[WTF] Coffee spil, repair (working) MacBook Pro 1.200 EUR ? (~ 1400 USD) ?

[onesixright]

Hi All,

Friend of mine spilled some coffee over the table. That creeped inside his MacBook Pro (guessing via the air vents). Now at first it kept working but a few weeks later started to give problems.

At this point, it still runs, but from the wall power. Only on the battery it doesn't.

Brought it to a repair store. They come up with the following quote:
- replace logic board (i5 2.3 Ghz / 8 GB)
- replace battery + case (not a clue what that is supposed to be)
- replace fan
- replace speakers

Total E 1.200,00 (incl 21 % VAT).  (New one is E 1.700,00).

Isn't that a bit steep  Anybody here that willing to shine his/her light on this? Legit or a total rip-off?

Attached picture with the coffee damage. You see some coffee here and there.

Much obliged.

[timgiles]

Well - if they are just ripping out all of those parts and replacing them -it sounds ok. But if you could find some one to repair said motherboard it would be much cheaper. If it works on PSU and not battery, I would suggest you try to find a proper repair shop.

[ezalys]

Total and complete ripoff when it's probably fixable by tracing the charging circuit from the battery after washing the coffee off using an ultrasonic bath. I can't imagine this would be more than a 400 dollar fix, if that... ESPECIALLY if the unit still functions just fine on AC power.

[JackJones]

Is the quote from an official repair shop or a 3rd party? From watching Louis Rossman's videos I've gotten the impression that the official shops don't really do component level repairs, they just tell you they need to replace the whole board and quote you insane numbers for it.

By the sound of it the problem is somewhere in the battery circuit and might be fixable at a reasonable cost. I can't really tell from the pictures, someone who knows this better might take a better look.

[onesixright]

Well - if they are just ripping out all of those parts and replacing them -it sounds ok. But if you could find some one to repair said motherboard it would be much cheaper. If it works on PSU and not battery, I would suggest you try to find a proper repair shop.

Yea, I would not call it a repair. Its just replacing parts (price is probably right for the parts, question is if this is the way to repair it), building a new Mac  :

[onesixright]

Is the quote from an official repair shop or a 3rd party? From watching Louis Rossman's videos I've gotten the impression that the official shops don't really do component level repairs, they just tell you they need to replace the whole board and quote you insane numbers for it.

By the sound of it the problem is somewhere in the battery circuit and might be fixable at a reasonable cost. I can't really tell from the pictures, someone who knows this better might take a better look.

From a service point, suggest by Apples website (holland). So 'official'. Now Apple self also has dubious tactics (see youtube Louis Rosmann), so can you trust them?

Yeah my guess was also its been shorted around the charging circuit. You can see the coffee, apparently a Latte (so some milk foamisch).

I don't understand why didn't just first tried cleaning it? Takes a few minutes, and it might work?  But replacing fan and speakers... I don't know, I'm no expert but ....smells (and that's not the lovely smell of coffee!). They just looked what 'hit' coffee (well everything) and listed all parts (that's how it looked to me).

[tsman]

Sounds normal for an out of warranty repair at an official Apple repair shop. Liquid damage is always a massive headache to deal with especially if it wasn't cleaned immediately. It'll seep between and under chips then start corroding the leads/balls.

I don't understand why didn't just first tried cleaning it? Takes a few minutes, and it might work?

No guarantee that it'll be reliable after that. The official repair shops will have strict guidelines from Apple about what they can do and usually it is just get an entire new replacement part. If they deviate from the official repair manual then they risk being struck off the official repair list and lose access to spares.

You friend can try asking for a quote at an unofficial repair shop that does component level repairs but still probably won't be that cheap. They'll need to spend some time finding a reputable one as there will be lots of that don't have a clue or just outsource it to somebody else.

[Mechatrommer]

in "premium brand" world, there is no such thing as component level repair. let alone "i want to hack this or that" notion or this forum. lets face it, they are the expert at making money because that what they do their proffesion.

[wraper]

All of those parts could be legitimately damaged by liquid. Something might be washed, something repaired (mobo). But it's a lot of work with uncertain result. Official service center, especially apple unlikely to bother with that and will just replace everything where coffee got to.

[steverino]

Edit:  Oops, I didn't notice you provided a picture.  Looks like a lot of magic smoke escaped.  You're going to have to pay the piper, I'm afraid.

I've had (and recovered) from multiple liquid spills on my macbook pro.  It sounds like at least the charging circuit for the battery is damaged.  On mine a transistor was blown.  Replaced with new battery and the charging problem was solved(charging circuit comes with battery). 

The other thing I've done after a spill is to open the unit and thoroughly cleaned board with IPA and a fine brush and kimtech wipes. This fixed some intermittent problems I was having. 

Usually, the keypad gets damaged (replaced at least 3 times -- yes, i never learn).  Not sure how new your macbook is, mine is early 2013 model so replacement parts are available from ifixit or ebay, etc.

-Steve

BTW, replacing the keyboard is a royal PITA

[james_s]

That's how virtually all repair works these days. Being a repair tech doesn't pay well enough to attract the really talented sorts, it makes more sense from a business perspective to swap out assemblies. Apple is not unique here, I don't think any computer repair shop or factory service center is going to do a component level repair on a motherboard.

[cdev]

Make sure the battery is removed. (have you tried simply cleaning just the battery assembly, or swapping in another battery if one is available to try that? Also, have you tried resetting the Power Manager and PRAM?)

That may be the fix needed right there and it costs nothing. Try that first but even if it  fixes everything you should still remove the dried coffee as below.

After there is no power on the unit, I would copy elsewhere or remove the hard drive with your stuff on it. You need to be able to evaluate whether the remaining things you do work without the stress level of losing work that hasnt been backed up, best is to have a bootable external drive with a basic OS install for repairing your Macs.

