Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

witherman · Jun 9, 2009, 05:19 PM

There are streaks on the LCD of my 24" aluminum iMac (purchased 2008), 2.4ghz. The streaks looks like dust and show up on almost any color background. I thought the streaks were the result of dust accumulation behind the glass panel so I removed the glass panel with suction cups and cleaned it thoroughly with a micro fiber cloth. The glass was clean on both sides and the dust streaks are still visible/unchanged. After powering up the iMac with the main glass panel off it's apparent the streaks are on the LCD itself, behind the 2nd pane of glass. Is there any way to clean this? The iMac is out of warranty, going to Apple isn't an option unless it's less expensive than buying a replacement panel. None of the teardowns i've seen go as far as removing the second glass panel from the LCD itself. If I can't clean it myself I'll probably just keep any eye on ebay for used LCD panels and replace the display.

Any suggestions?

milhous · Jun 27, 2009, 01:21 AM

I'm pretty blown away by the solution since I don't own one myself.

YouTube - Easily remove a glass panel of the iMac (Mid 2007)

ghporter · Jun 27, 2009, 09:53 AM

I'd rather go with suction cups just because of the ease of handling the glass by the cups' bases, but that tape trick is sweet. The YouTube clip also shows clearly where the magnets in the surround are-I'd pretty much puzzled some of them out with my Apple Remote, but knowing exactly where they are could be helpful for someone.

witherman, you don't say when in 2008 you bought your iMac. If it's less than 1 year, you could take the machine in to an Apple Store and demonstrate the issue, and they should do something about it under the original hardware warranty.

Simon · Jun 27, 2009, 10:48 AM

Yeah, the tape trick is cool.

zerostar · Jun 27, 2009, 12:51 PM

While you're in there, throw in a 500 or 1TB (or 2TB soon!) Western Digital Black Hard Drive, that has been a sweet upgrade on my iMac (I went with the 1TB since it was on sale at Newegg) My 1st HD died from a known firmware problem on it... but now I am happy it did!

Simon · Jun 28, 2009, 03:36 AM

I'll second the WD Black suggestion. Those are great disks. The Seagate Barracuda too. Excellent upgrade idea and not expensive at all.

Western Digital Black, 1 TB $100
Seagate Barracuda 7200/12, 1 TB $90
Seagate Barracuda 7200/11, 1.5 TB $130

ghporter · Jun 28, 2009, 08:18 AM

!!!!!!! $130 for a 1.5TB drive? OMG!!!!!

Seriously, I'm surprised drives of this capacity are as affordable as they are, even with falling hardware prices. Now if the 2.5" drives could catch up (or "catch down") to similar price points...

Simon · Jun 28, 2009, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

!!!!!!! $130 for a 1.5TB drive? OMG!!!!!

Pretty cool, eh?

milhous · Jul 1, 2009, 12:31 AM

I don't know why i'm coming back to this thread, but the whole concept of a magnetically attached plate of glass blows me away. and it's done in such an elegant, tasteful way.

apple!

witherman · Jul 6, 2009, 03:55 PM

Sadly, the actual LCD is not a user-serviceable component. I'm sure I can take it apart but putting it back together in working order is another story.

I bought the iMac in 2007, not 2008 as I originally miskeyed. So, no warranty.

If the dust accumulation gets unbearable I'll simply use my second monitor as the main screen. I'd rather put money towards a Mac Pro than replace the display.

As some of you have suggested I'll be installing a 1.5TB drive once Snow Leopard is released. Just a few months to go...

Thank you everybody for your help.

ghporter · Jul 6, 2009, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by witherman

Sadly, the actual LCD is not a user-serviceable component. I'm sure I can take it apart but putting it back together in working order is another story.

I bought the iMac in 2007, not 2008 as I originally miskeyed. So, no warranty.

If the dust accumulation gets unbearable I'll simply use my second monitor as the main screen. I'd rather put money towards a Mac Pro than replace the display.

As some of you have suggested I'll be installing a 1.5TB drive once Snow Leopard is released. Just a few months to go...

Thank you everybody for your help.

Taking the outer glass off is not "user serviceable" either. I think you may be underestimating your skill and over estimating the difficulty you'll encounter.

If there's dust getting inside the LCD itself, then it has to have some way to get there. A vacuum cleaner applied to the outside of the LCD's mechanical frame (not the computer's frame, of course) would probably at least reduce the dust. You may need to do something to reduce potential static buildup on the LCD glass in order for the dust to be easier to remove, too. In fact, I'll bet that static buildup on the glass is WHY you have dust in the first place. Taking a vacuum cleaner to the LCD while it's safely bolted in should not be any challenge, and should be safe and effective on the dust.