Board repair

Nickle12

I have a 2009 aluminum macbook pro, which recently stopped powering on, and I think it is a board problem. I have seen suggestions to heat up the board in the oven, and I was curious if that actually works or if there is a better solution, or if it is just dead.
Thank you

John

Thanks for the post!

Heating up the board in an oven can be used to deal with certain kinds of board issues, but it requires a specific kind of oven, and it does not solve the most typical board defects. I would recommend clicking on the "Power on Pads" link at the top of the page and see if you can power on your board by jumping the pads. Often MacBook boards fail to start because the keyboard/power button becomes defective and the board therefore does not power on when you press the power button. This procedure determines whether it's the board or the keyboard/power button that is defective...I think that is a much better starting point than cooking the board.

Let me know how it goes!

John

Nickle12

Thank you, I hadn't tried that before, but it didn't seem to do anything.

John

Given it's a 2009 board, I wouldn't put more effort into it at this point. It's barely worth $10 as a dead board, so it's certainly not worth paying anyone to fix. I'd suggest searching eBay for replacement boards, which you might be able to find for as little as $30. Better yet, buy an equivalent parts machine on eBay (with good board but smashed screen, etc.) and after you do the swap you'll have a pile of spare parts.