Case crackers

[turk]

Hello

I'm a little new to all this, but what are you guys using for a case cracker on the earlier compact macs?

 

[MultiFinder]

I use a Torx15 bit that I got at Ace Hardware attatched to a long handle to get the screws, and usually a butterknife to pop the halves apart. You don't need an expert case-cracking kit.

 

[IPNixon]

What I usually do is after the case is unscrewed, I just apply a little bit of force on the top of the case in the middle, and once the top is off, I push (lightly) on the I/O ports. I never had a separator, and this has always worked for me.

Welcome to the forums, too.

 

[tomlee59]

I just hold the mac by the sides, with the crt facing downward a couple of inches over a piece of shag carpet. After a little vigorous shaking, the front just drops out. I do have an official cracker (looks like a very wide clip for a stack of papers), but the shake-it-till-it-drops method works fine for me. Using a separator tool just has too much risk of scraping the case.

 

[wally]

I use my fingers on the top sides and thumbs on the top front edge only, no tools, to force the top edge uniformly forwards. If it will not budge I concentrate on one top corner only then the other. I also then put a little pressure later on the D connectors to free the bottom, but if there is much resistance I spare the solder joints by putting in the lower torx screws part way and then really pushing on them relative to the case back shell.

Reassembly can also be a little tricky in that the case flange needs to be inside the faceplate all the way around the periphery. I'd like to add the reminder that if the case hesitates to fully reseat even a little upon reassembly, do not put in the torx screws and just tighten to close the gap. Instead, take apart and check that the analog board has not slipped slightly to the side of the shallow plastic alignment guides in the faceplate.

 

[equill]

By now you will have a clear understanding of why eyewitness accounts at the accident scene can vary so much. Let me confuse the issue further. A Torx-15 driverwith at least an 8" shank is indispensable. That's a given, and part of Apple's then closed-box philosophy about its 'household appliance'.

Cracking the case, or separating bucket from bezel, needs no force, no pounding, no damage to the rebate around the bucket's opening. Nothing is more convenient than a decent case cracker. The best kind consists of a 1.5" metal disc with a diametrical hard plastic bar that fits the case 'groove', attached perpendicularly to a shank that is then cranked 90° to a 10" shaft ending in a Torx-15 bit.

In the absence of a cracker, remove the bottom screws entirely. Note their colour, so that you can replace the dark screws at the bottom and the bright screws at the top of the bucket. Loosen the top screws two turns each. Place the Mac, face down, on a soft surface. Hold the bucket by the handle, and alternately press the top screws with the Torx driver to crack the joint and begin to separate the bezel from the bucket. Slacken the screws and repeat the process until the screws are completely free of the bezel. Done. And you didn't need to mar the case joint by insertion of anything into the groove.

de

 

[MacJunky]

Note their colour, so that you can replace the dark screws at the bottom and the bright screws at the top of the bucket.

Actually, with the screws in my two Mac Pluses one has one colour with tight threads at the top and the other colour with loose threads at the bottom while the other Plus has one colour with loose threads at the top and the other colour with tight threads at the bottom.So instead of summing them all up with one colour at the top and the other at the bottom the person taking things apart should really just remember what came out of where. It is not hard if you keep all your screws organized.

And yes, I am sure they came that way.

 

[equill]

... And yes, I am sure they came that way.

Mebbe so. However, the screws were deliberately distinguished in colour by Apple. The bottom dark screws are fine metal thread to mate with holes in the metal chassis. The upper bright screws are coarse thread to mate with ABS plastic without stripping the plastic. Any other arrangement is a subsequent bodge.

de

 

[Bunsen]

I do have an official cracker (looks like a very wide clip for a stack of papers)

I read somewhere that that is a picture framer's clamp.

 

[funkytoad]

Here is one:

http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/encyclopedia_images/_CASCRAK.JPG

 

[tomlee59]

That's a much nicer one than the clip I have. I think the picture framer's clamp information is correct for mine -- that's exactly what it looks like (thanks, Bunsen -- now I know what to call it).

 

[The Macster]

Here is one:http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/encyclopedia_images/_CASCRAK.JPG

That thing looks vicious! :O I wouldn't put it near my compact, it might get scared!

 

[Maniacintosh]

I had one of my dad's friends weld a T-15 bit onto an old long-handle screwdriver. Works great!

 

[Quadraman]

I've never used any of the special service tools you sometimes see for sale for opening any of my compacts. You can get the long handled Torx 15 screwdriver anywhere and case crackers aren't need. I usually just use whatever is handy to pry the cases apart.

 

[wgoodf]

any long handled flat head screw driver should work - for me anyway. get one of the correct size and it will do the screws too - as long as they are loose.

no problems with my SE doing this

 

[turk]

Well thanks guys. Actually, I was an Apple dealer for 11 years (1984-1995! My service tech had several of these and used them all the time. The correct tool will not cause damage to the plastic as it is used in conjunction with some of the techniques mentioned above. I just have not been able to find one of these crackers on the Web. The picture tool sounds interesting.

 

[equill]

... The correct tool will not cause damage to the plastic as it is used in conjunction with some of the techniques mentioned above. I just have not been able to find one of these crackers on the Web. The picture tool sounds interesting.

You could drop a note to the eBay seller stuartsmacs, who had a good line in Torx-15 drivers when I bought one, and could conceivably direct you to a good source of case crackers. His Doppelgänger is the moderator of the Colour Classic list at Applefritter.

de