Will changing a logic board fix the "battery not charging" problem?

[Thomas Kuang]

Hi Geniuses

I have a MacBook Air (early 2014, A1466) not charging while plugged in. Instead of toss it or have it repaired, I'm thinking of upgrading the logic board to a later year board with more memory (eg, 2017 A1466 logic board with 8Gb of RAM). What I heard is that the logic boards between 2013 to 2018 are interchangeable. It is much easier for me to DIY than to diagnose the charging circuit. It should be cheaper too, consider the labor cost. So if the charging circuit is on the logic board, by replacing the logic board, not only I could fix the "battery not charging" problem, but also upgrade the MBA. One stone two birds.

So the $million question is that, does the charging circuit sitting on the logic board? If not, where is it?

Thanks for your time looking at this post and thank you in advance if you put down your thoughts or comments.

Thomas

 

[Isamilis]

Have you tried reset SMC? Did you install battery management tools (i.e. charge limiter and alike) in the past? I use that tools and got same problem even after uninstalling the apps. SMC reset fixed it.

 

[Thomas Kuang]

Have you tried reset SMC? Did you install battery management tools (i.e. charge limiter and alike) in the past? I use that tools and got same problem even after uninstalling the apps. SMC reset fixed it.

I did SMC reset and PRAM reset but no help. Guess it's hardware error.

 

[Thomas Kuang]

The reason I'm not giving up the old lady is because she's still in perfect condition. I swapped the SSD to 512GB Samsung about a year ago and the battery health is still at it's 95%.

 

[Thomas Kuang]

Now I test it with another logic board and io board. Same problem. There’s only 3 things in that case: the two boards I already tested and the battery. The battery seems perfectly fine as indicated by the apps. Could it be something as simple as a faulty cable or what? Isn’t the battery simply connected by a 4-pin connector? Help needed!

 

[Yuukon]

Have you tried swapping it out with a different charging cable?

 

[Thomas Kuang]

Have you tried swapping it out with a different charging cable?

If I disconnect the charger, the MacBook Air will turn off, meaning the MBA is on AC all the time. Hence the charging cable is fine, I guess. Wait, the battery can not power on the MBA on its own (with around 20% charge) which means either the battery or the battery connects to the logic board is faulty. Right? Then why all the apps say the battery is in good health?

 

[Yuukon]

If I disconnect the charger, the MacBook Air will turn off, meaning the MBA is on AC all the time. Hence the charging cable is fine, I guess. Wait, the battery can not power on the MBA on its own (with around 20% charge) which means either the battery or the battery connects to the logic board is faulty. Right? Then why all the apps say the battery is in good health?

I would put my money on either the battery, the power cable or the charging brick itself. And... apps can be wrong. I have a brandnew M1 Pro and all the apps give me different health numbers. If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. The most obvious thing is often the case.