tanaquil
Well-known member
Long story, bear with me. I am trying to figure out whether I'm looking at a simple fix (PRAM battery replacement) or a complete take-apart.
I recently got a blueberry tray-loading iMac to complete my collection of tray-loading fruit colors (I fully intend to arrange them in a sunflower).
I suggested to the seller on ebay to "wrap it well and ship it resting on its face/CRT down," remembering the unfortunate UPS thread. Apparently the seller interpreted this to mean "resting face down on a paper-thin sheet of foam and throwing some bubble wrap in there." It is an absolute miracle that the computer didn't arrive shattered into a million pieces.
When I got it out, the only visible "damage" was a slightly dislodged panel of colored plastic. I couldn't wiggle it back in without taking things apart, so I figured this was a good opportunity to learn to disassemble a G3 imac. When I got it apart, I found a bit more damage (denting, a broken plastic tab, etc) inside the corner where the dislodged plastic was, but everything looked pretty functional and I managed to get it apart and smoothly back together again. Right now, the computer looks good except that the lower part with the blue speaker grilles on the front isn't quite flush on one side. I'm too tired to take it apart again to see if I can fix whatever is causing that.
Anyway, the main point of this post is that when I finally plugged it in and tried to start it up, the power button lights and it sounds a healthy chime, but the power then shuts itself off a second or two later. The screen never lights up.
I removed the PRAM battery while I was in there (Maxell!!). I'm waiting on the arrival of more fresh PRAM batteries, but would the absence of a PRAM battery cause this symptom? Or am I looking at some more mysterious damage on the analog/power supply board?
If it's relevant, I found a couple of small pieces of brown plastic (one about the size of a dime, the other much smaller) rattling around inside when I opened it. I didn't get as far as taking the EFI shield off, so I don't know if there might be a broken part somewhere inside there.
The hard drive has also been removed, but that wouldn't cause failure to power to boot screen - would it?
Suggestions welcome!
I recently got a blueberry tray-loading iMac to complete my collection of tray-loading fruit colors (I fully intend to arrange them in a sunflower).
I suggested to the seller on ebay to "wrap it well and ship it resting on its face/CRT down," remembering the unfortunate UPS thread. Apparently the seller interpreted this to mean "resting face down on a paper-thin sheet of foam and throwing some bubble wrap in there." It is an absolute miracle that the computer didn't arrive shattered into a million pieces.
When I got it out, the only visible "damage" was a slightly dislodged panel of colored plastic. I couldn't wiggle it back in without taking things apart, so I figured this was a good opportunity to learn to disassemble a G3 imac. When I got it apart, I found a bit more damage (denting, a broken plastic tab, etc) inside the corner where the dislodged plastic was, but everything looked pretty functional and I managed to get it apart and smoothly back together again. Right now, the computer looks good except that the lower part with the blue speaker grilles on the front isn't quite flush on one side. I'm too tired to take it apart again to see if I can fix whatever is causing that.
Anyway, the main point of this post is that when I finally plugged it in and tried to start it up, the power button lights and it sounds a healthy chime, but the power then shuts itself off a second or two later. The screen never lights up.
I removed the PRAM battery while I was in there (Maxell!!). I'm waiting on the arrival of more fresh PRAM batteries, but would the absence of a PRAM battery cause this symptom? Or am I looking at some more mysterious damage on the analog/power supply board?
If it's relevant, I found a couple of small pieces of brown plastic (one about the size of a dime, the other much smaller) rattling around inside when I opened it. I didn't get as far as taking the EFI shield off, so I don't know if there might be a broken part somewhere inside there.
The hard drive has also been removed, but that wouldn't cause failure to power to boot screen - would it?
Suggestions welcome!