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Randomly turns on, but mainly not.

Its 820-3115-B model.

I had sometime now upgraded to 16gb ram, ssd and it was operating as clamshell mode 90%. Battery replaced but not that good quality and so did the charger, but everything was going well for quite some time. Maybe this new charger is about a month now.

So as I was using it, it stopped suddenly. Black screen. Pressed power button, nothing. So I read and watch some videos and took the m/b out, nothing too extreme or obvious, cleaned with isopropyl alchohol, applied a new thermal paste and away it went. Installed 2 apps to check temperature and everything seemed ok. Until I put it at sleep mode and after it never woke up again. I cleaned everything again, installed one ram module, left keyboard, battery, dvd out nothing. The fan is working but nothing. Then I clean again very well and it starts, then I shut down, try to power again, nothing. The m/b at a specific area gets hot and the fan always spins, sometimes quite a lot. So I have not solved the puzzle.

I'm not experienced locating short's, but I have a multimeter and can follow instructions. No voltage supplier though.

I'm watching some videos, but I dont seem to find my issue how to address.

I would like to find the issue and have this machine keep going.

Any help appreciated !

Update (10/17/25)

hot area in yellow - on the other side its the chip next to the cpu

that cap in green does not beep

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Update (10/20/25)

i took a picture of the other side and I wanted to say that to me cap c7717 seems to be missing

I downloaded 820-3115b board file and a program to view it, so here it went.

the area that gets hot is the U3990 aka SLJ8C

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also another question is that on the board file an item R3990 is not on the board, but cross checking with m/b that are on sale its not there either

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@niko34513 heat = short circuit. You mentioned that "The m/b at a specific area gets hot" go ahead and show us that area. Adding images to an existing question

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new info added, kindly let me know !

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You might find Replacing the logic board just easier:

Here's the guide MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Logic Board Replacement

crwdns2886500:0Replace a 2.5 GHz logic board (motherboard) compatible with the Mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13" Unibody laptop. Included Ports: FireWire 800, Thunderbolt (Mini DisplayPort), 1000BaseT Ethernet, 2 USB 3.0, Audio In/Audio Out, SD card slot. Fix processing issues like unexpected shutdowns, reboots, or water damage.crwdne2886500:0

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MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) 2.5 GHz Logic Board

$119.99

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I know thats the easier, but I prefer that ifixit !

But if I purchase a used one would a swap in disks be a flawless process ?

m/b and cpu would be at 70€

crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0crwdne2934271:0

@niko34513 - The limitation here is you need to debug the logic board and then find the replacement component.

The area you've noted is the back side of the CPU and combo GPU/PCH chip which tend to get warm, so is it just warm or hot? Hot would be more likely a short.

If you want to troubleshoot the logic board grab the schematics and board view drawings so you identify the power rails and the components. Do you have the needed soldering tools and a bench power supply?

Yes! After swapping out the logic board, the RAM and Drive and you're up and running.

These older systems are getting hard to fix as many of the components are not in production any more. So one needs to look at the worth of your time and tool investments (if you need them) with your skill set Vs the simpler fix of a part replacement.

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I guess if I buy a 2012 15" again it would be ok to just put on my disk and have it working as nothing has changed, right ?

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@niko34513 - Sure! Upgrading to a 2012 15" model also works. Depending on the give systems drive you could swap-out the optical drive for either drive. As an example if the original drive is a HDD I would slide it to the optical drive bay with your SSD in the HD bay so you gain the best performance. You may want to replace the HD bays SATA cable as some struggle with the newest SSD's which can really push the I/O

crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0crwdne2934271:0

hmm, so at what max. machine/year I can take the ssd of the a1278 mid'12 ?

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