[Help] Battery replacement procedure burnt my trackpad, maybe

[salmonela]

I replaced the battery in a MacBook Pro 13 inch, from early 2015, model A1502.

I reassembled it with no problem as im used to messing with it, but when I turned it on smoked from the thin board under the trackpad.

Currently trackpad and keyboard are not functional and the board where the flex cable connects to the trackpad becomes warm to the touch.

to remove the adhesive I used a large amount of isopropyl alcohol 99,8%, I was pretty liberal with it as i was under the impression it would be fine, I guess maybe not… could this be the cause or just a coincidence?

would it be safe to assume replacing the trackpad would fix it? Any way I can better troubleshoot this?

 

[pigoo3]

I've replaced a lot of Apple notebook batteries...never used any isopropyl alcohol...and all of the replacements went fine.

Smoke & electronics never a good thing. Best way to troubleshoot for a at-home DIY project...is replace suspected bad parts with known good parts.

Let's hope the smoke did not come from the logic board!

Nick

 

[IWT]

@salmonela

A warm welcome to Mac-Forums. I hope you enjoy your time with us here. Your first question confirms that you are well versed in Mac problems. We look forward to further posts from you; perhaps helping others.

Ian

 

[salmonela]

I've replaced a lot of Apple notebook batteries...never used any isopropyl alcohol...and all of the replacements went fine.

Smoke & electronics never a good thing. Best way to troubleshoot for a at-home DIY project...is replace suspected bad parts with known good parts.

Let's hope the smoke did not come from the logic board!

Nick

Thank you!

What did you use to remove the adhesive? Adhesive remover?

The smoke definitely came from trackpad area, I didn’t close the bottom part as I was testing that everything was properly connected.

I cannot find anything else like this on the web, so can’t really tell what happened, not really looking forward to remove the battery again but will do.

Thanks again!

 

[pigoo3]

What did you use to remove the adhesive? adhesive remover?

Here's the battery removal procedure from ifixit.com for a 2015 13" MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2015 Battery Replacement

Use this guide to remove the glued-in battery from your MacBook Pro. This is best done with the help of an iFixit battery replacement kit; the...

www.ifixit.com

They describe two methods to remove the battery:

1. Small amounts of adhesive remover (the key here is "small amounts").
2. Heat and gentle prying with something flat like a credit card or spudger.

Large amounts of isopropyl alcohol not mentioned.

I've always used the "heat & careful prying" method. I hate using any sort of liquids (even alcohols) near electronics.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[salmonela]

(…) Large amounts of isopropyl alcohol not mentioned.

I've always used the "heat & careful prying" method. I hate using any sort of liquids (even alcohols) near electronics.

HTH,

- Nick

Thank you!

I got a different kit with no adhesive remover and im not very patient, oh well it is what it is.

I don’t have any specific heat tools so I’m not very confortable taking a hair dryer to it

Isopropyl should be safe(ish?) arround electronics but I’ll exert caution and get a syringe next time to be more precise with the application… definitely learnt my lesson.

Thank you for sharing your experience!

———

on another news, trackpad is ordered, I’ll be replacing it once it arrives and testing it just on the charger before also plugging the battery.

in the meanwhile the alcohol that could be trapped inside any components should have enough time to evaporate and avoid any extra damage.

if this does not fix it I’ll probably let go of the laptop, as the fix may not be worth the value…

 

[pigoo3]

...on another news, trackpad is ordered, I’ll be replacing it once it arrives...

Awesome. Please let us how it runs out.

in the meanwhile the alcohol that could be trapped inside any components should have enough time to evaporate and avoid any extra damage.

Yes...it should have evaporated by now.

Technically...isopropyl alcohol is not supposed to conduct electricity (especially if it's a 99.8% isopropyl alcohol)...there are other blends as well that contain 70-90% alcohol (the rest is water).

Here's an article that does mention that the conductivity of isopropyl alcohol may not be 100% non-conductive (could be a small chance of electrical conductivity):

Does Isopropyl Alcohol Conduct Electricity?

