I Spent $865 on a Liquid Damaged 2018 MacBook Pro - Can I Fix It? Did I Just Waste my Money?
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- Liquid Damaged MacBook Pro - Can I Fix It? I'm not a Mac Repair Technician but I love getting out of my comfort zone and trying to fix things I haven't tried before... which is why I spent $865 on a 2018 MacBook Pro from eBay. The person I bought it from said they took the MacBook Pro to the Apple Store and they said it was not fixable because of liquid damage on the motherboard. But that's the type of challenge I like so I removed the motherboard and gave it a good cleaning with IPA and also used my ultrasonic cleaner. The motherboard was looking good after that... but that doesn't mean it worked.
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About This Video:
I had to do more testing and research to figure out what the issue was. I finally determined the main problem was a shorted out GPU. Well, at least I learned a lot on this one.
![Kodak Black - Sharp Vibes [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oEV0OoLJeIs/mqdefault.jpg)
Do you think all hope is lost on this MBP? Also, here's the affiliate link to the ultrasonic cleaner: amzn.to/2uDmcJT
Connect with Rossmann! It's most likely not the GPU/CPU, most likely a usb-c chip
Give us more information about how much power it's drawing please
Buy some freezze spray and test what gets hot faster, so you can know which of those components (most likely a capacitor) is shorting to ground
Check power draw. And like Louis always shows, follow the PPBUS lines to see what each have. If all else fails, mail it to him for repair and you'd still have a bargain Macbook Pro.
You need to inject current to see where the short is. Or send it to Louis, I'm pretty sure he'll gladly do a coop
TPS51980 corrosion is the most relevant one, that will be what's causing it to be dead.
I'll check it out more. Thank you so much for taking your time to help!
The world famous @Louis Rossmann heard your pleas for help. You are blessed @TronicsFix
@@Tronicsfix So the legends are true! If you mention his name he will come.
Bring Louis on a video with you on fixing it. It would be awesome!!
Holy Bat Signal, Batman! You shine the light, and he appears! :)
Props for showing the failures as well as the successes.
Thanks for watching the failures too!
@@Tronicsfix those are my favorites. I learn more from those
@@Tronicsfix Send it to the rossman group. He can fix it for sure.
True. This is why I like his videos
So i just turned on this video, read that coment, now i can close it because i know it wont work
The best thing about you and your videos is your positive attitude about learning and growing. You show great integrity. Respect.
Thank you! Glad you like these vids!
Once again you've managed to put on the absolute perfect amount of thermal paste. Don't know how you do it man.
Ha, ha, ha...I know...crazy. I guess everyone is good at something!
@@Tronicsfix Yeah but I bet you use too much tooth paste when brushing!!
hahahaha...my wife thinks so...I think its just the right amount lol
Truly blessed. Watching the perfect amount of thermal paste being applied is probably the absolute peak of youtube video watching.
He follows an exponential curve. Its like Moores law for thermal paste. It actual makes sense, the more powerful the chips, the more paste you need.
impressive how you are willing to spend money to try and fix things you don't know about, and you learn a lot in the process and tell us what you learned. I love the videos :)
So glad you enjoy these. It's fun learning this stuff.
yeah, and realistically the video earns the money back anyways ,-)
@@renerebe lol ez clappers
"Ahhh perfect", triggers thermal paste purists and riots ensue.
Ha, ha...so true!
There are almost none of those left since gamers nexus completely dispelled all thermal paste myths a couple years ago. More is always better than too little.
@@Tronicsfix how to I contact you
@@fVNzO pretty sure jayz 2 cents, and linus did that same.
yeah, but it’ll be a mess.
I love that you don't clickbait. You allow us to see the natural, linear progression of the fixes with little to no spoilers, but you also include what happens in the description so that we can find out what happens if we want to know before watching the whole video through. I'm not watching just to find the answer poised in the title, I'm watching because you've made a genuinely informative and entertaining video, and I really like that I'm able to make the choice based off how I feel that day. What a great solution. :)
When you said you should never start fixing electronics with something which has got water damage, I couldn't help but think of Rich Rebuilds and his water-damaged Tesla.
Yep, true!
Lmao Samcrac and Rich never ever finish their projects
Liked a lot your positive attitude towards the money spent on the macbook. I think there's so much value in looking things at life this way, because you can always learn stuff from apparent mistakes or misfortunes. Respect!
