Where to buy an MB for laptop that was hit by lightning.

[fairfieldfalconsfan]

I recently got a laptop from a friend from church. During a storm he had it plugged in a surge protector but......... he didn't have the Ethernet cord running through the surge protector and the lightning strike came in through the Ethernet line and fried his laptop and his desktop computer too. I think the strike may have exited the laptop out of the USB port (separate board attached via ribbon cable) on the opposite side of the laptop from the Ethernet port. The USB port looks charred/melted on the top so that's why I think it exited there. I'll put a picture at the end of the post.

He took it to a local computer place(they are good/reputable/i trust them) and they said that the MB was ruined. They took the HDD out and put it in an external enclosure and gave it to him so he could get his files off and he is still using the HDD that way currently.

So he gave me the fried computers and I'm hoping to get at least the laptop running for now. The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L655D-S5060 Toshiba Satellite® L655-S5060 15.6" widescreen Laptop

I know I need at least a motherboard and a hard drive, and I'm not sure if the RAM is fried because I don't really have a way to test it. But that would just be a minor part of repairing it.

As far as the MB I have no idea where to start really. I don't know where to buy them and if they would come with the CPU/heatsink installed or not? I'll attach pictures at the end of this post, I'm not sure which number on the board is the board number so I guess you can get it off the pictures?

As far as HDD that's not a huge deal. I can get one locally but I might want to get an SSD (thread about that here: http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/what-maintenance-does-installing-ssd-require-261106/ ). I know WD and Seagate are good brands. And it's better on battery life to use a 5400 RPM drive right? I would probably just buy one online and probably get a 250 GB at the least.

I don't want to spend a lot on this. I already have a netbook but it would be nice to have a full size laptop I could use. If I can keep the cost under $150-200 that would be great. If it's gonna be more then that I'll just sell it for parts or something like that.

Thanks in advance! Feel free to ask if you need any more info.

EDIT: I had looked on eBay for this model laptop hoping to find one with a broken screen maybe but couldn't find one.

EDIT 2: I just found this so if you think I would have to replace that USB board then maybe I'll buy this http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Toshiba-Satellite-L655D-DA0BL6TB6E0-Dual-USB-Port-Board-w-Cable

Almost forgot the pictures sorry!

Ethernet Port picture 1

Ethernet Port picture 2. The strike completely blew all the pins out of the port.

USB Port. Might have to replace this board too?

Numbers. Sorry there are so many but I don't know what I'm looking for.

 

[jayson]

your board manufacturer or distributor will surely be able to help you.

 

[fairfieldfalconsfan]

your board manufacturer or distributor will surely be able to help you.

That's the thing I don't know who made the board or what the model is.

 

[PP Mguire]

Google search the laptop model and add motherboard to the end of it. If that doesn't give you any solid results then odds have it you can't get a replacement. Generally if lightning hits a computer (of any kind) that hard it pretty much fries everything because the electricity flows through all lanes in all directions to escape.

If you do find a new board you will have to add RAM and CPU to it as buying a board for a laptop is essentially the same as getting a new PC board off Newegg. Really though, you'll be lucky if the screen still works too. With all the parts needed he could probably get something from Walmart cheaper that will last until he can afford to replace it with something better.

 

[jayson]

That's the thing I don't know who made the board or what the model is.

In that case, your supplier or the store where you got it will help you.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

With so many portions of the board being burned out, I will suggest this..

Tell the owner that most likely all the USB devices attached to it are fried, as well as the switch/router it was plugged into. This is the result of an almost direct lighting strike, it won't be worth salvaging anything as everything is in reality, most likely fried or damaged.

The best option might be home owners insurance to cover replacements if the insurance covers property loss other than the home, such as valuables inside... I know if lighting hit's my home directly, we have enough insurance to cover every single electronic device that would be fried. Surge protector or not.


If you notice the USB connection board that is separated by a ribbon cable. That was fried by the outside USB device most likely, if it came from the motherboard side, that ribbon cable surely would have melted.

It really would be a waste to get a new motherboard and nothing work still because everything else is still a gonner, and a mobile CPU isn't really cheap unless you ebay it.

If you really wanna repair it, go ahead, but it's not cost effective at this point IMO, unless you can find a complete donor that has everything and might just be missing some things like the RAM/battery/HDD, even then the donor would have to be dirt cheap to warrant a reason for attempting the repair.

BTW, a surge protector is a surge protector, it's not meant to handle direct lighting strikes of this nature, while it could have saved him, it is HIGHLY unlikely. Even if the surge protector pops a fuse and grounds everything out for protection in that split second, the force behind lighting is so strong it WILL arc and continue with it's destruction to the devices if they are less restive to ground, even then the EM from a strike causes damage. It's meant more for when house voltage spikes suddenly above what is intended.

He is lucky that the HDD spins up IMO.

 

[fairfieldfalconsfan]

Thanks for the replies guys. Sorry I didn't get back to this thread quicker.

I guess I forgot to say that I'm not repairing this for him. He just gave it to me because he knows I like working on computer and he thought I would want to try to fix it just to use myself.

I guess I'll just either throw it away or sell it (maybe on here) for the screen if that still works but I have no way to test it. Or maybe I'll put it back together and shove it in my closet.

At least I know I can take apart a laptop now. I thought it would be harder then it was but I found 2 videos online and used them to help and it wasn't that hard to do. Lots of screws though. I used a pill box to keep them organized.

Thanks again Jayson, PP, Corrosive.

 

[fairfieldfalconsfan]

If you notice the USB connection board that is separated by a ribbon cable. That was fried by the outside USB device most likely, if it came from the motherboard side, that ribbon cable surely would have melted.

BTW, a surge protector is a surge protector, it's not meant to handle direct lighting strikes of this nature, while it could have saved him, it is HIGHLY unlikely. Even if the surge protector pops a fuse and grounds everything out for protection in that split second, the force behind lighting is so strong it WILL arc and continue with it's destruction to the devices if they are less restive to ground, even then the EM from a strike causes damage. It's meant more for when house voltage spikes suddenly above what is intended.

He is lucky that the HDD spins up IMO.

I didn't think about that it was going through a ribbon cable and that it would have done that. I have no idea what he had plugged into that port.

I kinda knew that. I'm not sure where it hit exactly.

Yeah I was kinda surprised by that too. I guess it's working fine because he is still using it.

 

[patonb]

Laptop Parts & Repair, Notebook Computer Repair, Printer Parts - Spare Parts Warehouse <--Try them

 

[PP Mguire]

Laptop Parts & Repair, Notebook Computer Repair, Printer Parts - Spare Parts Warehouse <--Try them

Adding that site to my list of good sites.