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Released in July 2018, the 15" MacBook Pro, model A1990, features a 15.4 inch LED-Backlight display with True Tone technology, TouchID, and up to 6 Core i9 Processor.

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CPU overload after possible short on motherboard.

My MacBook Pro A1990 has been running pretty hot when I’m gaming so I decided to open it up and lean out dust inside.

I originally was going to take out the fans and clean them but I quickly decided that was going to be far more than I felt like dealing with last night, but in the process I had a pair of tweezers I was going to removed the speaker cable and had forgotten to first unhook the battery! Ugh! My tweezers momentarily connected with nearby components and sparked. Did I short it out?

I see now marks. The laptop was very dusty so I just used compressed air to clean it. However, upon putting it all back together it seems to be having issues every time I try to use my external monitor or play a game.

Both things resulted in the CPU going from below 1% to near 70%. I’m thinking maybe a shorted something out or maybe blowing the dust further under the logic board… I’m at a loss. Anyone have any thoughts as to what might have happened? Everything else works fine.

Update (01/02/24)

I should add that I did a big system update the same day this started happening. I’ve since noticed that my MacBook starts up with high fans and high CPU but then settled down when everything loads. I also noticed my CPU kick up when scrolling preview. It’s so weird though because I can have preview running and everything is fine but as soon as I’m scrolling through a PDF on preview the CPU starts throttling.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Well I can tell you the dust is not the worry 😰

It does sound like you’ve damaged some of the circuitry of the logic board. So now you’ll need to find someone with Mac systems component level diagnostics skills with the needed tools and parts to fix your system. Otherwise it’s time for a new logic board which is likely more expensive.

Can you tell us where a-bouts you live country and nearest major city, maybe we can aim you to someone.

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4 Comments:

That’s what I was afraid of. 😔

I’m in central IL near Peoria

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@elizabethhitz - Let me look into it.

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@elizabethhitz - Sorry we don’t have anyone listed in the area which does board level repair. But in upper NewYork we have a great specialist which I think is your answer! iPad Rehab Jessa does Mac’s too so don’t let the name fool you. Give her a call and tell her we aimed you to her.

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Thank you, appreciate your looking into it

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Elizabeth Hitz will be eternally grateful.
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