[JshLnsctt]

I bought a broken Macbook Pro off of eBay. 2010 model unibody. The laptop was listed as working sometimes and other times not, so I messaged the seller and got further details. He told me that he wasn't really sure what was up but that one of the water indicators had been set off when the genius bar looked at it, he told me that to his knowledge no water had been spilled into it, and that if it had it had been it was assumed to not be the same problem because it wouldn't have been recently (he had it no where near liquid). After purchasing the laptop, there are very minute signs of water damage including one very faintly pink water indicator. Here is my breakdown of the issues it has, and note I do have a brand new magsafe charger.

-Without magsafe charger plugged in if I push the battery indicator nothing happens.
-When I plug in the magsafe charger it turns green.
-With the charger if I push the battery indicator it flashed five times (indicating a bad battery).
-When I push the power button nothing happens. The magsafe charger also has no reaction, it simply stays green.

The way everything seems to looks to me it is like the logic board is good, though possibly the battery is not. Does the macbook pro 2010 model draw all power through the battery even while it is plugged into a charger? Does it sound like the battery is the issue, or could the logic board still have failed?

Thanks!

[turtle777]

It should work when plugged in, even if the battery is dead.

What did the Genius Bar say was wrong ?
They looked at it, they should know what's going on.

-t

[ibook_steve]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

It should work when plugged in, even if the battery is dead.
-t

Not necessarily. A bad battery could prevent the machine from running (shorted battery). I'd try opening it up and disconnecting the battery. If it then works, all you need is a new battery.

Steve

[Waragainstsleep]

I would assume from the fault description that there is water damage and its probably the logic board.

[JshLnsctt]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

It should work when plugged in, even if the battery is dead.

What did the Genius Bar say was wrong ?
They looked at it, they should know what's going on.

-t

The genius bar told him it was out of warranty, so he didn't even bother figuring it out. From what I read online the Macbook Unibody is setup so that all power goes through the battery, in this case, and the 5 blinking lights I was lead to believe that the battery may be bad. I am a computer technician, so I plan to repair it myself, though I just want to make sure I purchase the right components.

[JshLnsctt]

Found out it has Applecare until 2013.I called the express lane and they said that they will send me a prepaid box and check it out all free of charge through Applecare (they transferred it to me at the beginning of the call). Maybe they will be able to do something.

[turtle777]

Cool, you get at least a free "appraisal".

-t

[amazing]

good news! please be sure to report back with the result!

[nitant]

Just a thought, but if he is using a charger with a lesser wattage than the actual one, the macbook wont switch on without the battery.

[JshLnsctt]

Originally Posted by nitant 

Just a thought, but if he is using a charger with a lesser wattage than the actual one, the macbook wont switch on without the battery.

I bought a brand new 60w for the specific model, so it should work

[Doc HM]

Originally Posted by JshLnsctt 

I bought a brand new 60w for the specific model, so it should work

60w chargers are for MacBooks and 13in MBP only. If this is a 15in it will need an 85W charger. If the battery is dead or not charging a 15in MBP will not turn on with a 60W charger attached. In fact it will exhibit all the symptoms described.

[JshLnsctt]

It is a 13 inch Macbook Pro