Chosen Solution
Macbook Pro 15 A1286 Model 5.3 2.8ghz I bought this computer off a friend for £100. He had spilled a bottle of Orange drink in his laptop bag and thought the computer was toast. I opened it up and let it dry for 6 months and recently fired it up. This is what I get: Connect powerlead - bright green light. press power button immediately chimes and starts up and runs great. sound,airport (internet), camera, backlit screen, all buttons, usb ports (all ports) work fine. BUT - it doesn’t recognise the battery at all, and if I accidentally pull out the power lead while the computer is on and try to put it back in it will show a dim green light and will not start. I then have to leave it for a few hours and it will run fine again. ( I can however force it to start by holding the cmd key and the power button, but this makes the fan run really fast and the backlit keyboard is off) Also, the optical drive doesn’t work - I think most of the liquid was down at that end of the computer. So, my question: (I’m typing on the computer now) - if I changed the battery would this (maybe) solve the problem? is the logic board damaged and causing the charging / battery problem? This is a top end machine and had hardly ever been used so it would be great to get it fully repaired.
To find out the condition of the battery, download and run Coconut battery: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/ Please post your results. This will let us know if it needs to be replaced and/or if the battery connector is involved. Did you attempt any clean up or just let it dry?
I would start by replacing the battery, yes. If you have an Apple Store nearby, or another friend with a similar machine, you could try just putting a different battery into the machine instead of purchasing one for testing purposes. Can you get us the exact model number? You mentioned A1286 but that machine just came out a month ago. I’d love to be more specific but I don’t know what direction to point you yet. :)
It sounds to me that you have a bad power circuit sir. I had a similar issue with an HP computer, replaced the power circuit board in it and it worked just fine (I don’t think Apple seperated theirs). My clue is that it sometimes boots, sometimes doesn’t. If it was strictly related to the battery, it would always boot on AC power.
