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Lertsiri · Sep 16, 2003, 10:41 PM

Has anyone seen thin black streaks on both sides of their powerbook? It seems to be carbon or grease or something...because it wipes off with a dab of iClear....but I suspect its from the screen.....Should I be concerned...or is this a normal thing....I might have to report it just to document it in the Apple computers system......I do have applecare...but trying to be calm about it all.....I only see it when I don't have any sheet of A4 Paper in between the display and keyboard...

tritonus · Sep 17, 2003, 02:11 AM

You might wanna do a search. There's a thread about it. Search for "grease".

tritonus · Sep 17, 2003, 02:12 AM

Here you go:
http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...ghlight=grease

Lertsiri · Sep 17, 2003, 04:33 AM

Thanks for the link man....but to my surprise, no one has had a definite answer to that posting. By the way I did read about this a while back....but forgot about it. Anyway, Apple's customer FAQ about grease marks were pointing out how the keys of the keyboard might leave marks on the screen....But in this case the lid of the PB17" seems to be leaving a trail of grease or carbon type of material. It is as if you filed some metal or something or maybe there is a leak in the sealing aroun the LCD display itself? In any case, I hope this doesn't effect the PB in the long run because to think about it, imagine this stuff continually doing what it is and imagine how much material or sealant is lost in the process over the years! I think I'll report it to Apple Soho when I go there again as a customer woe. Incase something does go bad, I have had documented the still to be determined mystery that no one in this forum or Apple has solved......Unless I don't know something....(With such an expensive investment, I just want to cover my bases) Still open to answers if any of you guys have it!

Kahpoosta Kid · Sep 18, 2003, 05:23 PM

Originally posted by Lertsiri:
Thanks for the link man....but to my surprise, no one has had a definite answer to that posting. By the way I did read about this a while back....but forgot about it. Anyway, Apple's customer FAQ about grease marks were pointing out how the keys of the keyboard might leave marks on the screen....But in this case the lid of the PB17" seems to be leaving a trail of grease or carbon type of material. It is as if you filed some metal or something or maybe there is a leak in the sealing aroun the LCD display itself? In any case, I hope this doesn't effect the PB in the long run because to think about it, imagine this stuff continually doing what it is and imagine how much material or sealant is lost in the process over the years! I think I'll report it to Apple Soho when I go there again as a customer woe. Incase something does go bad, I have had documented the still to be determined mystery that no one in this forum or Apple has solved......Unless I don't know something....(With such an expensive investment, I just want to cover my bases) Still open to answers if any of you guys have it!

Isn't some forms of carbon used to lubricate (i.e.) hinges?

Lertsiri · Sep 18, 2003, 10:00 PM

Well if carbon is used in the Powerbook as a lubricant...would that mean that eventually, these powerbooks will need to go in for a nice touch up healthy dose of carbon lub injections.....hmm...if I was only a chemist with a chemistry lab, I would swab some of this stuff whenever it leaks and analyze it just as if I was CSI or something...but really, I hope that these little seepings of carbon grease or whatever it is, comes to a stop soon....(really I hardly notice it, Only on instances when I do not put a cloth or paper over the entire keyboard when closing the lid.) The good part is that the stuff comes off with a dabb of moisture. But the bad part is that it is making me worry about the display and whatever is used to seal the displays....Can anyone finally answer this problem? Anyone from the Apple engineers here in this forum? What ever happened to all the other cases that poped up concerning this problem? No one? Or did it all stop? Other than this, I am perfectly happy with my Powerbook G4 17"! Its flawless in Final Cut Pro 4 and photoshop work...

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blot · Sep 19, 2003, 05:55 AM

Originally posted by Lertsiri:
Has anyone seen thin black streaks on both sides of their powerbook? It seems to be carbon or grease or something...because it wipes off with a dab of iClear....but I suspect its from the screen.....Should I be concerned...or is this a normal thing....I might have to report it just to document it in the Apple computers system......I do have applecare...but trying to be calm about it all.....I only see it when I don't have any sheet of A4 Paper in between the display and keyboard...

I get the black streaks especially when the PB is squeezed in my laptop bag. The black stuff comes from the black lining between the Al frame and the PB screen. No problems though, just wipe it off and make sure you don't overload or apply too much pressure on the PB when the lid is closed.

Lertsiri · Sep 19, 2003, 06:06 AM

Thank God! An answer that soothes my mind! OK I usually don't transport my PB 17 now that I just got a new battery from OWC for my Pismo.....(new battery with 12% more juice really rocks) So now the lid of my PB 17 is pretty much in one position now these days...unless I really decide to wow the audience with a nice final cut pro 4 demo of my work...But really I can just show them the final Cut Pro 3 version on the Pismo...hehe....Bye bye Black Streaks!
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