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Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

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    Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

    I have a Macbook pro retina late 2013, i7/2,8ghz. That got some water on it.

    Had water in my messenger bag, along with my mac in a cloth sleeve. And the water had sipped out during the night.
    The sleeve was quite soaked a few inches in on one long side. So the liquid or moistur mostly went to either on the side with the trackpad, or the dislay side where the vents are.

    So here's a recollection of what I've checked and looked at.
    (I know, probably did a bunch of mistakes, and I'm kind of novice so bear with me).

    When I took it out, I think the chassi might have felt a bit damp on the backside. I opened up the back plate, but couldn't feel or see any moisture on the inside, not the back plate, or on the computer parts.

    I pulled the display up to see if it was wet on the keyboard, forgetting it was in hibernation. Display lit up, and I noticed letters were popping up on the password field. The keyboard area felt and looked dry, as did the display. So I just ran fingers through the keyboard, to see if any keys was responding, only Z was non responsive.

    I don't know, somewhere I thought the damage is already done, so tried popping the Z key off with a tweezer, and see if it's some crap underneath and not water. But shortly after, the computer died.

    I let it dry a day. After that I tried powering on, nothing. Plugged the cable in.. no green or yellow light.
    After that, I removed the logic board, checked if I could see any damaged components. Nothing obvious like a big visible area with corrosion.

    I plugged the power cable into only the logic board, to see if I got a reaction. I got a short green light, then a even shorter yellow, and the light went off. Took it out, put it back in. No lights. But I get a short green light if I wait a while before plugging the charger in.

    After that, I looked at schematics, to see what logic board I have. And it seem to be a 820-3536.
    I kept the power cable plugged in and used a multimeter to see the volts on pin 1 on R7005 (PP3bus_g3h). I got around 12V (looking at the schematics, it doesn't look like it should be 12V? but I'm not expert), that slowly went down to 0. So at least the board gets some juice.

    I wondered if it needs more components plugged in to get a stable volt, so I plugged everything back in. And measured R7005 again.
    And yes, it got a stable 12V. But as I measured, the charger light went green, computer started by itself, and I heard the startup sound.
    So I stopped measuring, and after a few seconds it shut down again. Display didn't start, but I'm not sure if the boot process went that far or not, for it to light up.

    Not sure where to go from there.

    I assume it has a short somewhere? And that tips on R7005 + ground made it come alive, or at least part of it? The only thing I've tried after that was to plug the charger in while only the battery was unplugged. I got a really short green light.

    I'd be grateful if someone could guide me to find where the damage is, so I know if I can fix it. Like if it's a resistor or a capacitor that needs to be replaced, if it's the mag safe board or whatever it is. At the very least, it's a good opportunity to learn something.

    Update: I had some promising progress, just after I posted this. :p Plugged the charger in, first time since yesterday. The charge light stays on now, but it also starts up when the charger is present. So I kept it in to see if the display worked, and it did. Trackpad as well. But it shut down as soon as the boot process was finsihed. And it also seem to shut down if I unplug the cable. I don't know, I'm starting to wonder if the problem lies with the keyboard and maybe something with the battery.
    Last edited by tuleki; 09-30-2019, 03:27 AM. Reason: Progress update

    #2
    Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

    Let the baord dry completely before applying power otherwise you'll cause more damage. Probably best to remove the board and check for corrosion. If water got in from the keyboard or side vents then there is probably corrosion on the underside of the board. You may need to ultrasonic the board depending on the amount. Ifyou want to eliminate the keyboard as an issue, you can remove the flat cable and apply charger to see if it boots and stays on.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

      Ok, so the macbook started working almost 100% after a few days. But there's one thing left that's not entirely working. When you lift the display up, start up from hibernation.. the number keys doesn't work at first. It takes a few minutes, and then they begin to work.
      It's a 820-3536 logic board. Some component must be defect, Was wondering if there's a capacitor that's not working? And where I could look?

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        #4
        Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

        probably corrosion problem

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          #5
          Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

          That's a weird failure mode. I'd confirm with a know good keyboard and touchpad first. (/top case assembly)
          OpenBoardView — https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView

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            #6
            Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

            Macbook keyboards are very susceptible to water damage. Once they get wet they start doing funny things or even prevent the MacBook to start. Its not worth trying to fix a water damaged keyboard. The carbon on the membranes will oxidize away eventually.

            But good news... They are replaceable! No need to buy a whole topcase. It is a pain but possible. Make sure to buy a new backlight with it. You will most likely tear the old one. Also make sure that the seller includes screws for the pressfit metal studs. You have to pull as many out as you can. There are many tutorials on the net.

            Please do yourself a favor and clean the board properly. A bath in alcohol and old tooth brush always served me well. Just a suggestion you may consider. Ultrasonic cleaning would be the best.
            Last edited by KvnTM; 10-14-2019, 03:42 PM.

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              #7
              Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

              Originally posted by KvnTM View Post
              The carbon on the membranes will oxidize away eventually.
              You mean the keys will eventually stop working?

              Originally posted by KvnTM View Post
              But good news... They are replaceable!
              I know.. a friend I bought it from damaged it last year, by some moist from rain, and I replaced it. And chastised him for not being careful.. well, joke's on me. :p

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

                Originally posted by tuleki View Post
                You mean the keys will eventually stop working?
                Probably. There will be trapped moisture between the membranes. Electrolysis will do the rest. Just replace it.. It is probably damaged anyways.

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                  #9
                  Re: Macbook Pro retina, late 2013. Water damage.

                  first you have observe the motherboard to confirm if you can see any corrosion or molcules of water on the board after you confirm its free from corrosion its good to dry it by putting it outside where there is direct sunrays from the sun for like 2hours or more untill it drys completely

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