I got a big smile when you say you're no Louis, you're no Jessa. But I drop a thumbs up and I will still watch the video.
I appreciate that! Those two are amazing at what they do.
Amazing to say that and mention them
@@Tronicsfix collab with them
coils near cpu - gpu can give low readings that in diode mode (beep mode) ur multimeter can beep, but it can be normal readings, you have to check them in ohm mode. first check if there is green light on power adapter.
Yep, already checked all that. Thanks for the tips though.
the 2018 model charges via USB-C so no light
@@Tronicsfix AHHHHHH when you know Luis why are you putting it in the ultrasonic befor troubleshooting? If you have corroded balls under a chip you can repair them by reflowing but after being in the ultrasonic the corroded balls wash away. And I have never seen Luis check the caps of the gpu so I don't think that they fail often. How low was the resistence? I repairded some desktop gpu's and the have around 2-4Ohms.
markus98sb he said he’s NO Luis, not that he knows him👍🏻
You should connect a variable power supply to your shorted power rail (at a low voltage - maybe 1 Volt) and then see which component gets hot. You can use isopropyl alcohol to detect what is getting hot since it will evaporate nice and quickly on that hot component. The component that gets hot is what is causing your short to ground.
The most real RUclipsr here. He shows his failures and he is not ashamed of it. You have gained a new sub.
Welcome to my channel!
Rule 1: Never clean and ultrasonic a water damaged board cause it washes away the evidence and might turn weak connections into broken ones 🧐🧐🧐
He’s the ceo of thermal paste
Purrrrfect amount...
Big props to you for tackling something new, I would be terrified of not only attempting to this but spending the money on the risk.
"I Have Not Failed. I Just Found 10,000 Ways That Don't Work." - Thomas A. Edison
You're turning into one of those channels that I like the video before the first ad ends!
Wow, thanks! Glad you're enjoying these!
I'm not a Mac guy by any stretch and have never bought one, but I have to say that thing is put together very nicely compared to the couple of PC laptops I've had apart! As I break more stuff than I fix I can't offer any advice, but cool video anyway! :)
The build quality is top notch.
Do a collab video with Louis.
While that would be fun I don't think Louis has the time for that. I may send it to him for repairs though.
Luis can repair that board
@wargent99 I'd rather fix it myself if there is any chance of it. The comments here gave me some things to check (especially from Louis).
@wargent99 I think in this case he might make an exception.
You inspired me to fix my Guitar Hero 2 guitar that I wanted to use. It was mostly corrosion that I was able to clean up and it works great now. Thanks for your channel.
Thank you for the comment! I love hearing comments like this. Nice work!
I can't imagine how you feel during this type of operations! Just by watching you doing this, I feel nerve-wracking! But, its always entertaining watching you do something alike! Props to you!
I think it's normal to measure a short or very low ohm on the CPU/GPU. These devices consume a lot of energy. They are usually not really shorted. Louis mentioned this somewhere in his videos too.
I remember when your channel had few followers and I was one of them
Now your channel is constantly rising
I would like to tell you to continue
love
Louis Rossmann has entered the chat
haha!
I’m literally searching for his comments on how to fix this.. cmon Louis!
Buy a new GPU at rossmanngroup.com and make that sad macbook a happy little macbook again. Don't delay, buy today!
I think it's because TronicsFix does not have that useless broken voltage software on his screen :D
yesterday level: Consoles
Tooday: Macbook
Tomorrow: Nuclear submarine
@Larsson one eternity later..... CERN´S Large Hadron Collider
I suspect nuclear submarines aren’t actually difficult to fix
I'm always glad to see the ones that you weren't able to fix. Sometimes watching RUclips videos you begin to wonder if there's something wrong with you, when everyone always succeeds at everything they try!
He : Losing the motherboard Me Wondering why he is not using his automatic screw driver 😂
Unlucky Steve. Very watchable nevertheless. I remember a PS3 GPU was showing lots of shorts on one of my videos. Apparently this was normal as I was testing in continuity mode rather than getting the Ohm reading so they weren't actually full shorts. You have probably already tested this off camera as I am sure you would have put the hours in when spending that amount of $ :-) It seems such a shame as it didn't look too bad, and it cleaned up really well. Hopefully you may get some life out of it on a revisit video once the comments come in :-)
Thanks Vince! I still have hope to fix it.
