Repairing a MacBook Air that doesn't turn on after liquid damage

What's wrong with this MacBook?

This customer sent in their MacBook Air to our store in New York City for our logic board repair service because it didn't turn on after liquid was spilled on it. It is not pulling any power from the DC power supply, and the fan does not spin.

How can we fix the issue?

Initial Diagnosis

The first step to solving a board issue on any MacBook that has liquid damage is to look at the board and see where the liquid went. On this board, we looked over both sides, and the only corrosion we found was in the area of the Thunderbolt circuit.

After looking over the board, we measure voltages on the main power rails. These seem OK, with PPBUS_G3H at a steady 8.5V.

Repairing the Board

The first thing we do to this board after we have determined that the liquid corroded some components in the thunderbolt circuit is replace components that look corroded. This board had one nasty looking capacitor next to the CD3211 chip. We can assume that the CD3211 chip is responsible for Thunderbolt muxing, as in newer machines the CD3215 chip is what is responsible for that, and CD3211 is most likely an older revision of the CD3215.

With our hot air rework station and our Amtech flux, we remove and replace the corroded components. After doing this, the machine is fully functional.

I can't fix this myself. How do I get it fixed?

Rossmann Repair Group offers MacBook Logic Board Repair in New York City. Our repairs are not limited to Austin though, we accept mail-in repairs from virtually anywhere! Visit https://sendyourmacbook.com to start your MacBook repair.