Strange Macbook pro 13' i5 problem after water damage

[iphonerepair12]

Hi all!

I'm new here, not really I've already read a lot here but now I've made myself an account to post something. (I will also post some MBP hardware solutions which already have helped me saving some Macbooks)

I now got a really strange problem, I just picked up a water damaged MacBook pro A1278 i5 model, green light on charger and sometimes it would charge but it didn't turn on. I found a very little corrosion on the logic board, cleaned it in an Ultrasonic cleaner with special cleaning liquid for electronics and then wiped the logic board with 99% IPA. I managed to get it powering on once with a special bypass method (see picture) and then it was fully working no problems at all (northbridge chip was a little hot, but I think it is normal? it was too hot to touch, It is the A1278 model with heatsink on the northbridge chip).

I get the 3.45V on G3hot, I already tried a new keyboard but still no lock. Now I have the green light on magsafe but it will not power on.

Hope someone can help me to fix this unit.

 

[Dekard]

judging by the looks of that image this mac has seen better days.. looks like it was submerged for some time. Rusty screws..

 

[iphonerepair12]

that are not the original screws, this logic board had very little corrosion near the SMC main IC.

 

[GSPice]

I suppose this is for a business? Honestly there's no such thing as "strange problems" if a device has been water damaged - absolutely anything from visible to microscopic could be causing the problem.

Maybe there'll be someone else who can recognize the symptom and recommend a solution, but my 2 cents is: it's not worth your time.

Good luck. It's probably worth some salvaged parts to you or someone else.

 

[tswartfiguer]

try this

I just got a 2011 MBP 13" a1278. When I got it, it was water damaged as well as yours and like yours it wouldn't turn on at all except I don't have the green indicator light on my magsafe working at all. Anyway I was able to power the unit on.

If I remember right I unplugged the magsafe power adapter and the pressed and held the power button for something like 5-10 seconds, keep holding it and plug the magsafe back in keep holding the power button for another 5 or so second then release. I think mine turned on at that point if not it was when i pressed the power button again.

1. Unplug Magsafe

2. Press & Hold Power Button for 10 seconds

3. Keep holding power while plugging Magsafe back in keep power button held for 10 seconds after you plugged it in the release

4. MBP should power on, if it doesn't when you release power button the press it again.

Hope this works for you it did for me but there is no way of knowing if you have the same set of problems mine has, I'm not positive but I think doing this is some sort of SMC Bypass because when mine powered on the fan was running full speed and my keyboard lights didn't work also a few other low level SMC controlled things didn't work either. I will try to find the thread that showed me how to power mine on like this to give you a link to it.

 

[iphonerepair12]

I just got a 2011 MBP 13" a1278. When I got it, it was water damaged as well as yours and like yours it wouldn't turn on at all except I don't have the green indicator light on my magsafe working at all. Anyway I was able to power the unit on.

If I remember right I unplugged the magsafe power adapter and the pressed and held the power button for something like 5-10 seconds, keep holding it and plug the magsafe back in keep holding the power button for another 5 or so second then release. I think mine turned on at that point if not it was when i pressed the power button again.

1. Unplug Magsafe

2. Press & Hold Power Button for 10 seconds

3. Keep holding power while plugging Magsafe back in keep power button held for 10 seconds after you plugged it in the release

4. MBP should power on, if it doesn't when you release power button the press it again.

Hope this works for you it did for me but there is no way of knowing if you have the same set of problems mine has, I'm not positive but I think doing this is some sort of SMC Bypass because when mine powered on the fan was running full speed and my keyboard lights didn't work also a few other low level SMC controlled things didn't work either. I will try to find the thread that showed me how to power mine on like this to give you a link to it.

I already tried this solution, it is indeed the SMC bypass but it did't work on this machine...

