Macbook Pro Started Smoking

[rustyk123]

It is a MacBook Pro Early 2008.

I had been using the laptop all morning, had lunch and used it some more. I set the laptop down on my desk, and walked away for a few minutes, came back and it was off, I tried to turn it on and it would not. Then I noticed a burning smell and went and unplugged everything and removed the battery. I called apple right away, and they had me bring it to the store for them to look at. I decide to take a quick look for my self before bringing it in, so I popped the palmrest off and inspected the logic board, it is a problem on the logic board, and it is on the under side. Based on the strength of the smell, I would say it is around the video chip. I actually got a call from the apple store while typing this, they say their is no visual damage to the board.

Has anyone had this happen with theirs, or does anyone know what could cause this?

 

[chscag]

Call the genius bar back at the Apple store and ask them if they tested your MBP to further determine where the smoke was coming from? Perhaps there is no "visible" damage, but from my long experience as an electronic tech, where there is smoke, there's a problem. A burning smell usually indicates a short - in other words, an excess of current flow.

And if it came from the underside of the Logic board, that spells trouble; it likely means a new Logic board.

 

[dtravis7]

Agree 100% with chscag.

 

[rustyk123]

100% needs a logicboard, it no longer works. Also, I have never seen a computer smoke and not have any visible damage, have you?

I have called them back and they are having another tech look at it to confirm, I don't think they took it completely apart. When they called me, they said the tech had it apart then, about 5-10 minutes later, i received an email from the apple store saying it is ready for pick up. If they are not falsely sending these emails early, then that tech would have to be extremely fast, I have never put a laptop back together that fast, and I used to be a laptop technician.

 

[Dysfunction]

100% needs a logicboard, it no longer works. Also, I have never seen a computer smoke and not have any visible damage, have you?

Yep, on more than on occasion. Depending on the design, you may not have visual access to the shorted (and damaged) component. Failure analysis on some of these sorts of issues tend to be a bit more involved than simple visual inspection. For instance, I've seen numerous shorts cause by zinc whiskers, in these instances the whisker is effectively vaporized, and you'd really need to wash the IC to detect the previous presence of zinc.

 

[rustyk123]

I called the apple store back and asked if a second tech could look at it they finally agreed to do that. I call back later, the same thing, they did not see any sign of damage. So I picked it up they offered me a 10% discount, but I really don't have an extra $2000 to buy another MacBook Pro, or I would have replaced it a year ago.

I opened up the computer myself and don't understand why they could not have seen damage if they really inspected the logicboard like they said they did. It was burned on the underside of the logicboard. Here is some pictures to see, I left them at the full size of the iPhone 4s so it could be stretched to see a detailed view.

What I am wondering is what could cause this part to burn? I believe this component is a power regulator of some sort, I am not that great with components. Could this be a problem with a surge? I had this plugged into a surge protector (very rare case), and the surge protector is only a few months old, it's coverage warranty would cover the cost of the replacement it if that could have caused the problem. I want to know if this is possibly the cause of the problem, otherwise I will not contact the company. I also had a Mac Mini and a Monitor plugged in, they were both in a sleep mode and the laptop was actively running, but the monitor and Mac Mini are fine.

Thanks.

 

[dtravis7]

For sure it burned. Take the pics to Apple. Someone is not telling you the truth there. They did not look at that side of the board.

 

[rustyk123]

Well that part is obvious, I just want to know if this is possibly something I can go through the surge protector company. The MacBook Pro is a Early 2008, so it is a 4 year old Mac, They can not support it in the store, and they said if they send it out they would repair it, but it would cost me $310 unless the main repair center decides to do this at no charge.

If this is not a problem that could be caused by a surge, I will be calling apple care support, I have a senior adviser helping me with the issue, which asked me to take it to the store for them to look at, and see what they say.

 

[chscag]

I seriously doubt the surge protector maker is going to come thru for you on this. I suppose you can always give it a try.

Without seeing a schematic I can't really tell if the component that burned is part of a power regulator circuit or not, however, I can clearly see that it did a number on the board and surrounding components. I find it difficult to believe the Apple techs didn't see that. It leads me to think they never looked close enough or didn't remove the Logic Board to look at the underside.

I would think you're due for a free repair and replacement of that Logic board since it appears they were lax in what they should have done. Let us know how this turns out.

 

[dtravis7]

Agreed with Chscag.

As far as any surges, had any bad lightning storms lately or Power going off and on?

 

[rustyk123]

This was while I was at work, which was fine weather, but if you look at the power at my house, I know there is I high risk there. I have a battery backup that runs my tv and my windows media center system, and if you look at the logs, it flips from AC to battery every few hours for low power, interference, etc. I have not looked at power conditions at my work, I should look into that.

The only other cause I could see would be heat. This model was under an extend service for the video card which would overheat and come loose on the logic board. The chip in the picture that I caught the edge of was the video card. What seems to be more likely the cause, a hot video card around it, or a surge?