Our number one repair is (you guessed it) cracked screen repair! But we also do a ton of other repairs as well. Liquid damage is one of our favorites because we are usually able to help get a computer back up and running for $100’s less than what Apple charges. Sometimes the damage is so bad that we end up recommending Apple’s flat rate, but those scenarios are rare indeed. 90% of the time we are able to repair the computer for substantially less than Apple.
Here is a list of components that are damaged often when liquid enters your laptop in our experience:
- Keyboard
- Logic board (also known as the motherboard or main board)
- DC-in board (also known as MagSafe board)
- Battery
- Display
- Drive (both standard spinning drives and solid state drives can be damaged by liquid)
- IO board (some laptops have a second smaller board called the IO board
Whatever the issue is with your computer, we recommend not trying to turn it on after it comes into contact with liquid. The best idea is to take it to a shop (like us) to complete a free diagnosis and a cleaning if necessary.
We always start the process with a free diagnosis. We take apart the machine to see how far the liquid got and which components are in need of repair. Sometimes the liquid doesn’t even make it to the internal components and the only replacement needed is the keyboard itself. Other times the liquid will have reached the logic board, but not shorted anything. In these cases, we are able to clean the logic board with an ultrasonic cleaner to safely remove the liquid.
There are times when the logic board itself is damaged and there is a short causing the computer to not work. In these cases, we offer a logic board repair service. We only charge for the service if it is successful. If we are not successful in repairing your logic board, there is no charge at all for the attempt.
The DC-in board is usually one of the cheapest parts to replace. There are times when the liquid just comes into contact with this part and swapping it out brings your Mac back to life. The DC-in board is also known as the MagSafe board because it is where your computer power cable plugs into the computer.
As you may have noticed, a lot of the parts that are damaged have something to do with moving electricity around your laptop: logic board, DC-in Board, and now battery. This is because the liquid can create a bridge for electricity to flow from one chip to another where it isn’t supposed to go. This is called bridging a connection. Parts that have energy flowing through them are easily bridged by almost all liquids. As you can imagine the battery is one of those parts that is prone to shorting with liquid damage.
Many times a liquid-damaged display will present itself as what appears to be clouds in the display. The display will still work, but the image will appear cloudy where the liquid has entered and gotten between the diffuser sheets. There is energy flowing to the backlight of the display, so sometimes the liquid will seep into the display housing and short the backlight circuitry, but this is very rare. We almost always see no backlight issues being caused by the backlight circuitry on the logic board side.
When the drive that holds your data is damaged we can offer data recovery services to get your data back. On some of the more modern models of the MacBook Pro, the chips that hold the data are built into the logic board. If the data is needed from one of these models we do offer data recovery services to get that data back!
Some models have a second smaller board that has some of the ports. This smaller “IO board” connects to the logic board and if it is not working properly it can cause all kinds of symptoms. This is usually one of the cheaper fixes for liquid damage as it is an inexpensive part and can be swapped out without too much difficulty.
Whatever the issue is with your Mac, we offer liquid damage diagnosis and repair nationwide through our mail-in service. You can click to start the process of sending your Mac in for repair.