Hi everyone...

I have an unhappy MacBook Pro (2.53Ghz C2D, Late 2009) that has a refusal to charge issue.

Replaced the battery and the MagSafe adapter to no avail. Applecare expired 4 months ago.

Apple Mapleview Genius Bar wants to charge me an arm and a leg to repair it, and are citing 'unauthorized' personal repair as one of the lame reasons why the charge is so high. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to replace the battery without them holding my hand...

So... Does anyone on here do MB repairs at a reasonable price? Or does anyone know of anyone who does reasonable repairs, like a shop in the Hamilton, Brantford, Burlington, Kitchener, Mississauga, Oakville areas?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers.

If it is a bad logic board, it's going to be expensive pretty well no matter where you bring it. If it's just the MagSafe board, which it may be based on no charging symptoms, that's a relatively cheap repair. Does it power on while plugged in and it just isn't charging the battery or does it not power on at all?

Hi Lars,

No charge at all I'm afraid. You plug the MagSafe in and the plug LED lights up green extremely dimly - barely noticeable - I'd say not even a twentieth of the brightness of the standard charging light.

Hitting the power button does nothing, although until the battery was dead, the machine was functioning perfectly fine.

I've tried multiple batteries and multiple charging cables - and both cables were wattage rated for this MacBook. Nothing.

Now here's the interesting part... the technician that looked at it (although I believe very briefly) said he thinks the repair estimate would be in the $700 range. I've heard of this issue before and sometimes the results are mobo related and the estimate is over $1K. So, I would assume that the difference might mean that he also believes that it's a MagSafe board issue.

if its a magsafe board issue (which it might very well be, based on your description) your repair will probably be less than $200.

Really now?

That sounds three times better than the price I was quoted... :D

if its a magsafe board issue (which it might very well be, based on your description) your repair will probably be less than $200.

This.

Sounds like a MagSafe board issue because you stated it ran until the battery died - that indicates the logic board is OK but the unit cannot receive power from the power adapter. Aside from swapping adapters, like you did, I'd venture a guess and say it's the MagSafe board.

Yeah that absolutely makes sense, eh?

Maybe I'll look around the net for spare boards and attempt the fix myself if Apple are hell bent on price gouging me...

MacFixit.com to the rescue!

its an inexpensive part but requires removal of the logic board (among other things) to get at.

Trout, there is a reseller in Burlington, quite respected I must say - Creative Technology (http://www.cttechnology.ca/store/index.php).

Cheers

Trout, there is a reseller in Burlington, quite respected I must say - Creative Technology (http://www.cttechnology.ca/store/index.php).

Cheers

Plus One for Creative Technology.

DavidH