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Is the water damage to this MacBook Pro's logic board salvageable?

Hi everyone,

I recently obtained a water-damaged Macbook Pro for free from a friend. After opening it up, I noticed quite a bit of corrosion on the logic board and the fan.

I've read that removing the corrosion with 99% isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush can be effective but I'm not sure if the damage is too severe for it to make a difference.

Basically, I'm trying to determine whether or not this repair is a lost cause or if there is any chance at repairing this machine without needing to replace the logic board completely.

I've included some close-up photos of the damage to hear what you guys think. All feedback is appreciated!

Thanks,

Ben

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Ben, free? can't go wrong with that. Yes it does have severe damage, but since we do not know if it was on at the time of the damage or where the damage has originally occurred, I'd definitely give it a try. Remove the logic board and do clean it with 90%+ isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush. Careful with toothbrushes since you do not want to scrub SMD components off. Repeat that process a couple of times. Once it is clean, visually inspect components for corrosion damage, you can sometimes see that the FET's etc. have actually corroded of the board. Pay very close attention to the LVDS connector, it does have a tendency to corroded and shorten out rapidly. Once you are satisfied with that, give it a try and see what happens.Hope you are going to post some images after you cleaned the board so we can see what it looks like.

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Thanks for the help oldturkey03, I'll be sure to give it a try. By the way, is there anyway to clean the fan as well? It seems to have overheated at some point as well.

crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0crwdne2934271:0

If it overheated, replace the fan. there may be damage to the bearing etc. so I'd spend the few $ to replace it.

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Firstly, corrosion by T29 boost circuit is fine. Best case scenario you clean it and it works, worst case scenario you remove it and you don't get displayport. People with 13" models are rarely the ones using thunderbolt anyway, mostly professional users who get the 15" model.

Secondly, corrosion all over the SMC, means 99% chance you are $@$* out of luck. Good luck reballing that chip with 0.3mm balls and aligning it with no experience or high end rework equipment. There is a 1% chance the balls under the chip are fine and the SMC didn't get 12v or 16v sent to a data line somewhere, but again; 99% chance is that you're just SOL.

Lastly, that is cat !#^&. Don't believe me? Smell it. Toss that thing in the trash. I do not touch laptops that have been peed on, and not just because they are disgusting. Cats do NOT pee on their owner's devices for no reason! Usually it is spite towards the owner due to the kitten's abuse, or neglect. I do not provide service to such people! If one is mean to their cat they can &*( $@$* and die, and no help from me.

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Can you really tell the difference between cat pee and ex-girl friend pee?

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In my defense, if that was cat pee on the motherboard then at least it wasn't my cat since I got this thing secondhand.

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