The paste - Just how hard is it to fix really?

Mark, the guide to take it apart is on the ifixit website. But I have your same question too.

To those who have done this, can you tell us ONLY what needs to be done? That is, I assume I don't need to remove the screen as described on ifixit...I'm curious if even the fans need to be removed.

I have "opened" the MBP, but to this point gone no further. I'd like to do the paste, but only remove the components necessary to do so.

Can those of you who have done this chime in and give us the skinny on this?

Great question Mark...hope we get an answer.

Mike

Hi guys,

I've done the thermal paste fix. twice actually. I'm pretty good at building and diagnosing faults on desktop systems and as far as notebooks/portables go, the disassembly of my MBP is the first portable system i've gutted.

Difficulty? 7/10 if you follow the instructions. It would be useful if you could have another system that loads the webpages and refer to the steps as you go along... nay - It is IMPERATIVE that you have some way to refer to the directions as you go along. Other than that, the directions are pretty straightforward.

Some things to take note of:

Ground yourself first.

DO NOT LOOSE YOUR SCREWS! (figuratively and literally.) What I did was to take some duct tape, and secure it on my table with the sticky side up. As i remove my screws, I sequentially placed them with their flat heads stuck to the duct tape. That way, I'm sure they wont roll off as well as ensuring that every screw is replaced back in the same sequence. Another suggestion is to have different sections of duct tape for different parts of the MBP.

Make sure you use the RIGHT sized screwdriver. No compromises about this one. Strip the heads and you're SOL. If a particular screw seems stubborn, apply a little extra downward pressure as you torque the screw. This helps to prevent the teeth on your screwdriver to slip, and ruin the screw's head.


In step: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.1.6.html
Note: the lower part of the MBP is quite tough to remove. Do NOT!! use a flathead screwdriver to attempt to pry the lower part loose. Instead, keep keep rocking the top part of the case up and down to slowly loosen the joints. There should be a brief crackling sounds as the casing comes loose. During reassembly, be sure to note that the notches line up with correctly and that none of the metal "lips" are being forced outside. If any of the "lips" are bent, use a pair of needle nose pliers and very gently "coax" them back to alignment.

In step: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.1.12.html
Note: I almost fouled this one up!! The Orange ambient light sensor cable as shown right at the bottom of that page is secured by a connector cover that flips UP and NOT!! slides out. Also when reassembling, make sure to push the ribbon cable with firm pressure until you are sure that it is inserted all the way. (Do this with all the connectors actually - it's a real pain and a sure way to race the ol' ticker when you close up everything only to discover that your MBP won't power on.)

Note: The temperature sensor cables are REALLY thin. If at all possible, do not disconnect them by yanking on the cables. If they break, you're SOL. Instead try to use a pair of tweezers to disconnect them via the plastic plug heads.

The process of disassembly took me about 30mins, but there's no benefit to be gained from rushing this. Do it at your own pace. If you feel stressed, take a break and come back later. I would say the entire process, including carefully removing excess thermal paste and reapplying a neat thin coat, took me about 3 hours.

That's about all I have to share.. I wish you all luck!

EDIT:

In step: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.1.10.html
Note: the display WILL fall out if you do not hold it steady. My suggestion is to hold the display with one hand, while unscrewing the screws that mount the display hinge to the main body. Do this even when you're just unscrewing the first screw.

Hello,

I sort of outlined the procedure and it was on this site at first but was removed for some reason:

http://www.mbpro.info/

Let me add that both fans have to come out. That is not difficult though. As far as the tiny connectors, the ones with the tiny wires can be taken out by rocking back and forth as you pull with a tweezer on the tiny plastic connector. As long as you have some patience while doing this you will be fine. And make sure you touch the case often to dissipate any static electricity.

One other thing. The ifixit guide has different color arrows for different types of screws. I made use of that and numbered each arrow color per page and made corresponding numbers in the egg carton. Some may disagree with not using alcohol to clean the remaining grease (I just wiped off with paper towels) but I think my results speak for itself. Below is what I wrote before:

http://www.pbase.com/eclecticphoto/image/60056125

"Dissasembly was harder than reassembly. That's because the tiny
connectors can be a little tricky to detach. I was worried about
breaking the tiny wires. Also, disassembly was when I was taking notes
about where all the screws need to go. I used a 2 dozen egg carton as
storage and I used up probably 19 of the indentions.

You have to take out the DVD drive and almost everything else on the
right side. I wasn't aware of that before but the DVD drive comes out
easily. On the left side, the only thing that needs to be taken out is
the fan. The hard drive and network cards can stay. Taking the logic
board out and putting it back in is a little tricky since it has all the
ports on the right side that have to slide into the holes in the side of
the case.

I cleaned up the mess using several paper towels. I didn't use any
chemicals. I applied paste to the heat pipe plates and rubbed with my
finger in a plastic bag. Then I wiped most off with a paper towel. It
should just have a light haze of grey.

I applied paste directly to the chips with the tube and spread with my
finger in a plastic bag then I used a razor to scrape off almost all of
it to get the thinnest layer I could. I had to do it several times
because an imperfection in my old razor kept leaving a small bare spot.
So essentially, I just followed Arctic Silver's instructions.

When I reassembled, I made sure all the screws holding the board in
place were good and tight. After you have taken it apart it will be
fairly obvious where the connectors go. Don't forget all the pieces of
tape. I forgot to put one square piece of tape back but I'm not
worried. It was just there to hold one long wire to the board.

Hope this helps you and good luck if you do the rework."

Sorry, I missed out one question.

Yes Thinkology, I think you would have to remove everything to get access to the main logic board. the other cables will get in the way. It might be possible to leave some parts in while only taking out the logic board, but I'm too sure about that.

You do not have to remove the display or hard drive, but I'd put a cloth or something over the LCD when you are removing the logic board, just in case.

Just for your information "OtherWorldComputing", OWC has video of the disassembly of the MBP-15 in their "Tech Section". You may have to root around the site to get to it, but it's worth the time to see a real person take things apart. I have included the url here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/

Hope this helps.

Note, there are videos of other devises also.

Lyle

Some suggestions
1. Use one or two egg cartons or ice cube trays
2. Use a single compartment for a single device or area of screws
For example. if you remove three screws to remove a part and the long one goes in the upper left position.
3. Pay attention to the LENGTH of screws (and where they came from)
4. Write notes to yourself as to
a. what is in each compartment
b. cable routing
c. tape locations
5. A digital camera can come in handy
6. A magnetic screwdriver can really help

Good Luck

"5. A digital camera can come in handy"

That is a really great idea, particularly with regard to recording the tape loctions.