Motherboard repair

What we fix

• No power, no lights
• Powers on but no display
• Charging circuit faults
• Overheating and shutdowns

Price

Includes the $88 diagnosis. Pickup and delivery included. All prices

Signs the fault is on the board

No lights and no sound when you press the power button, even on a charger you know works, is the classic sign. Others include a charging light that goes out the moment you plug in, fans that spin with nothing on the screen, beeps or flashing keyboard lights at start-up, and USB ports or audio that stop working.

Random shutdowns and a laptop that only charges when the cable is held at a certain angle can also lead back to the board, or to the charging port soldered onto it.

On desktops, board faults show up as a PC that won't start, loses its settings, or has ports and slots that no longer work. A burnt smell or visible scorch marks near the power connectors means it should stay switched off until it's checked.

What usually causes board faults

Liquid spills are a frequent cause, sometimes weeks after the event. Faulty or poor-quality chargers, power surges and failing USB-C charging chips account for many of the others, along with shorted capacitors and firmware that has become corrupted during an update.

Heat plays a part too. Years of running hot can weaken the connections under the processor or graphics chip, and a physically damaged charging port can short parts of the power circuit when it's used.

How we diagnose it

A dead laptop isn't always a dead board. We rule out the simple things first: charger, battery, memory, display cable and charging port. Only then do we test the board itself, measuring its power rails, looking for shorted components and checking whether the firmware starts.

Depending on what we find, the fix may be replacing a single component, reflashing the firmware, replacing a separate charging board, or fitting a replacement motherboard. You get the options and a parts quote before anything goes ahead, and labour is the fixed $274, which includes the $88 diagnosis.

After the repair we run the laptop through extended stress tests, charge and discharge the battery, and test every port, the camera, audio, keyboard and Wi-Fi.

Soldered storage and your data

On MacBooks and many newer laptops the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. If the board can't be revived, the data goes with it, and a replacement board comes with its own empty storage.

If your files matter more than the laptop, tell us before we start. Getting the original board running again, even just long enough to copy your data off, may be the better plan than a new board.

Typical jobs

A typical job: a laptop with no lights and no sound on a charger we know works. We rule out the charger, battery, memory and charging port, then measure the power rails and find a shorted capacitor. It is replaced, and the laptop goes through extended stress tests before it comes back.

A typical example: a laptop that only charges when the cable is held at an angle. The charging port is soldered to the board, so we remove the worn port, fit a new one, check the charging circuit, and test charging and battery discharge. Most repairs like this are done within 72 hours.

Another typical job: a desktop that lost its settings and wouldn't start after a power surge. We test the power supply and memory first, then fit a replacement motherboard once it is quoted and approved, reinstall drivers and reactivate Windows, keeping the files on the drive intact.

When a board repair isn't worth it

Replacement boards for older or less common models can be hard to find or cost more than the laptop is worth. A failed processor or graphics chip is also rarely practical to fix.

In those cases we'll tell you, and if you're replacing the machine, we can move your files and settings across to the new one.

If the board can be repaired but the laptop is due for a battery or SSD as well, we'll point that out so you can weigh the whole picture.

Questions