@@Tronicsfix hey steve. Check out hugh jefferys on youtube. He fixes macs all the time
The shorts around the CPU/GPU is part of the VRM (power delivery). There is a good chance that these shorting may have sent 12V to the CPU, which unfortunately results in a dead CPU.
I just got my first car a week ago, and while it runs great, it's got a few little things here and there that could stand to be fixed. I'm glad I've been watching channels like yours because the idea of going to a junkyard for the first time yesterday to grab a new sun visor, window switch, and rubber seal for the back hatch seemed familiar and exciting to help bring something old back to good use. Thanks for posting!
Love reading comments like this! Glad you're getting your car fixed up!
In the UK timezone I usually miss your new posts. Love your videos, thanks for inspiring me to fix more stuff. Really helps the budget, and finally a tech hobby my wife can support!
Love hearing this. Thanks for helping to fix the world!
The cpu and gpu coil will have low readings that's normal , first see how much current it draws
Oh my gosh this is just silly, I've bought a 'liquid damaged' MacBook Pro recently too! Video coming out this week lmao what a coincidence
IDK why it's so fun to buy these and try to fix them! I'll be watching your video for sure!
I’m a massive fan of your channel Luke!
Luke Miani thanks for the sneak peak 😏
Oh, and stop bidding me up....jk...lol!
AYYE LUKE. Love your vids man. I’ve been binge-watching them for the past few days.
Hey!
I watch your videos whenever I can, but they inspired me to buy and repair a gaming laptop (Lenovo Legion Y730 15ICH) that was crashing during games because of the GPU. So i bought it and grabbed myself some thermal paste to help with any heat issue, and did all the bios, driver, and software updates needed.
now, it works GREAT!
with some patience and research, I was able to discover that there a thermal throttling issue with the i5 CPU. so when i update the chipset, I was able to keep it from overheating...
btw, this laptop cost about $1200..... I paid $419. ;)
Nice work! Love hearing stuff like this.
I love how everytime you put thermal paste on you say "Perfect" haha trolling all the thermal paste gurus haha
Somebody had to do something, lol!
I had never even heard of Ultrasonic cleaning before seeing this video.
A good quality ultrasonic cleaner works wonders.
Same here!
And I was not aware that it’s possible to submerge a circuit board into liquid..
@@Tronicsfix I wish you’d have shown the cleaner.
@@phyrros1 Yep, you can do that...even water if you want BUT you have to make sure it's 100% dry before you put any power into it.
I don’t know why but these videos give me a sense of calm, idk why but it just does.
I had a first gen 13" MacBook Pro when I was in college in the late 2000s. I loved that thing, but it stopped working altogether one day, so I gave it to my buddy's dad and bought a Window 7 laptop to replace it at half the cost. He ended up fixing it (no idea what was wrong) and upgrading it a bit. He uses it as his work laptop as a cereal plant electrical maintenance supervisor.
veasuring those and getting "the beep" is totally normal. Those chips are low voltage, low impedence. get to work!
The thermal paste! You monster!
Glass is always half full with you. Definitely a very inspirational outlook for when things don't come out as planned. Lost some money, gained some wisdom.
I like how you spoke of Louis Rossmann. His reputation goes far in the tech world. Major props. :)
Great video Steve. Love it when you take on a new challenge for yourself. I hope this MacBook still can be fixed in the future. Fingers crossed.
I've gotten some great advice in the comments so I'll be looking at it again.
video colab with louis rossmann or a video of you shipping it to louis, your receive it, and it works.
I doubt Louis would have time for a collab but I might ship it to him to see if he can fix it.
@@dkosmari that it would be worth it to see
Yup ship it to Louis
@@Jonathan11225 He might make an acception, but generally his website states that they will not work on boards with prior work. Given it could be a collab, so that may sway things.
If you get a few water damaged ones you might be able to swap board components to get a working board and resell the parts you don't use to recoop your loss.
Your videos have gotten me into electronic learning and repair. I have fixed a few basic items so far and it's tons of fun but my question that I hardly see any RUclipsr mention is static electric discharge. I don't see you or anyone having any wristbands or anything to address static. Am I missing something or is it not that big of a deal or is your entire work bench grounded? Thanks for all of these videos are they are always so pleasant to watch and learn from.
I always wait for the "perfect amount of thermal paste" line 😂
ha, ha, ha...glad to not disappoint!
