I have these large, one liter tumblers just perfect for sitting for long periods at the computer. I walked into the living room and admired my new baby (it was less than a week old and still had the Aqua Blue background on it, since I had not had a chance to put all of my photos on it). I was a little concerned because my other baby, my six-year-old son, had left a ton of toys on the same table, giving me no room. So, I had to put my drink dangerously close to my new computer, while I displaced the toys.
OR I could just swipe some toys away using the tumbler. Well, the Imp of the Lazy took hold of me. I set the tumbler down, and started to slide it. The bottom, now moist with condensation, stuck fast. My hand slipped. I watched as the soda teetered foreward, away from the computer, and then back towards it. The cup ranneth over. ALL 16 ounces poured out right onto the keyboard.
The screen went out. I rushed to hold down the power key to turn the computer off thinking that getting the power off was more important than doing a proper shutdown. I then took the battery out and unplugged the computer.
Then the cursing and profanity started.
I got some paper towel and carefully mopped up what I could. I noticed between the keys that there was soda INSIDE the computer. I slowly took off the keyboard to let the soda run off onto paper towel. Inside, there was soda EVERYWHERE, except, apparently, on circuits. I daubbed everything gently to absorb the soda. and left my computer open to dry out.
The next day, I put the keyboard back on and slid the battery into its slot. I rebooted. “BONG” was there, but no screen. I held the powerbutton in to turn it off and restarted. Still, nothing on the screen. CRAP!
Then I noticed, in the glare from a lamp, there was a little dim apple in the middle. Was it light peeking through from the other side? It did not appear so. My SCREEN was working, but my BACKLIGHT wasn’t. URGH!
I started to us the TiBook with a very bright light in front of it. I turned the backlight all the way off. Then on. It flickered on then off. HOPE! After cycling through this numerous times, the backlight came back, dim, but getting brighter.
Today, I use the TiBook every day, and it seems perfect, aside from some paint scratches and a missing foot. I have not had any hardware issues with it since that day last year. Yeah!
