This isn't the first time i've torn down a newly acquired machine, but it is the first time i've documented the process. So for the first time i'll be giving a bit of insight as to just what I do in my home operations with every new machine that comes through. For those that aren't yet aware, I recently acquired an iMac G4. Looked to be in good shape with one or two little issues, otherwise booted up and ran well, but was fairly dirty on the outside.
So that's where I started. As with any machine a damp microfiber cloth is run over the case, LCD panel and any chrome parts to remove dust, grime and fingerprints from the surface. Generally no chemicals are needed, the cloth alone is enough to clean it up. Chrome parts are not cleaned with a damp cloth, a dry one is best for this.
I made some minor tweaks to the neck assembly while I was at it. With all of that done, the machine looked quite nice again.
With the amount of dirt I picked up from the outside of the case, I didn't expect the inside to be any better. Laying the machine down on the quilt once again, I removed the logic board assembly from the upper housing.
...and found pretty much what I was expecting to find. Along with a ton of surface dust across most of the board, there were also various clumps of dust caught against some of the larger components. The thermal compound between the two halves had seen better days, probably not making the kind of thermal transfer the machine needs. Far from the worst machine i've worked on, but it could still use a decent cleaning, which meant stripping out the remainder of the system.
The cleaning begins. Wiping over the drive surfaces, cleaning the logic board and surrounding case, the upper housing, the fan and fan grill, speaker, various plastic pieces, metal plates and even the cables going between the devices. There's a great care and attention to detail involved, including cleaning out each individual opening in the fan grill assembly. As you can see, there was quite a bit of dirt coming off this system. The end results were worth the extra effort though.
While the machine was open, I swapped out the 40GB Maxtor with a 40GB Seagate. The drives are otherwise the same specs, but the Maxtor drive was running quite slow and didn't sound 100% healthy. The fan was opened and given a shot of 20w50 engine oil, exactly 7 drops worth, which improved the performance of the fan and reduced operating noise. The thermal compound was changed with fresh stuff, and to top it all off, I threw in an 802.11b AirPort card for good measure as well.
I'll probably stick to Mac OS X Jaguar and Mac OS 9.2 on this machine. Both were factory standard OSes and OS X Jaguar looks right at home on an iMac G4 display.
Hopefully with these tweaks and tune-ups, these machines will work for a long time yet. As I said at the start, just about every machine I get goes through a similar treatment, usually not as extensive but enough to clean the system up, ensure everything works properly and will continue working properly down the track.
So that's where I started. As with any machine a damp microfiber cloth is run over the case, LCD panel and any chrome parts to remove dust, grime and fingerprints from the surface. Generally no chemicals are needed, the cloth alone is enough to clean it up. Chrome parts are not cleaned with a damp cloth, a dry one is best for this.
I made some minor tweaks to the neck assembly while I was at it. With all of that done, the machine looked quite nice again.
With the amount of dirt I picked up from the outside of the case, I didn't expect the inside to be any better. Laying the machine down on the quilt once again, I removed the logic board assembly from the upper housing.
...and found pretty much what I was expecting to find. Along with a ton of surface dust across most of the board, there were also various clumps of dust caught against some of the larger components. The thermal compound between the two halves had seen better days, probably not making the kind of thermal transfer the machine needs. Far from the worst machine i've worked on, but it could still use a decent cleaning, which meant stripping out the remainder of the system.
The cleaning begins. Wiping over the drive surfaces, cleaning the logic board and surrounding case, the upper housing, the fan and fan grill, speaker, various plastic pieces, metal plates and even the cables going between the devices. There's a great care and attention to detail involved, including cleaning out each individual opening in the fan grill assembly. As you can see, there was quite a bit of dirt coming off this system. The end results were worth the extra effort though.
While the machine was open, I swapped out the 40GB Maxtor with a 40GB Seagate. The drives are otherwise the same specs, but the Maxtor drive was running quite slow and didn't sound 100% healthy. The fan was opened and given a shot of 20w50 engine oil, exactly 7 drops worth, which improved the performance of the fan and reduced operating noise. The thermal compound was changed with fresh stuff, and to top it all off, I threw in an 802.11b AirPort card for good measure as well.
I'll probably stick to Mac OS X Jaguar and Mac OS 9.2 on this machine. Both were factory standard OSes and OS X Jaguar looks right at home on an iMac G4 display.
Hopefully with these tweaks and tune-ups, these machines will work for a long time yet. As I said at the start, just about every machine I get goes through a similar treatment, usually not as extensive but enough to clean the system up, ensure everything works properly and will continue working properly down the track.
