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DIY Fried logic board.

M

mvmanolov

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 27, 2013
858
5
sooo, here is the thing..

I have, well my friend has, one of these http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...o-2.4-aluminum-13-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

she carelessly spilled tee all over it, and did not turn it off right away, so needless to say it stopped working on its own, and is now exhibiting no signs of life...

I looked into buying a new LB but determined that that is far too $$$ for what the machine actually is. soooo...

Any ideas what component may have fried, how to isolate the problem and how to fix it? I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron and am unafraid to muck it up even more so anyone have any ideas?

Thanks...
 
mvmanolov said:
I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron and am unafraid to muck it up even more so anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...

Have to be a bit more than handy, given it's all SMT (Surface Mount Technology) which means it's robotically placed and either baked or wave soldered.
 
Ccrew said:
Have to be a bit more than handy, given it's all SMT (Surface Mount Technology) which means it's robotically placed and either baked or wave soldered.
Click to expand...

Sure but if it is one of the ceramic pieces designed to break when overloaded (sorry i don't know the english word for them) i could bypass solder another one.

In any case, i appreciate your concern regarding the difficulty level of the task. But what i need help with is determining what is actually broke :(

Cheers,
 
mvmanolov said:
Any ideas what component may have fried, how to isolate the problem and how to fix it? I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron and am unafraid to muck it up even more so anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...
You'll probably need various electronic diagnostic equipment to test each component. The only way to isolate it, is to test each one and see if its behavior is what you expect. I'd say its beyond the expertise of most hobbyists and while you may be handy with a soldering iron, that does not really help you with how current logic boards are constructed.

You also lack the schematics of the logic board so you don't know what the components are supposed to do.
 
mvmanolov said:
sooo, here is the thing..

Any ideas what component may have fried, how to isolate the problem and how to fix it? I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron and am unafraid to muck it up even more so anyone have any ideas?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

Honestly, the sheer possibilities of what MIGHT be the component(s) damaged are staggering in numbers.. there may likely well be several things, with one cascading to cause another, and even more likely that ONE failed item will Stress another and cause it to Fail at a later date .. and to Trouble-shoot such a thing with SMT (Surface Mount Technology) devices is a daunting task even IF you DO have the proper Tools and Schematics, AND the Knowledge as to what you are looking for and HOW to repair it.. Starting with proper power supply to test and likely 'ranging up voltage' to see where items/ signal flow goes wrong.. :confused:

I come form the 'old school' of actual Capacitors, Resistors and ICs, where you could take a DMM and Oscilloscope and follow a circuit through with some ease if you knew what pieces were used for and could follow Signal Flow.. any of the new devices combine a MASSIVE amount of components into such a small footprint that the are almost scary accordingly.. That is really why the 'shotgun repair approach' of swapping Boards/ Major Components and Simply Just Hoping to get something right is often the case these days, and also WHY you would need a Bucket Load of Spare Parts to do this!!

There may well be an 'often failed under liquid consumption' device on a MBP, but I really doubt it or we would hear more Happy Stories of Home Remedies, I think.. Good Luck!! :apple:

----------

Kinda what 'maflynn' said at the same time as me apparently!! :D
 
huummm, daunting indeed, i was not really considering the kind of chain reaction described. indeed, perhaps naively, i was thinning that there may be some failsafe - fuse-like - component that goes at the first instance of short detection and that replacing that may resolve the problem ....


In this case, what do you recommend? Sell to a buyer of water damaged-machines for a pittance?
 
Possibly the best source of the answers you are looking for is right here on MacRumors:
SMC Issue on MBP 13 - Hardware Troubleshooting Guide

Its a long thread, but packed with information from people who are expert in MacBook repair. It will tell you what to look for, how to test, and how to repair—if a repair is possible. Your schematic may be there, or where to find it.

It does sound to me like this repair is beyond your ability, and selling the 'book for parts may be the only choice, but without being able to test the components you won't get very much; i.e., the screen is worth a lot if it works, but nobody will take much of a gamble.

Good luck.
 
The short answer is that liquid damage is more often than not unrepairable.

PS If you're in Canada I've got that same model 2010 MBP for sale for $450 with some dents else working great. Cheaper than a new motherboard.
 
blueroom said:
The short answer is that liquid damage is more often than not unrepairable.

PS If you're in Canada I've got that same model 2010 MBP for sale for $450 with some dents else working great. Cheaper than a new motherboard.
Click to expand...

i have had more luck with liquid damaged macs than anything.

out of the 7 i have had 6 i repaired.


most of the times its the magsafe power board and or keyboards that need to replaced.
 
