[Will C]

My iMac went pop over the weekend and there is no activity, no light, no noise etc when I press the power button. Its well out of warranty and since I'm an electronics engineer I want to have a go at fixing it myself before I pay someone else.

However I'm having trouble getting past removing the bottom panels and once inside, I will not be able to easily reverse engineer the PSU.

Does anyone know where I can find a service manual for it with schematics and dissassembly instructions? - so far my searches have been unsuccessful.

Of course if anyone knows if it is one particular component which commonly fails in the power supply that would help as well...

Thanks

Will

[vmarks]

I have the manual you need, but am unable to give it to you- it's Apple's property, not mine.

As for engineering a power supply replacement, may I direct you here:
http://www.webdrive.jp/mac/iMIU01.htm

use babelfish for translation where needed.

[Will C]

Originally posted by vmarks:
I have the manual you need, but am unable to give it to you- it's Apple's property, not mine.

As for engineering a power supply replacement, may I direct you here:
http://www.webdrive.jp/mac/iMIU01.htm

use babelfish for translation where needed.

Thank for the link, much appreicated.

I'll have a good look and see what I can find out - can I purchase a service manual for my iMac?

Will

[Will C]

I found the exact filename of the pdf and then I could find the manual fairly easily.

Will

[ryju]

Could you possibly tell me how this problem occured? And do you have an idea of what Apple would do (or the store you bought it from) in terms of replacing or fixing it?
I'm very curious. Thanks

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by vmarks:
I have the manual you need, but am unable to give it to you- it's Apple's property, not mine.

As for engineering a power supply replacement, may I direct you here:
http://www.webdrive.jp/mac/iMIU01.htm

use babelfish for translation where needed.

Uh huh... so we pay 3 G's for a computer, but aren't allowed access to the manual?

[Will C]

Originally posted by ryju:
Could you possibly tell me how this problem occured? And do you have an idea of what Apple would do (or the store you bought it from) in terms of replacing or fixing it?
I'm very curious. Thanks

I cannot tell you how it occured but the series of events was:-

For the last 6 months I have had very occasional (sp?) splats sounds like the EHT was arcing over somewhere and there would be a line tear in the display for the briefest of moments, I estimate less than 1/10th second.

These were so infrequent I did not worry about them. Then after using the iMac all day as a back up while upgrading my iBook, I found it was dead - the power button does nothing, I don't hear the relay clicking when I put the power lead in.

I followed the .pdf service manual troubleshooting and it all points to the analogue board. I checked fuses, backup battery, PMU etc.
I have done a complete strip down and checked the analogue board for dry joints, resoldering a few suspicicous ones, but had no luck. It is well out of warranty, so I will have to contact a repair centre to see what they might charge - I believe they only replace large components since the service manual suggests this. It's a difficult decision for me since I can get a new better machine for not much more than selling this one and upgrading.

If anyone knows if there is a common component to fail on the analogue board, please tell me, I'm keen to try to fix it myself.

Hope this answers your question.

Will

[Will C]

Originally posted by Cipher13:


Uh huh... so we pay 3 G's for a computer, but aren't allowed access to the manual?

I know, I agree, its not as if it tells you anything really secret or anything which would assist anyone trying to copy apples products.

Still, you pays your money, you takes your choice.

This sort of thing is what annoys me about Apple (flamers - please note I chose to have Macs in preference to Wintels)

Will

[vmarks]

Originally posted by Cipher13:


Uh huh... so we pay 3 G's for a computer, but aren't allowed access to the manual?

You didn't pay for the manual, you paid for the computer. Yes, it seems silly. Yes, it's Apple protecting the artificial repair monopoly of them and their authorised apple service providers. And yes, Apple can decide who gets their manual.

But the manual won't tell you anything you don't know already. The analog board and power supply are integrated into the same board, with the video board on the neck of the CRT. On yours, a service center is pretty likely to replace those two boards. But then, there isnt much else to replace.

All you've got in there is a CRT, analog/power, video, motherboard, modem, and a power switch. My opinion is that Apple recommends replacing large parts is that they can more easily warranty the repairs by just using service parts.