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Putting a MacBook Pro In the Oven To Fix It
An anonymous reader writes: A post at iFixit explains how one user with a failing MacBook Pro fixed it by baking it in the oven. The device had overheating issues for months, reaching temperatures over 100 C. When it finally died, some research suggested the extreme heat caused the logic board to flex and break the solder connections. The solution was to simply reflow the solder, but that's hard to do with a MBP. "Instead, I cracked open the back of my laptop, disconnected all eleven connectors and three heat sinks from the logic board, and turned the oven up to 340 F. I put my $900 part on a cookie sheet and baked it for seven nerve-wracking minutes. After it cooled, I reapplied thermal paste, put it all back together, and cheered when it booted. It ran great for the next eight months." The laptop failed again, and another brief vacation into the oven got it running once more.
...Or better yet apply enough solder correctly the first time....
But... but... but... but... I thought Apple's build quality was the best there can be?!?!?
The product only has to last until the next incremental improvement is available.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
A heat gun requires you to know where to heat. An oven does not.
If you didn't think to take the battery out before putting it in the oven, then perhaps evolution would prefer that you not pass on any of your genes this time around.
But taking the battery out is... easy... Oh, sorry, forgot we were talking about a Macbook. Never mind.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
More importantly (and obviously), if you have to resort to regularly baking an electronic component in an oven to "fix" it, then you should have gone with an electronic item of better manufacturing quality.
Wouldn't this method melt (and thus remove) tin whiskers, since they are so incredibly thin? Perhaps -that- was his problem, not broken joints.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
This is all from memory, but as I recall, the actual problem is in the solder manufacturers are forced to use for ROHS compliance. It is less flexible than the old lead-tin solder of the olden days.
Trolling is a art,
As I understand it, ROHS compliment solder introduces stress cracks (thus a broken circuit) from the constant thermal expansion and contraction from everyday use. With laptops, the delta changes from heating and cooling are huge. From the solder joint POV, it would be like bending a paperclip back and forth. Eventually the stress will create metal-fatigue and thus crack apart.
Life is not for the lazy.