Liquid Damage: Questions on the removal of a 2010 SSD/Logic Board Repair

[JasonK]

Ok, so I spilled 7up into my MBA. It sucks, but it was covered under a policy I have with State Farm. I ended up getting a check to buy a new one and I still have my MBA. Here are my questions:
First, there is a company on ebay that says they can repair spill damage for under $300, has anyone done something like this and have had success/failure?
Second, If I decide to not do this and sell it on ebay for parts, can someone still access my SSD if it was not damaged? (I do not think it was)
Third, can you remove the hard drive from a MBA? Or does anyone know how to repair a MBA with liquid damage? I would love a good link or two if you have one on hand. (I have tried mermaid tears and holy water already.)

PS- Word to the wise (from the foolish). If you own an air, do not let any liquid near your machine. It was a couple drips that bricked my beautiful paperweight.

 

[SR71]

Ok, so I spilled 7up into my MBA. It sucks, but it was covered under a policy I have with State Farm. I ended up getting a check to buy a new one and I still have my MBA. Here are my questions:
First, there is a company on ebay that says they can repair spill damage for under $300, has anyone done something like this and have had success/failure?
Second, If I decide to not do this and sell it on ebay for parts, can someone still access my SSD if it was not damaged? (I do not think it was)
Third, can you remove the hard drive from a MBA? Or does anyone know how to repair a MBA with liquid damage? I would love a good link or two if you have one on hand. (I have tried mermaid tears and holy water already.)

PS- Word to the wise (from the foolish). If you own an air, do not let any liquid near your machine. It was a couple drips that bricked my beautiful paperweight.

Why wouldn't you just use the check you received from State Farm to get a new Air? Wouldn't that be the best thing to do instead of trying to fix a damaged Air?

 

[JasonK]

Why wouldn't you just use the check you received from State Farm to get a new Air? Wouldn't that be the best thing to do instead of trying to fix a damaged Air?

I bought a replacement but if I can also get my computer back and everything that was on it as well for $300, why wouldn't I?

 

[alust2013]

I bought a replacement but if I can also get my computer back and everything that was on it as well for $300, why wouldn't I?

Yeah... I wouldn't trust that. The logic boards themselves for the air are more expensive than that, so I don't think you'd be getting the parts and labor for less than the parts.

 

[SR71]

Yeah... I wouldn't trust that. The logic boards themselves for the air are more expensive than that, so I don't think you'd be getting the parts and labor for less than the parts.

I agree with this post. Save your money, there's no easy way out of getting a cheap logic board.

 

[JasonK]

I agree with this post. Save your money, there's no easy way out of getting a cheap logic board.

I think they restore it.

 

[jdechko]

In any case, if the SSD wasn't damaged, you could probably do a swap, or find an enclosure and have more storage space.

 

[JasonK]

In any case, if the SSD wasn't damaged, you could probably do a swap, or find an enclosure and have more storage space.

So I can remove the SSD that is attached to the board? Is there an economical method of getting that data (an enclosure or otherwise)? Thanks!

 

[hfg]

So I can remove the SSD that is attached to the board? Is there an economical method of getting that data (an enclosure or otherwise)? Thanks!

Yes, the SSD simply unplugs from the motherboard (it is the RAM that is soldered on). I haven't seen any enclosures to hold the SSD modules yet (other than another MB Air), but I would expect to see some eventually. That would make buying an upgrade a lot more palatable if there was a way to reuse your expensive old SSD.

If the SSD wasn't damaged by the liquid spill, you might grit your teeth and swap it into a new MB Air and try to recover your data off of it, then replace the original SSD in the Air (not for the feint of heart).

 

[moreover]

OWC now offers an MBA SSD enclosure

OWC aka Macsales now (Oct 2011) offers an MBA SSD enclosure, allowing you to swap your SSD out, check/delete/transfer its contents (if it wasn't damaged) and move on.