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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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How to know if logic board is fixable - 1 year old water damage

I have a early 2014 MacBook Air that suffered water damage around a year ago, to the point where it didn’t work any more. It was my mother’s at the time and she got it replaced by a newer model because a repair by Apple would apparently cost around $1200. I found the old MacBook a couple of days ago, opened it and see some corrosion on the logic board; a couple of spots here and there. I know how to properly clean it (with isopropyl etc., loads of tutorials online on that) but my question is - is it even worth trying? All the water damage repairs and corrosion cleaning I find on this model online is obviously done very shortly after the damage took place. But now that over a year has gone by, would the logic board even be affected by a proper cleaning? Or is it most likely completely fried?

Any input here is appreciated - I’m a newbie :)

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Edvard Toft  post some images of your board with your question. Let’s see how badand where the corrosion is. Use this guide Adding images to an existing question for that Right now, you have nothing to lose so might as well give it a try. After all, this is iFixit and not iReplaceit until proven otherwise. Clean the board properly (use the online tutorals and be thourough with it). After that reassemble and then try to and then try to start it up. Only after you have cleaned it properly can you determine what the real issues are. Let us know what you find out and double check to ensure that your board is a 820-3437

Update (09/25/2018)

Edvard Toft your boards shows quite a bit of corrosion. So proceed with a proper cleaning as adressed by @arbaman The green stuff is corrosion and in this case can cause short circuits. Hence the absolute necessity to clean the board properly. The parts that are marked are Q7130 which is a RJK03P0DPA High Speed Power Switching Dual N-channel Power MOSFET and Q7155 which is a Si7137DP P-Channel 20-V (D-S) MOSFET Both of those components are part of your PBus Supply and battery charging circuit. So, you do now start to understand why it is important for us to know what exact board number we are dealing with. You also see now why things may not have worked when the board initially got damaged. It seems to have “hit” the power circuitry.

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Thanks for your comment! I’ve included pictures of the corrosion now - as you can see, it’s not really that much. Might be a lot on the underside of the board though, haven’t had the chance to open up the internal screws as I believe they are Torx T5 and not Pentalobe?

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Looks like a 820-3437 to me indeed. Corrosion is around the mosfet of the charging line, thus probably it went all the way shorting also the power/charging IC. Heaven only knows if from there it might have burnt other surrounding components but I wouldn't be surprised at all. It's potentially a troublesome repair but probably worth a try, it's still a quite valuable board, especially if it's the 8Gb RAM version. It depends also on what is on the other side of the board. You'll need a T5 for the logic board screws.

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Okay, I see. I’ll buy a T5 and work my way into the other side of the board. If it doesn’t look too bad I’ll start cleaning it. Should I soak the board in isopropyl or do you think it is enough to gently clean the corrosion away with a toothbrush? Also, why does it matter that it is a 820-3437? Those numbers doesn’t tell me anything lol. Thanks a lot btw!

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A little soaking in IPA will help removing whatever filth is on the board and won't cause any damage. About an hour is fine, don't let it stay overnight or resins protecting ICs will come off place. Board number is important to understand what parts were involved, one can see what component is from the picture but not always what it does..same components might be used on different lines. Glad to help, be optimistic but not overexcited, it won't be a stroll ;)

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Edvard Toft @arbaman is absolutely right. It'll be a tough undertaking but anything is possible for as long as you are willing to be our hands on this project we can be your eyes and brains on this. If you are willing to learn, we are willing to teach. The 820-3437 number is specific to your logic board, it's layout and the components. With that number we know exasctly which component is located where on the board and what it's functions/values given to a specific circuitry are.

You need to remove the board and remove the airport card as well.

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Well, I think that Logic Board is toast. It’s kind of like spilling pancake batter on the counter on Saturday and cleaning it up promptly (easy to clean up) rather then versus spilling pancake batter on Saturday and waiting until Sunday to clean it up (not so easy).

However, you can buy a new Logic Board from here at iFixit and install it with a guide that is conveniently located here too. It is a hefty price tag but if you truly do want this computer to work again you will need to at least try this. Be aware that this may not solve your problem as there could be more water damage to the Mac then we think and that might completely total your Mac. If the new Logic Board from here at iFixit does not solve your problems then you can return it quick and easy for any reason as iFixit stands behind their products very well.


MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-Early 2014) 1.4 GHz Logic Board

MacBook Air 13" Early 2014 Logic Board Replacement

MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-Early 2014) 1.4 GHz Logic Board Image

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MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-Early 2014) 1.4 GHz Logic Board

$349.99

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Thanks for the answer. I’ll probably try to clean it anyway as I have nothing to lose, and there might be a possibility to fix it. Also - it’s good practice for me, it will be the first MacBook I’ve ever fixed :)

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Edvard Toft will be eternally grateful.
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