Isopropyl alcohol is used to clean surfaces and as a solvent. Some people believe that it can also conduct electricity. Is this true?

toolsweek.com

If a lot of isopropyl alcohol was used originally (as mentioned in post #1)...very possible some of it may not have completely evaporated before the computer was powered on.

There really are only 3 possibilities for the issue:

* Excess isopropyl alcohol conducted electricity between components that are not supposed to be "touching" each other.
* Replacement battery was defective in some way.
* Some sort of reassembly error occurred.

if this does not fix it I’ll probably let go of the laptop, as the fix may not be worth the value…

Yes this is usually the case with older computers (8 years in this case). Many repairs can easily exceed the units current market value.

Good luck,

Nick

 

[salmonela]

got my new trackpad today, made a log because I thought would be funny, but the conclusion is at the last entry marked 1:43 AM.

11:58 AM
I’m now in the process of taking apart the pc. I intended to use a plastic straw as a dropper, but after first drops realized it wouldn’t be necessary as the replacement battery is not at sticky.

12:10AM
Funny that I mentioned that I almost didn’t use alcohol, because I found some… a lot still underneath the trackpad. I instinctively wiped some but then ran to document it in some pictures for you. The outlined red area is roughly what I had wiped away.

You can tell it dried a bit from a picture to another, and now as I finish writing this 5min latter it is fully dry.




12:32AM
With the trackpad now off I realized that, unlike my previous windows laptops, the keyboard not working is not related to the trackpad, I’ll remove the logic board to inspect for more trapped alcohol…

01:05 AM
Didn’t find anything abnormal with the keyboard area, only some corrosion I was already aware of (gotta give it props for the fact that I once dropped a bottle of water on the keyboard and only got some function keys with no backlight)

1:22AM
Grabbed the phone to say that I'm now putting everything back together, and Apple really said – no flex in the trackpad – because I counted 22 screws holding the trackpad to the case

1:43 AM
One of the screwdrivers I’m using is getting stripped and ill have to continue the assembly latter. The laptop was however together enough for me to give it a test with the charger, which I did and it seems to be back to normal. Keyboard and trackpad are functional, and I was able to login and write a silly note.


I’ll try to get a hold of a new screwdriver and might update this entry with an edit once the battery and everything else is in place! But for now it seems we got a fully working 2015 MBP!

And kids, learn from my mistakes that isopropyl alcohol is conductive enough to screw your trackpads and maybe keyboards as well.

thanks to everybody who provided their insights! it really helped me avoid tossing the laptop in the bin… 🥹

 

[salmonela]

Update: after installing the battery the unresponsive trackpad and keyboard are back, so alcohol seems to not be the issue (even though it might have been the cause for the smoke)…

any history of Apple messing with the usability of this laptop model after battery replacement?

Any advice? do I just forget this laptop exists? 🥹

edit:did some googling and it seems to suggest that there’s a common issue wit the a1502 flex cable to the trackpad, why it affects the keyboard is beyond me…

edit 2: it seems to in fact be the flex cable, i ordered a trackpad with a cable cause i had been pulling on mine when i saw smoke, tried the old one back, seems fixed, hopping it’s permanent… im too impatient, sorry y’all

 

[MacInWin]

any history of Apple messing with the usability of this laptop model after battery replacement?

No.

i ordered a trackpad with a cable cause i had been pulling on mine when i saw smoke,

Smoke is never good. Was the smoke coming from the logic board, where the cable attaches, or from the trackpad itself. If it was the logic board, you may now have a doorstop. If from the trackpad, you dodged a bullet.

 

[salmonela]

Was the smoke coming from the logic board, where the cable attaches, or from the trackpad itself.

As mentioned the smoke came from the trackpad which I’ve already replaced.
At the time I gave the laptop a quick run while open and was able to locate the source of the smoke/burnt.

There was only smoke at the time of the first post.

At this moment it seemed to be inconsistent but functional at times. I now believe it might have to do with the flex cable I got with the trackpad replacement, I replaced the new cable with the old one, which looks rougher but might be reliable still and a definitive fix.

Will test more tomorrow, let’s hope I got it this time