Try sending it to Louis rossmann, I'd really like to see his reaction and if he can fix it lol
You are one brave dude...any computer tech on the planet will tell you to stay away from liquid damaged stuff........a valiant effort my friend...peace.
Knowledge is priceless, no matter the cost (relatively!). Thanks for showing this as its really interesting to see whats inside those Macbooks.
“Everything comes with a price. Everything. Some things just cost more than others.”
― Brom, The Child Thief
Send it to Louis to see if he can fix it!
I've considered that. I might do it if I don't think of anything else to check.
@@Tronicsfix it'd be great to see two tech channels team up! Get him to buy a broken Xbox and see if he can figure out
@@Tronicsfix please send it to him
@@Tronicsfix You might as well. If he's not interested in a collaboration, just send it in with a note about this RUclips video, then if he does try to fix it on screen, at least you'll get to make a followup video about it. Worst case, you're out the shipping costs (both ways), and maybe a $50 bench fee if you qualify as a repair shop (they don't do free estimates for repair shops).
@@EnglishMike Louis will be mad that he ultrasonic'd it before fixing the problem. Either that, or he'll spend 2 minutes looking at it before realizing it's not fixable.
Well buddy, you can try a few things.... check to see if there is any light on the charger..... if no life...
Disconnect the battery, then leave it a min or two... switch it on, and if boots up. then its most likely a battery causing a short to the motherboard... battery can become problematic with water damaged ones....
Check battery voltage, check the mosfet, check the tracks for the power button for possible shorts. check the jack for power.
check the bio chip,
Check the touch pad connector cable for water damage
No matter how much you no you can't fix anything nice work
Keep up the great work man love your content 😎👍👍
Thanks dude!
I love your videos they are so cool and interesting!
Thank you for watching.
i don't think gpu is shorted . gpu have very low resistant because gpu work on low voltage power rails . check the cpu power supply resistant you will get same .
Check if fans are working and running, had problems with a laptop in the past because of this.
I actually managed to fix my water damaged switch and now it's just fine accidentally broke 2 screw holes though
12:37 "Resell it on RUclips"
Wat?
I live in east asia. I water damaged a macbook pro twice. Each time required a full motherboard replacement. Each time it only cost $300. So my suggestion is find a cheap ticket to east asia and get it fixed there....
I would say to try to go a little further yourself as long as you don't get upside down on cost. I know there are a few tools that Louis and others have. Like the inline voltage reader and the schematic software. You might want to get your hands on one of those to see if it leads you in the right direction. I'm pretty sure you have good enough soldering skills to fix the issue once you narrow it down.
U should make a video where u take someone who has never repaired an electronic device and guide them through the steps
That would be fun!
" That thermal paste was two microns too much" jk :P
Ha, ha...nope...it was the PERFECT amount!
i just want to say to everyone is if you spill water on your device the first thing to do is remove/disconnect the battery as soon as possible. it will stop that green corrosion that shorts the components. after that you can dry off that water with hair dryer or leaving it for two or three days in bag full of rice to absorb any moisture. and if you still find that green corrosion, you can use a toothbrush and some ipa to brush that off. then connect the battery, press the power button and hopefully your device will start up like nothing's happened to it 👍
I'm really excited seeing you get outside of your usual comfort zone. The vintage toy repair, iphones, and this macbook is really exciting to see your growth
Next do fixing broken dualshocks 4
Not next but I'm planning on it
@@Tronicsfix thx
Happy Valentine's day from Texas
Happy Valentines day! I'm jealous of Texas weather!
@@Tronicsfix cool
Loving the Video. Hey look at it this way. This is your first macbook fix and you started with a water damaged one. You chose to go for a hard fix first and even though it's not working, keep it around for a bit and try again later on. I like your take it head on challenge and if it fails then you learned something. Oh and boy Louis' name is doing the rounds in mentions of other Tech RUclipsrs. I heard 5 mentions of him in videos the last week alone.
Louis is a legend! I've learned a lot from the comments so I'll be looking at it again.
I am trying to do what you did! Macbook Pro A1502. I want to remove the logic board & check the other side. The battery BMS pcb shows corrosion, so liquid damage might be present. Thanks for the good attempt, & hope you get it running again!
I thought it was red probe on ground for diode testing
I do some diode testing but I use the ohmeter a lot as well.
@@Tronicsfix Red probe on ground, watch Louis and Jessa.
@@twodogsify Yes, for DIODE testing
I need that screwdriver! where did you buy it?!
