MSI Katana laptop would not turn on after a thermal paste change: what I found in Batumi
A young man decided to replace the thermal paste in his gaming laptop himself, and after that the laptop stopped turning on. Here is what I saw under the cover and why this kind of repair is not done on a home visit.
What the problem was
A young man called me about an MSI Katana laptop bought about three years earlier. He had decided to replace the thermal paste himself. After that the laptop would not turn on. He called me to find out what had happened.
The symptoms were:
- pressing the power button did not start the laptop;
- the fans were silent;
- only the keyboard backlight came on;
- yet the heatsinks were getting warm.
What I checked and what I found
I took off the bottom cover and inspected the board. The client said he had touched it with a screwdriver during disassembly and may have damaged a trace. I looked closely: there was a scratch on the board, but only in the protective coating; the trace itself was intact. That scratch was not a danger.
The main thing I saw was something else: the battery was connected. I asked the client whether he had disconnected it before working. He said no.
From this I made an assumption: the screwdriver may have slipped and shorted something on the live board. It is an assumption, not a confirmed fact. But if a screwdriver slips on a board with the battery connected, the chance of a short circuit is very high. Exactly what failed can only be determined in a workshop, with measurements on the board.
What I did
- Removed the cover and inspected the board.
- Assessed the scratch and made sure the trace was intact.
- Asked the client whether he had disconnected the battery before working.
- Explained what had most likely happened.
- Said honestly that this could not be fixed on the spot: I work only on home visits and do not repair laptop boards.
- Named two repair shops in Batumi he could go to.
How it ended
The laptop did not come back to life on the spot and I did not repair it. The whole visit took about 15 minutes: inspection, conversation and recommendations. I charged a small fee for the call-out and diagnostics. The client admitted the mistake himself and said it was his own slip.
What I advised the client
- Do not open a laptop without need or experience.
- If you do have to open it, disconnect the battery first. That was the main mistake in this story.
- For board repair, go to a shop that works with this kind of electronics.
When you need a technician and when you can manage yourself
Simple things you can do yourself: clean the outside of the case, update programs, check settings. But opening a laptop without experience is not worth it: a thermal paste change that looks simple easily turns into a repair that costs more than the original problem. If you are not sure you will disconnect the battery and not touch the board, ask a technician first.
A home-visit technician is right when the problem is in Windows, drivers, Wi-Fi or settings. If the fault is at board level, as in this story, you need a shop with electronics repair equipment. I will say so directly and will not take on work I do not do.
Author: Tariel, Batumi. Details changed to keep the client anonymous. Updated: October 2026.
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