MacBook Pro reassembly help

February 8, 2009 10:56 PM

Putting a MacBook Pro (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo) back together--what's that black tape? And how to put it back together?

I took apart my MacBook Pro to replace the bottom case, and I was quite well prepared overall, including buying Kapton tape to replace the orange transparent tape inside the computer (it tends to lose its stickiness after 1 use).

Unfortunately I was not prepared to replace the black tape that covers the speaker wire, which travels along the top of the computer just below the logic board.

Two questions:

1. What is that black tape? It's way thicker than regular electrical tape. I need to replace the current tape since it's not sticking anymore, and the speaker wire just keeps coming up.

2. Where exactly is the speaker wire supposed to go when the MacBook Pro gets reassembled? The photos on iFixit aren't very clear. Is it along the outside edge or slightly farther into the computer along the bottom case?

posted by monkey85 to computers & internet (3 comments total)

I don't know if this will help, and you're probably working off of it already, but here's a mbp service manual in pdf.
posted by knowles at 12:12 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]

Thanks knowles. I have seen that--actually my model, though largely the same, is slightly different in the speaker cable assembly (the service manual is for early 2006 but my MB Pro is late 2006). Early 2006 doesn't seem to use the same black tape....
posted by monkey85 at 7:05 AM on February 9

I fix laptops, but not Macs.

I'm sure any old electrical tape will be sufficient for holding the wires down. The exact type of tape is probably just an industrial style of electrical tape like the kind used in automobiles. Just a heavier duty, stickier tape. If stickiness is desired, duct tape will work swimmingly. I'd only recommend using a brand name like 3M or Nashua.

For wire routing, the way I do it if I can't remember where the wires go is to do it like folding a map: like the folds of a map, they will tend to go the way they were meant to. Let the wires go where their natural bends make them want to, and that's probably where they go. Often, there will be little channels or tabs for the wires to go into.
posted by gjc at 7:18 AM on February 9