Torx Tools and Case Separator - Opening a Mac Classic

[joshc]

Hi folks. I would like to open up my Mac Classic, but first I need the correct tools to do this job.

I'm in the UK and I am looking for the torx tools required to open a compact Mac, but couldn't find a good place to buy online.

The Mac Classic service manual mentions a case spreader or

pull-apart tool - what do you use specifically? (I don't want to risk damaging the casing).

Final thing, does anyone have any advice on discharging the CRT in the Mac Classic?

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[MacMan]

Strangely enough I found my Torx-15 driver at a country fayre which had trade stalls set up at it. It was one of these el-cheapo tools stalls and I got the driver for something ridiculously cheap like 50p. Maybe check out local markets or something?

I have found that a case splitting tool is not necessary - after un-doing the screws, hold the Mac just above something soft like a towel or cushion and shake it gently and generally the case will seperate. Sometimes the front bezel needs to be pulled a bit but I have never had a compact that has been especially difficult to open.

As for the CRT, it is best to leave the Mac sitting for a day or two to discharge the CRT. So long as you are careful when working inside it there is little risk of being zapped, basically just don't have it plugged in and switched on when working around the CRT.

 

[joshc]

Thanks for the clarification on whether or not a case splitter is required. In case you don't know, CRTs can hold a dangerous charge even if they have not been used for months, let alone a 'day or two'.

 

[Scott Baret]

If you need to get the case separated and you're having problems just jiggling it (some Macs seem pretty tight), push on the SCSI port. That should help a bit.

 

[equill]

Welcome back, wackymacs. In the interim of your absence the matters of Compact AIOs, opening of their cases and discharge of their CRTs have been well and authoritatively rehearsed here. Please do not return the discussions to fear-and-dread-of-CRTs-in-Compact-AIOs. You may care to bone up on the matter, beginning with the posts by tomlee59 in these forums.

And with the greatest respect to others here, I suggest that a case-cracker is a Good Thing, but only if it is a good one. Shaking the bejasus out of the Mac is not a good one. Once again, the same end can be achieved not by shaking but by using the inbuilt utility of the case screws, as in

1) removing the bottom case screws entirely (and also that inside the battery compartment in Macintosh to Plus), noting that they are dark in colour, and

2) with the Mac face-down on a soft surface, undoing the top screws completely, and then screwing them back for one or two turns only, and

3) raising the top front of the Mac an inch or so by the inbuilt handle while pressing down on the top screws in turn to 'crack' the top and side joints, and

4) removing the top screws completely when they prevent further separation of bezel from bucket, noting that the screws are light-coloured ('silver').

A good commercial case cracker exists. A disc with a nylon bar (that fits the groove in the case joint) across a diameter, and having a long cranked handle ending in a Torx-15 driver, already exists. If one of those cannot be found, you may care to drop a line to the eBay seller stuartsmacs (of the CC Forum at 'Fritter), who had a nice line in long (12in/30cm) Torx-15 drivers for sale a while back.

de

 

[joshc]

Scott Baret and equill - Thank you for your advice, I'll keep it mind when I do open my classic. I checked stuartsmacs on eBay but he doesn't have anything on sale at the moment there. I guess I will ask him on Applefritter.

 

[Charlieman]

Welding clamps perform well as case splitters. Also bull dog clips. If I remember, I'll post a photo of the official Apple case splitter -- a typically over engineered device.

 

[Bunsen]

I've heard picture framer's clamps too: maybe they're actually the same as welder's clamps. Anyway, two metal plates that meet along their forward edges, are hinged at the rear and have a lever/handle each to apply force outwards on the business end.