It's awesome! Amazon (affiliate link): amzn.to/2UUUDpY
It's so true that putting the money in to something that may not be fixable at the moment due to knowledge limitations can be paid back 10 fold in knowledge gained buy the time you do fix it or just through the process of trying. If it weren't for videos like yours and all of the willing helpers you get in comments I wouldn't be doing console and game repair and learning more everyday, so thank you and all of the vloggers like you who make this knowledge accessible. Its priceless for people like me. And though I dont always succeed I always have a great time trying.
My solution to this is repair shops should have a parts exchange program since I'm sure there's some shop with a motherboard with other problems laying around
I'm watching a human take a part a computer while my computer watches a human watching said video. This came to me during this video. I think I need some sleep.
Use a piece of tape to cover that cam, bro
Zellonous you can do that, or buy a webcam shutter on eBay for like $1. Looks a little better than a piece of tape.
@@victork3397 yeah I was thinking that too, but a piece of tape is something you could do right away.
Could you do a tutorial about cleaning PCBs with a ultra sonic cleaner ?
Maybe
Another alternative would be to send it to Apple technical support and ask for a detailed repair quote?
another learning experience for me and I thank you for spending that much money to make us and you learn something. I always love to watch your videos and leaning much from them. keep up the good work and be blessed today.
2 days ago I replaced the battery on my Iphone 5. I was chuffed. Thats about the limit of my repair/replacement skill lol
Nice work! We can all fix something.
@@Tronicsfix Its people like you and Vince and maybe even Jesse that gave me the confidence to even try it. Apple would probably charge me £130 if they would even replace the battery at all (being so old) and all it cost me was £9 with free delivery from Amazon.
Apple probably wouldn't even touch it since it's so old. Probably just try and get you to buy a new one.
@@Tronicsfix It was free off Apple anyway (long story). I wouldnt ever buy anything off them again lol
Not a good idea to drink coffee in Starbucks above the laptop, very expensive laptop.
ha, ha...agreed
I love the positivity taken from wasting the money... Knowledge is power... That is i am very sure...
Listen to Leo Laporte and they put moisture detector strips in the laptop and if its just moisture they look at the strip that changes color and tell you to buy a new one. Moisture amd liquid damage are different.
Say "liquid damage" one more time.
liquid damage
That's typical Apple isn't it, making it as hard a possible to repair them. To try force you to buy a new one.
Yes it is...but I love a challenge!
@@Tronicsfix Waiting for the revisit to the revisit like My Mate Vince...I KNOW You have it in you.
Have you been headhunted by Apple ? You are qualified to do official Apple repairs. but seriously I've been enjoying your videos for a while, keep it up.
tbh. we know you're not an idiot, and you stepping outside of that comfort zone is entertaining enough.
well done!
1:10 Thumbs up for being ,,..just an idiot.." :D
gr8 vid,but that was still to high a price even tho it was water damaged
Good luck finding one cheaper
@@Tronicsfix $1050 fully working plus guarantee wasn't knocking vid was just saying not with it with water damage profit margin not worth hassle just my opinion sorry
100, 200 but not 865.
that must be heartbreaking to spend so much and learn a lesson.
Feed the part with necessary voltage you think short circuited and watch it under heat cam. Short circuit will heat and light up.
$865.00 that's what I paid 2019 at Costco for my McPro
This is a MacBook Pro
TronicsFix I think they meant new since Costco is the bomb
Yeah, eBay can be insane.
@@jojoorsmth Yes, Costco is but this machine would have been thousands even at Costco.
@@Tronicsfix Still nearly $900 for a defective item is insane, definitely the market has some real problems.
Liquid damage or not you couldn't pay me to buy a MacBook. Lol Probably have to use it for parts.
Ha, ha...we'll see!
I love that you always get the perfect amount of thermal paste
Can't believe you didn't show the ultrasonic cleaner in action
You can ask Louis Rossman for tips or to look at it. He's expert in fixing apples "unfixable" MacBooks :D
I mention him in this video...several times.
Remember to vote for right to repair!!!!!!
YES!
I honestly just enjoy your voice its calming your so relaxed about 800 dollars i would cry
Glad you're enjoying these!
@@Tronicsfix no problem man! I enjoy watching someone fix things i could never, i think it would be cool to fix fat ps3's
Looking forward to Pt2 when we get to see you fix it.