A safe way to open an iMac G3?

[kite210]

I need to open my recently acquired iMac G3 DV to adjust the focus on the screen and upgrade the HDD.

I can kinda tell that the plastics are brittle, and was wondering if there is a safe way to open it up without breaking the tabs that hold the chassis together.

I've worked with other compacts before (like the 128k and color classic), but these are completely different compared to them.

I've read the service manual for this model, and wanted to get an opinion from other users here about how to go about avoiding any breakage on it.

 

[jongleur]

I've worked on several iMac-G3 machines, and as long as all the screws are removed, I've never had a problem removing the shell. Some machines will require a little more gentle force, and be careful of cables, especially the IDE cables to the CD-ROM and HDD in the tray area at the bottom of the machine.

 

[protocol7]

Just go slow and don't force anything. I used a plastic card as a wedge to split the bottom chassis from the casing. I think the service manual pointed out the positions for tabs. If it's anything like the Summer 2001 one I opened it'll creak like crazy but I managed it without snapping anything.

 

[uniserver]

iv opened over a hundred... 2 screws in back, 2 screws on bottom, grab bottom colored stand thing... give it a hard snap up, never had any trouble,

People say the plastics get brittle, but i'v never encountered this.

 

[kite210]

Well I wound up taking it apart, and my suspicions were correct, the inner casing was brittle and cracked. I got the screen focus fixed, and I reinforced the cracks with some super glue before putting it back together.

 

[Bunsen]

Tray load CD drive G3 iMacs don't suffer from this problem.

Slot load iMacs are plagued with it.