Chosen Solution

Hey everyone! Alright, this is my first time on ifixit and also in the MacBook-world in general, so please tell me if I am doing obvious or rookie mistakes. As for the problem: I got the old MacBook of my girlfriend (actually her moms) with her saying it burnt through two different MagSafe-Cables and won’t boot up anymore. My question is somewhat vague (apologies for that), but how can I see whether it is really burnt, broken or damaged? What I did is open up the body, extract the HDD and copy her files so that she can safe her pictures and other data. So my actual job is done (she got a new MacBook Pro). Further inspection did not reveal anything spectacular; the MagSafe Connector on the outside does not look burned at all, compared to googled images of burned ones. Same goes for the inside, the connector cable does not ’look’ burned. Apart from being full of dust, everything seems in order. Of course writing that makes me kind of feel naive and I am not a technician, but I would like to repair that thing, even if it is just for sport, learning and to dabble in the Apples (and maybe a little show off ;)). The AppleStore/Genius/Apple-Guys told me this MacBook is obsolete and they are - sadly - not able look at it anymore, which I can understand (well I tried :-)). So I kind of need some advice:

  • Would a burned MagSafe (or the connector) be visible on the inside of the MacBook ?
  • Should I buy another MagSafe-cable and try to just charge it (or maybe try it first without the battery?
  • Should I try for an Apple-certified repair-shop and have them a go at it? (that was also the advice of my Apple-Hotline-Guy
  • Should I just forget the whole thing and sell the scraps and spare parts on eBay? As for the details: It is an “Apple MacBook “Core 2 Duo” 2.4 13” (Black-08)" as far as serial number and everymac.com tell me. Thanks in advance and sorry I did not google/search properly!

How attached is your girlfriends mom to the computer? Once you get to a point in your life you don’t like change. Why I ask is this system is quite old. Apple no longer services it and has also stopped offering OS updates for the OS this system is limited to Lion (OS X 10.7.x). So using it on the internet is a bit risky. If you can upgrade her system to a newer I series based CPU I think it will give here a better & safer experience (new or used). With that said… getting back to your current delema with this system. I’m suspecting you have a simple problem! A common issue of the older MacBook series is the PRAM battery. Once it dies the system often won’t startup, and given the age of the system it likely need replacement anyways. Here is the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow: MacBook Core 2 Duo PRAM Battery (Santa Rosa/Penryn) Replacement. Sadly, Apple tucked it deep inside but you can disconnect it from the logic board and test a fresh battery before digging the old one out. Refer to step30 in this guide: MacBook Core 2 Duo Logic Board Replacement. If replacing the PRAM battery didn’t help then you likely have a deeper logic board failure. Then it’s a matter of cost to repair Vs replacing of the system.

How to Repair an Apple Magsafe Charger Magnetic End