My MacAir 13" Early 2014 doesn't power up.

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MacBook Air 13" Early 2014

The April 2014 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Air features refreshed dual-core i5 and i7 processors, plus slightly increased battery performance.

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Tom Garcia @cbgarcia

Rep: 11

1

Posted: Dec 6, 2016

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My MacAir 13" Early 2014 doesn't power up.

I spilled some water on the keyboard 4 weeks ago.

I opened the case. It's dry now.

The power cable shows green, but the screen is dark.

I brought it to the Apple Store and they quoted $700 to fix it.

I am willing to fix it myself.

What steps should be done to determine which parts need changing?

Thanks in advance,

Tom

@keeganbourque:

Here are the pictures:

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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4 Comments

Is it not booting, or is the screen dark (not lighting up)?

Dec 6, 2016 by Reece

Hello, I would say to start I would do a teardown of the mac and look for any known issues. Can you please post photos of the following and tag me and I will be back to see if I can spot anything.

Please post the following;

- The Logic Board

- HDD/SSD Connector

- Screen Connector Pins (Found On Logic Board

- Picture of logic board when laptop is powered on (Please be safe while doing this)

Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon.

Dec 6, 2016 by Keegan Bourque

The screen is dark, Reece

I unplugged the battery and plugged it back in, and it still doesn't boot up.

I have an identical Macbook Air.

Would this be a correct procedure?

1. Switch the battery of the 2 laptops and see if this fixes the problem.

2. Switch the Logic Board if it fixes the problem.

3. Next step please?

Thanks in advance,

Tom

Dec 6, 2016 by Tom Garcia

@keeganbourque

I took the pictures. How do I get them to you?

Thanks,

Tom

Dec 6, 2016 by Tom Garcia

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1 Answer

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Reece @reecee

Rep: 34.8k

eFix Ltd (UK)

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Posted: Dec 7, 2016

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If the screen is dark (no backlight, not lighting the screen), check the following;

1. Check the screen cable and screen connector for any burnt pins/melted plastic

2. Check continuity on backlight fuse (will have a little "p" or "n" on it, near the screen connector

3. Check voltage on the black diode at the top of the board, near the screen connector, above the coil.

If it is 1, replace the screen cable and LCD connector. If it is 2, replace the fuse (but check resistance to ground before turning it on, otherwise it will blow again). If it is 3, remove the backlight IC, check continuity from here to the diode, run a wire and fit new chip if no continuity or just replace chip if there is continuity.

If you think the spillage may have gone on the screen a bit, the screen PCB itself is likely toast.

Try the above. If you are not comfortable carrying out logic board repairs, I would recommend sending it somewhere at this point, since all of the above will need things to be soldered.

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3 Comments:

Thanks, Reece.

Yesterday, I switched batteries between my two macbook airs (the water-damaged 2014 one and the working 2015 one). I found the batteries to be ok.

Next, I switched the logic boards, and found that the 2015 with 2014 logic board became dark, whereas the 2014 with the 2015 logic board worked.

My conclusion: the 2014 logic board is bad.

It probably is the fuse. I'll do your steps 1-3.

If it fails, I'll bake it (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-r...) before I throw it away for a new one from ebay. (I wonder what you think about baking it.)

Thanks a lot,

Tom

Dec 7, 2016 by Tom Garcia

Yes, it will be an issue with the logic board. Please don't bake it, this will not fix it and will likely cause more issues (this is a temporary fix for old MacBooks with GPU faults).

You can remove the SSD and sell it on eBay for spares, using the money toward a new one. Or find a repair centre (non-authorised, Apple will just replace the board) who can do logic board repairs. If are not able to repair the logic board, and you're located in the UK, feel free to send it to my company :)

Dec 7, 2016 by Reece

Thanks a lot, Reece. Will do.

Best,

Tom

Dec 8, 2016 by Tom Garcia

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Hello, I would say to start I would do a teardown of the mac and look for any known issues. Can you please post photos of the following and tag me and I will be back to see if I can spot anything.

Please post the following;

- The Logic Board

- HDD/SSD Connector

- Screen Connector Pins (Found On Logic Board

- Picture of logic board when laptop is powered on (Please be safe while doing this)

Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon. — Keegan Bourque
The screen is dark, Reece

I unplugged the battery and plugged it back in, and it still doesn't boot up.

I have an identical Macbook Air.

Would this be a correct procedure?

1. Switch the battery of the 2 laptops and see if this fixes the problem.

2. Switch the Logic Board if it fixes the problem.

3. Next step please?

Thanks in advance,

Tom — Tom Garcia
@keeganbourque

I took the pictures. How do I get them to you?

Thanks,

Tom — Tom Garcia
Thanks, Reece.

Yesterday, I switched batteries between my two macbook airs (the water-damaged 2014 one and the working 2015 one). I found the batteries to be ok.

Next, I switched the logic boards, and found that the 2015 with 2014 logic board became dark, whereas the 2014 with the 2015 logic board worked.

My conclusion: the 2014 logic board is bad.

It probably is the fuse. I'll do your steps 1-3.

If it fails, I'll bake it (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-r...) before I throw it away for a new one from ebay. (I wonder what you think about baking it.)

Thanks a lot,

Tom — Tom Garcia
Yes, it will be an issue with the logic board. Please don't bake it, this will not fix it and will likely cause more issues (this is a temporary fix for old MacBooks with GPU faults).

You can remove the SSD and sell it on eBay for spares, using the money toward a new one. Or find a repair centre (non-authorised, Apple will just replace the board) who can do logic board repairs. If are not able to repair the logic board, and you're located in the UK, feel free to send it to my company :) — Reece

MacBook Air 13" Early 2014

My MacAir 13" Early 2014 doesn't power up.

Update (12/06/2016)

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