 

[Mr Rabbit]

You're attempting to power it on via the logic board incorrectly. I don't know the specific model your Mac is but I have yet to find one or read a repair guide that shows a power spot like the one in your original post. Apple's intel portables always use either raised solder points or more commonly flat metal squares as power pads.

As an example, this attachment shows the proper power pads, the two identical flat squares, for the early & late 2011 13" MacBook Pros. You power the Mac on by bridging these two squares, a T8, T10 or small flat head bit works well for this. When bridged for 2-5 seconds the Mac, if functioning, should show signs of life. Fans will spin, hard drive will make noise, optical drive will initialize, POST chime, etc.

If you can tell me the exact generation/model of your Mac (enter it's serial number in Apple's self service portal, it will tell you the proper name) I can probably show you where the proper power pads are.

With all of that said... I fully agree with GSPice. Liquid damage is often extremely hard to fully rectify. Some friends of mine in the business have had some luck with reflowing logic boards following corrosion but nowhere near enough that they consider offering it as a service. Visible corrosion is usually just an indicator that there's going to be lots of damage that isn't visible to the naked eye, similar to ESD damage where little breaks in traces and components occur. For these reasons I always focus my efforts on identifying good salvageable components when I come into a liquid damage machine .

 

[iphonerepair12]

You're attempting to power it on via the logic board incorrectly. I don't know the specific model your Mac is but I have yet to find one or read a repair guide that shows a power spot like the one in your original post. Apple's intel portables always use either raised solder points or more commonly flat metal squares as power pads.

As an example, this attachment shows the proper power pads, the two identical flat squares, for the early & late 2011 13" MacBook Pros. You power the Mac on by bridging these two squares, a T8, T10 or small flat head bit works well for this. When bridged for 2-5 seconds the Mac, if functioning, should show signs of life. Fans will spin, hard drive will make noise, optical drive will initialize, POST chime, etc.

If you can tell me the exact generation/model of your Mac (enter it's serial number in Apple's self service portal, it will tell you the proper name) I can probably show you where the proper power pads are.

With all of that said... I fully agree with GSPice. Liquid damage is often extremely hard to fully rectify. Some friends of mine in the business have had some luck with reflowing logic boards following corrosion but nowhere near enough that they consider offering it as a service. Visible corrosion is usually just an indicator that there's going to be lots of damage that isn't visible to the naked eye, similar to ESD damage where little breaks in traces and components occur. For these reasons I always focus my efforts on identifying good salvageable components when I come into a liquid damage machine .

I know it is not the right way, but since the general bypass method as you suggested didn't work I used the other 'wrong' way to power it on. I am now already a bit closer to the problem, there is a short on PP5V_S3.

 

[NikoliStark]

Hey Mr Rabbit, I would like some info on where the power pads are on my Macbook Pro if that offer is still open. I have a 13 in from mid-2010 that ran for a bit on battery power after an incident and failed to charge or run off of just the power cord. If I can make the jump, I'm assuming that my problem is in my connection from the charger into the mobo. Otherwise, I might try a new battery. Thanks.

 

[blacky77]

Hey Mr Rabbit, I would like some info on where the power pads are on my Macbook Pro if that offer is still open. I have a 13 in from mid-2010 that ran for a bit on battery power after an incident and failed to charge or run off of just the power cord. If I can make the jump, I'm assuming that my problem is in my connection from the charger into the mobo. Otherwise, I might try a new battery. Thanks.

Attached a screenshot of the place. If you need the repair manual, schematics or diagrams just let me now and I post them.
Regards.

 

[chanawar]

Attached a screenshot of the place. If you need the repair manual, schematics or diagrams just let me now and I post them.
Regards.

Hello,

I need schematics of Macbook Pro 13" Late 2013. Do you have this?

 

[jasonmat]

Attached a screenshot of the place. If you need the repair manual, schematics or diagrams just let me now and I post them.
Regards.

I realize this is an old thread. Any chance you'd have the schematic for 661-6588? No green light but power is getting to board. Beer damage. thank you.!