Exploding chip: damaged keyboard?

[Shed209]

Hello all,

I have a Macbook Pro here which was reported with keyboard problems and, sure enough, only a couple of the keys seem to work. I was expecting it to be a simple keyboard swap however, on opening it up, I discovered that one of the chips near the monitor connection (bottom left corner, near the fan) is cracked - or at least the lid of it is. The coil inside may or may not be intact. I've uploaded a couple of pictures (sorry neither of them are great - the flash was too bright and the non-flash was too dark).

Could this have anything to do with the keyboard failure? Perhaps this chip is still functioning? I noticed, when opening up another Macbook Pro, that the surface of the same chip appears deformed, as if it might also split in time. Does this component get particularly hot? Does anybody know what it does?

Thanks in advance.
[doublepost=1455714725][/doublepost]Further investigations suggest this is the power controller. The machine appears to be charging at the moment, but is the lid required as a heatsink? Will it likely burn out soon? Could this have anything to do with the keyboard?

 

[maflynn]

Looks like at this point, you will need to replace the logic board.

 

[Shed209]

Could you expand on that? The Macbook appears to be working other than the keyboard issue (and the superficial power controller chip damage)

 

[maflynn]

You have a chip on the logic board that seemingly failed, or is broken. You cannot replace those, so its a matter of replacing the logic board.

 

[Shed209]

There's a lot of things you can do with a rework station. I'd rather not go to the expense of a logic board replacement for a 10 cent component that may or may not have failed. I'm wondering if somebody who has had experience with this issue can comment on it.

 

[duervo]

It's just the cover of the component. There's a chance that it may still be ok, but of course, there's also a chance that it's not (the casing is there for a reason, after all.)

For somebody that knows what they're doing with soldering and logic board repair, they can probably have that component replaced and tested in under an hour, assuming there's nothing else wrong with the board.