Once you leave the land of "parts swapping" IE keyboard or magsafe connector and enter the world of actual board level troubleshooting and repair I can not think of a more challenging endeavor even for a professional with the correct tools.

The skill set required to do this is almost overwhelming.
 
triplelucky said:
Once you leave the land of "parts swapping" IE keyboard or magsafe connector and enter the world of actual board level troubleshooting and repair I can not think of a more challenging endeavor even for a professional with the correct tools.

The skill set required to do this is almost overwhelming.
Click to expand...

I doubt that even Apple does board level troubleshooting - it's too difficult to replace the individual chips/parts. Most likely they do a simple check then toss it into recycle bin.
 
old-wiz said:
I doubt that even Apple does board level troubleshooting - it's too difficult to replace the individual chips/parts. Most likely they do a simple check then toss it into recycle bin.
Click to expand...

You're 100% correct. They just troubleshoot them to the assembly level. More often than not it's more cost efficient.

Under warranty there's also buyback agreements with the manufacturers, so someplace like Samsung for instance has to make good on a display that's defective. Same way NVidia was on the hook for the great GPU fiasco.
 
Wash it with rubbing alcohol, blow dry under the BGAs, let dry, and test.

If it's still not working, toss it away.
 

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mvmanolov said:
Sure but if it is one of the ceramic pieces designed to break when overloaded (sorry i don't know the english word for them) i could bypass solder another one.

In any case, i appreciate your concern regarding the difficulty level of the task. But what i need help with is determining what is actually broke :(

Cheers,
Click to expand...

They're called fuses, even with a service manual it's no easy task. You'll also need proper tools and test equipment. The 2010's can be found used cheaply enough, just buy a working one or one with a damaged screen and swap it.
 
Thank you most for the kind suggestions, i appreciate the input. once i get the mac i'll open it up and see what i'll do.
 
mvmanolov said:
Thank you most for the kind suggestions, i appreciate the input. once i get the mac i'll open it up and see what i'll do.
Click to expand...

I think some of these guys forgot a part of your original post. The fact that you have nothing to lose by trying this repair and your interested in learning. I am not an expert by no means but my suggestion is first open the macbook up and find out which logic board is in it there should be a 820-XXXX number somewhere right above the memory slots. Right that down and start searching for a schematic and a board view file. Without those 2 things you are going to be completely lost.

And there is a over voltage protection circuit. You will have to refer to the schematic to know where it is but it is usually called "1-Wire OverVoltage Protection"

A lot of times on water damaged boards the Charging chip is what gets fried or something before it that powers it on my system 2011 MBP 13" Core i5 it is identified as "U7000" The part number is "ISL6259" And can be found on eBay for under $10

And everyone is right when they say troubleshooting these issues is no easy task replacing the charging chip can't be done with a soldering iron you will need a rework station or at least a good heat gun. This is supposed to be a helpfull forum, not a you don't have what it takes so give up now forum. If "mvmanolov" wanted to hear advice like that he would have went to the official Apple forums where everyones best advice is do a SMC reset if that don't work take it to Apple to get raped. Give the guy a break if he wants to poke around on the board lets point him in the right direction.

Get yourself a good multimeter with the finest probes you can find because you will be measuring in some tight places and you don't want to short something and make matter worse. The schematic and board view, and lots of red bull. Good Luck
 
The correct answer to your question is, if you have to ask, you have no clue, and you are likely never going to figure it out on your own. beg someone who knows more than you to give you information in exchange for cleaning their shop windows & floors.

The answer I recommend if you truly want to **** around. Buy a working motherboard, ultrasonically clean your motherboard, and swap components until it works. Look at the board as "blocks"

This "block" sends power to the CPU, this "block" creates 12v power for everything, this "block" powers the screen, etc.

Start around where the silver/brownish points are red/****ed up looking and go from there.

Have fun.
 
tswartfiguer said:
I I am not an expert by no means but my suggestion is first open the macbook up and find out which logic board is in it there should be a 820-XXXX number somewhere right above the memory slots. Right that down and start searching for a schematic and a board view file. Without those 2 things you are going to be completely lost.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned before, the schematics are Apple proprietary, and you can't legitimately find a copy.
 
Best thing to start with is to see if the keyboard is still working, since the power button is connected through the kayboard to the logicboard it can be an easy fix. You can check this by powering up the machine by shorting 2 solderpads near the trackpad connector.
 
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