I would purchase some distilled (deionized) water (NOT TAP WATER!) and in an ESD-safe setting use small amounts of distilled water and cotton or better yet foam swabs to clean off the visible coffee and sugar with tiny amounts of plain water being careful to use the minimum possible amount. Water is best for removing ionic contaminants like salts and sugar. Where there is PCB and lots of SMD caps which might provide a place where water and dissolved sugar might remain longer (underneath caps) I would also try (99%!) IPA after the water which dries faster and has a water removing effect. Use lintless foam swabs and rubbing to do this. Be very careful. After you're satisfied all dried coffee and sugar has been removed, dry it off for at least a day or two with hot air blowing on it - and also if you can put it in the direct sunlight to dry before you re-apply power. That may be all you need to do. Its worth trying.

[bd139]

See if you can find one with just a smashed screen, swap that out for this ones guts and sell the remains individually (top case, “spares motherboard”, “lid assembly smashed screen”. You can half that repair bill at least and walk away with something that isn’t going to die two weeks doan the line.

[amyk]

Louis Rossman might be able to fix it for less... but there will be component replacement required since I can see some burnt-out inductors (or is that just a stain?)

[Armadillo]

I never appreciate why some repair shops rejects water damage Handphones for example and why they charge so expensive until I repair one for myself. Imagine the Pins of the ICs, it look normal until you lightly probe it and it crumbles like dusts, I am serious, pieces of metal, physically looks alright but crumbles like dusts. All the traces and thru holes were a gonna. Multi-layered boards, I can forget about tracing. Just too much engineering manhours and not viable.

But yours IMHO, don't look that bad for "NOW". But you cannot waste anymore time. You need to neutralize the corrosives on the board quickly with baking soda + distilled water paste. Few of the components, need to be lifted up, neutralize and resolder. Maybe few pads need to be jumpered. If you are handy with Hot Air Gun and are confident in working with SMD components, you have a microscope, you can save yourself alot of money. Careful DIY, probably 3 hours of your time, less than $0 ~ $20 on components, that's my projection.

But if you had never worked with small SMD, then the only choice is finding a real "FRIEND" to do it for you. If you find some people in this blog, just be aware that some are "merchants" and some depends on repair for a living.

So there you go, 3 hours of Engineering Hours + $20. My projection for DIY.   

[wraper]

neutralize the corrosives on the board quickly with baking soda + distilled water paste.

What are you going to neutralize with baking soda? There is no acid to neutralize. Baking soda by itself will likely cause corrosion. Corrosion need to be removed in ultrasonic bath filled with adequate solution and what is already damaged needs to be fixed. Simply using brush won't remove that crap from under SMT components.

[james_s]

Louis Rossman might be able to fix it for less... but there will be component replacement required since I can see some burnt-out inductors (or is that just a stain?)

Louis Rossman is a special case though, it's certainly not realistic to expect someone of his ability to work in every computer store. People of his expertise are rare, and usually they can make better money doing something else. He just got lucky and found a niche repairing high margin designer electronics.

[Armadillo]

https://www.hunker.com/13423099/how-to-remove-rust-with-baking-soda

https://www.instructables.com/id/Removing-Rust-With-Baking-Soda/

neutralize the corrosives on the board quickly with baking soda + distilled water paste.

What are you going to neutralize with baking soda? There is no acid to neutralize. Baking soda by itself will likely cause corrosion. Corrosion need to be removed in ultrasonic bath filled with adequate solution and what is already damaged needs to be fixed. Simply using brush won't remove that crap from under SMT components.

[KL27x]

Louis Rossman is a special case though, it's certainly not realistic to expect someone of his ability to work in every computer store.

I imagine this is why he is constantly angry. His business is profitable because he does the work, himself. If he tried to turn it in an actual business... like the kind you can manage/oversee while not repairing laptops all day and/or telling other people how to repair laptops all day, I think he would quickly find out how hard it is to find people willing and able to do this for an hourly wage.

[cdev]

I bet it still works with a little cleaning with distilled H2O and a reset of the Power Manager and PRAM!

[wraper]

Louis Rossman is a special case though, it's certainly not realistic to expect someone of his ability to work in every computer store.

I imagine this is why he is constantly angry. His business is profitable because he does the work, himself. If he tried to turn it in an actual business... like the kind you can manage/oversee while not repairing laptops all day and/or telling other people how to repair laptops all day, I think he would quickly find out how hard it is to find people willing and able to do this for an hourly wage.

He has actual business with employees.

[Armadillo]

Since this has not been diagnosed, probably it would be a good idea to eliminate the "catch you" situation that the battery is "COINCIDENTALLY" dead and not related to the spill kind of situation before you part with the $$$$$$$$$.

Though unlikely, still no harm eliminating.

But still, those traces of "spill" need to be quickly resolved before it etch into more vital locations. 

[james_s]

Does the battery in a Macbook have a built in protection circuit? If that got wet then it's possible that it tripped or failed.

[cdev]

Does the battery in a Macbook have a built in protection circuit? If that got wet then it's possible that it tripped or failed.

There is a three key combination you hold down when you boot to reset the parameter RAM (PRAM)

and another similar procedure to boot into a reset of the Power Manager.

I would strongly suggest trying that, after cleaning it carefully.

[Armadillo]

Why would you want to do those when the computer is working under? [adapter power]

Does the battery in a Macbook have a built in protection circuit? If that got wet then it's possible that it tripped or failed.

There is a three key combination you hold down when you boot to reset the parameter RAM (PRAM)

and another similar procedure to boot into a reset of the Power Manager.

I would strongly suggest trying that, after cleaning it carefully.