First off, thanks for a wonderful website & community.

Secondly, I'll try to keep it short. But I'll fail.

So a couple of days ago I've spilled liquid (delicious red tea) on the right part of my MacBook Pro (Mid 2009, MB985, MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2009). I immediately unplugged it, turned it upside-down, saved my work (I'm CAD engineer and can't just shut my computer down any time), turned it off. Then I've cleaned computer, let it dry for 20 minutes upside-down and using hairdryer. Then I turned it on unplugged and it was functioning OK. However I turned it off and let it dry another 40 minutes unplugged, checked — it was OK. I put it under room warming system for next 5-7 hours. Since I was running on my deadline I had to turn it on from battery (everything fine OK), plug in the MagSafe and work like 5 hours (absolutely everything fine, including no sticky keys and no backlit keyboard damage). During that time battery was first charging (ember light) then fully charged (green light). I closed laptop and took it to office in good mood. But it didn't start from the battery at the office. However it started fine with the wall charger connected.

Since then my MacBook Pro won't run from the battery. If I unplug laptop it turns off immediately. LED light is always bright green. Battery status says "(Not Charging)". I can test battery status with LED indicator in the left and it says battery is 7/8 charged (but not charging with or without the plug). System Information says the following regarding Power:

Model Information:

Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Manufacturer: SMP

Device Name: bq20z451

Pack Lot Code: 0

PCB Lot Code: 0

Firmware Version: 3

Hardware Revision: 3

Cell Revision: 100

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 5234

Fully Charged: No

Charging: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5835

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 46

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 0

Voltage (mV): 12268

I've opened the bottom panel of laptop and there aren't much evidence of tea over there. It's been 2 days and battery still won't charge and hardly drain (feels like it's in standby mode). I've tried SMC reset with no luck.

My questions are:

1. Any chances cleaning Logic Board all-around with alcohol will fix the problem?

2. Is it more likely that MagSafe DC-in Board was fried rather than some Logic Board part (some charging cycle)?

3. Any short how-to on testing DC-in? I've got some "electricity meters" by hand. But no experience.

4. Any how-to on testing battery without connecting it to another Mac?

5. Can the charging cycle of Logic Board be fixed without replacing the whole Logic Board?

I'll get proper tools and a day-off tomorrow and plan to take apart my aluminum buddy. Please help me to get him back full health. It really means a lot to me.

Update. Today I completely disassembled the thing and put it back together. I've noticed almost no corrosion or evidence of tea on the logic board (bottom & top). Just really tiny couple of drops on the bottom part (on the DC-in side somehow). I've cleaned it with a bit wet microfiber and hairdryer. So the logic board looks good as new. However the DC-in Board looks strange and damaged. I've took a couple of photos: http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4476/... and http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6820/im.... Please have a look - is that the cause of a problem? Is it repairable at professional store? I know I can get one off eBay but I'll take another couple of weeks to get here. Another thing I can report is MacBook runs perfectly with no battery in it!

Update #2. I've faced some weird and (probably) good news today (4-5 day after spilling tea). I left my laptop for 3-4 hours unplugged once I got home. Once I plugged it in 5 minutes ago the LED on MagSafe got red! And now battery says it's charging again!!! One big "but" is battery menubar item says it'll take about 7 hours for the battery to get charged (currently 82%). Battery Amperage in System Information now isn't 0 or -1 anymore: it jumps from 140 to 150. So I guess it's a good idea to let it take it's time and charge and unplug computer to test if it runs with no cord attached. Charger body is normal not hot. Any thoughts?

Update #3. So I followed advice & double-cleaned whole Logic Board again. No luck. Finally I've managed to get my aluminum buddy to that best-in-the-city-Mac-technician. He said there's absolutely no evidence of liquid on the inside. Thing looks good as new. However he'd tested charging circuit of Logic Board and found damaged chip. It's chip ISL6258A which controls battery charging etc. It's partly damaged (one "foot is fried" as he reported it) and it can be replaced without replacing whole Logic Board. Operation costs about $200. They've ordered the thing and I'll get back to repair in 2 weeks once part is here. This model of controller chip can be found in all modern Macs and chip can be replaced. Probably this information would help someone in same situation.

P.S. I know that's one of billion threads with same problem. However 99.99% of other threads are neglected with no updates.

Hey Dan & pollytintop! Sorry for a bit late update. So that day once my battery got to 90% I shut down & unplugged Mac. Then I've turned it on with battery only - wow - it almost booted but suddenly shut itself down. So I followed your advice & double-cleaned whole Logic Board again. No luck. Finally I've managed to get my aluminum buddy to that best-in-the-city-Mac-technician. He said there's absolutely no evidence of red tea or water on the inside. So the looks good as new. However He'd tested charging circuit of Logic Board and found damaged chip. It's chip ISL6258A which controls battery charging etc. It's partly damaged (one "foot is fried" as he reported it) and it can be replaced without replacing whole Logic Board. Still it's about $200 bill. They've ordered the thing and I'll get back to repair in 2 weeks once part is here. This controller chip can be found in all modern Macs and can be replaced. Probably this information would help someone in same situation. No need to spend $400-$900.