Has anyone tried reflowing a Macbook Pro?

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sparta.rising · #1 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:54 pm

Has anyone tried reflowing a Macbook Pro? Locally there is a macbook pro for sale with a dead logic board. When I searched ebay for logic board repair it looks like some repair places just reball the GPU, so I'm wondering if reflowing would fix it. I don't know for certain that the GPU is the reason the logic board is dead, but it seems likely.

PS - Why the heck do Apple people call the motherboard the logic board?

sparta.rising · #2 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:57 pm

Wikipedia answered my second question:

A logic board is the Apple Macintosh equivalent of a motherboard. The term logic board was coined back in the 1980s, when the compact Macs at the time had two separate circuit boards, the Logic Board, containing all of the computer's "logic" circuitry (processor, RAM, etc.), and the analog board, containing all of the hardware necessary to drive the built-in display and to power the rest of the computer's components. The term logic board stuck over the years of Macintosh manufacturing, even in the non-all-in-one Macs. A longtime practice for Apple when an existing model was upgraded was to offer a logic board upgrade where a user could bring their computer into an Apple dealer and have the old logic board replaced with the new one, along with other upgrades necessary to bring their computer in line with the new model's specs. The old logic board would be kept by the dealer as a trade in.

But I still need the first question answered!

skitty4gzus · #3 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:10 pm

ive been looking for a mbp pro for a bit now with some minor problems i could pick up cheap. I would assume if it has any sort of logic board problems that you will end up putting a logic board in it. so i would purchase a mbp pro with that in mind.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:40 pm

IBM always referred to the motherboard as the "planar". I'm sure there is a story there too.

sparta.rising · #5 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:04 pm

The price is cheap enough that it'd still be a good deal if I had to put a new mobo in. Doesn't include the hard drive but drives are dropping in price fast enough that its not a big deal.

He said the damage is just from "normal wear" not spill or impact damage, so I'm hoping reflow will work. I know some of the ibooks had that problem... and mactards had a "creative" way to fix it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apv19Y3VlGQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT_xuSI-gDw

Website · #6 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:38 pm

I am half tempted to try the vise method on a T4x machine that I have with this problem...

#7 Post by **rkawakami** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:55 pm

carbon_unit wrote:IBM always referred to the motherboard as the "planar". I'm sure there is a story there too.

Perhaps when a problem develops with the motherboard and you take it out of the case and throw it like a boomerang, it becomes a "plane".

I've seen the tea candle and blowtorch repairs done on various boards. They have an advantage over the hot-air gun in that when the solder eventually melts, the airflow (none on a candle and none with a blowtorch as long as it's heating up some stationary piece of metal) won't disturb the part(s) being loosened up. And by "disturb" I mean that the part is not blown off the board or having some falling off the bottom.

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:06 am

rkawakami wrote:I've seen the tea candle and blowtorch repairs done on various boards. They have an advantage over the hot-air gun in that when the solder eventually melts, the airflow (none on a candle and none with a blowtorch as long as it's heating up some stationary piece of metal) won't disturb the part(s) being loosened up. And by "disturb" I mean that the part is not blown off the board or having some falling off the bottom.

That is exactly why I am thinking about it. I have killed 3 T4x boards trying the heat gun method. I have one complete T4x that I'd rather not destroy, so I might pick up YET ANOTHER dead T4x board from underclocker to test this theory.

Now, unlike the video...I might remove the systemboard all of the way, just incase the heat gets to be too much. Don't want melted plastic.

sparta.rising · #9 Post by **sparta.rising** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:27 pm

You've killed 3 boards, have you had any successes?

I just picked up the macbook pro. With the exception of the palmrest its in pretty good condition (one dent on the cover, screen looks nice powered off). But the guy mangled the palmrest taking it off to get the hard drive. Looks like he missed one screw and just started tugging. I've mostly bent it back in shape but its far from perfect, will require much more work. If anyone has a lead on a 15" macbook pro palmrest for under $50, let me know!

I have a few T42's with the gpu problem to hone my reflow skills on before I get to this... I'm just waiting for that darn thermometer that I ordered like 3 weeks ago to come in the mail!

#10 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:23 pm

Jamiphar has a professional reflow machine with X-Ray.
But he does not seem to be very reliable for answering email and returning laptops...

#11 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:46 pm

I don't think jamiphar actually has a reflowing machine but he has located another business that has one and is willing to do work for him. It appears jamiphar got a bunch of work for the reflow guy and then started having problems with the reflow guys work.
(Disclaimer) This is just my theory based on what I have read/heard and may be nowhere near the actual situation.

#12 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:54 pm

sparta.rising wrote: If anyone has a lead on a 15" macbook pro palmrest for under $50, let me know!

On that machine it's referred to as a 'top case'. It's much more than a palm rest, also includes the trackpad and power buttom...brushed aluminum. Very expensive. Here's a new one for $80. That is a good deal.
MACBOOK-PRO-15-TOP-CASE-TRACKPAD

sparta.rising · #13 Post by **sparta.rising** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:11 pm

Thanks for the link, holding off on the palmrest until I find out if I can get the logic board fixed, unless I come across a really good deal. Like this one that sold on ebay two weeks ago. And the one I have might be salvageable with some work.

ajkula66 · #14 Post by **ajkula66** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:34 pm

FYI, "superior reball" does Macs as well...

Good luck.

sparta.rising · #15 Post by **sparta.rising** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:01 pm

I was just about to send them a message and ask... has anyone personally used them? They actually have some feedback now.

sparta.rising · #16 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:29 am

Interesting news...

I just got a power adapter and a SATA hard drive for the machine... and it boots up fine. Silly mactard claiming "bad logic board". I'm so excited I definitely need to get a new palmrest (top case) now.

Website · #17 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:17 pm

sparta.rising wrote:You've killed 3 boards, have you had any successes?

Nope, I gave up after 3....

Temetka · #18 Post by **Temetka** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:34 am

Just out of curiosity why are we insulting mac users by referring to them as Mactards? I use both and certainly have never called any windows user wintards.

Just a thought.

(as a Mac user, I find the term offensive).

sparta.rising · #19 Post by **sparta.rising** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:25 am

I don't consider all Mac users Mactards, its a term I've grown fond of to describe people who really subscribe to the cult of the mac. People who make it a culture. Its short for "creepy/scarily obsessed Mac worshiper". There's a difference between an enthusiast and a fanboy. This guy was one of them. I don't dislike Macs, or all of the users, why else would I have bought one and taken the pains to repair it?

I apologize if you were offended.

Wentworth · #20 Post by **Wentworth** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:29 pm

Macbook Pro logic board is pretty hard to reflow, due to the new circuit board material that they use.

Has anyone tried reflowing a Macbook Pro?

Has anyone tried reflowing a Macbook Pro?

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