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Tiny fly trapped behind screen ...help?

Henri Gaudier

Henri Gaudier

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 4, 2005
526
0
France
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to clean the rear of the screen of an iMac?

I recently bought a new iMac and living in the countryside there are lots of little fly type creatures and I was shocked to see some of them inside my screen walking around. Luckily, they walked off the screen and it was clear but now it's happened again and one has died "on screen" and it looks bad. Admittedly it's small but never the less, it's a black mark on the screen. Does anyone know of an easy way to clean the rear of the screen or is it impossible? I really don't want to send it off to Apple and I'm not certain whether Apple would consider it a "fault." Equally, I'm filled with dread at getting into its innards and cleaning it myself!!

Judging by how easy it is for these things to fly in, it has to have happened to someone else.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.
 
rainman::|:|

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
Are you sure it's not a dead pixel?

It would be difficult for an insect to get between the layers in an LCD display. It would be impossible for you to extract it if this is the case, an LCD is a closed unit. You can't take it apart.
 
tobefirst ⚽️

tobefirst ⚽️

macrumors 601
Jan 24, 2005
4,612
2,335
St. Louis, MO
I've had this happen to my Dell 2005FPW display. Fortunately, the little bugger didn't die behind my display, but I saw it walking around behind my screen. It was really kind of interesting, since I had never seen anything like that before. I figured he got in there because the Dell's case is not closed.

I'd give Apple a call and see what they have to say. You also may want to talk to some generic computer repair places and see if they have any ideas. I'd be very hesitant to do anything at all to it myself, without first knowing what the best solution is from computer professionals.
 
ReanimationLP

ReanimationLP

macrumors 68030
Jan 8, 2005
2,782
33
On the moon.
you mean its stuck between the iMac case and the LCD panel? If thats the case, turn it and and shake until he falls or something. Or just open it up and remove the midplane section. dunno
 
Henri Gaudier

Henri Gaudier

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 4, 2005
526
0
France
Hello everyone. Thanks for your thoughts. Here we go …

Rainman -

Are you sure it's not a dead pixel?

Definitely. I’ve seen them walking around in there!

gwuMacaddict -

Is this one of the old colored imacs? With the vented handle?

No, it’s a new Rev B G5 iMac.

decksnap –

Vacuum.

How? Where?

Reanimation LP –

You mean its stuck between the iMac case and the LCD panel? If thats the case, turn it and and shake until he falls or something. Or just open it up and remove the midplane section.

I can’t! It’s not going anywhere by shaking. As for opening it up well that’s the last move. I’m going to call Apple and see what they say. I’ll let you know.
 
Macky-Mac

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,501
2,549
i had an ant get inside my G5 imac....it was inside the display unit between the LCD and the backlight......it was running around in there for about 5 hours until it finally found it's way out

if you check the support discussions at Apple's site you'll find others with similar problems and unfortunately there isn't an easy fix.........with any luck it'll find it's way out on it's own
 
devilot

devilot

Moderator emeritus
May 1, 2005
15,584
1
Macky-Mac said:
if you check the support discussions at Apple's site you'll find others with similar problems and unfortunately there isn't an easy fix.........with any luck it'll find it's way out on it's own
Click to expand...
But how, if it's already dead?! :confused:

Henri Gaudier said:
Luckily, they walked off the screen and it was clear but now it's happened again and one has died "on screen" and it looks bad.
Click to expand...
 
Macky-Mac

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,501
2,549
devilot76 said:
But how, if it's already dead?! :confused:
Click to expand...


hahah...well, maybe it's just napping :rolleyes:

Applecare told me that removing the display is a you-it-yourself thing.....they even sent me instructions, but it means removing a lot of other things in the process since you're working from the back of the machine....it looked like a whole lot of removing and reassembling afterwards.....once you get to the display and remove it, you can then remove the insect IF it's on the face of the display but if it's inside the display assembly, as my ant was, then you're out of luck because that's a part that you're not able to take apart

they suggested waiting until it died and hoping that it would fall out of sight....and they also suggested doing some CPU intensive work so that the fans would rev up and maybe blow the insect out of sight

fortuantely my ant walked off on its own
 
public enemy

public enemy

macrumors regular
Jun 7, 2005
107
0
COLORADO
just get some compressed air in a can and blow that sucker away (dead or alive ones) right through the vents on the sides, or you can move away from the country and not have to worry about them little pains in the a$$ anymore!
 
tech4all

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
pdpfilms said:
Can you post a picture? I can't picture where this fly is... actually INSIDE the LCD???
Click to expand...

I want to second this, I to would like to see a picture of this.

Please? :)
 
lazyboy922

lazyboy922

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2003
353
0
Las Vegas, NV
It's like that movie "The Ring" where there is a fly on the screen, then all of a sudden she grabs it.

ok, well not really at all is it like that.

That would be kinda freaky if you took a screen shot, and it showed up!

Man, im working late... I have no clue what i'm even talking about.
 
Henri Gaudier

Henri Gaudier

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 4, 2005
526
0
France
Macrumorite = Fly fetishist?

Okay here it is!!! I'ts hardly a dragonfly in amber but ...voila! I'm going to call Apple later today and I'll relate what they say. I don't think the compressed air idea will be any good as the vent at the top rear is almost entirely closed, making aiming impossible. Okay enjoy the picture.

Like The Ring????? Ahem.

..... Forget the Bayeaux Tapestry ... visit the Calvados Fly. Just like The Ring!!! Yes, it works.
 

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devilot

devilot

Moderator emeritus
May 1, 2005
15,584
1
Wow, I could definitely see how that would be annoying. OT but, how'd you take such a clean/crisp picture? What kind of camera? :eek:
 
emw

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,

I don't know why she swallowed a fly.

Perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,

That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,

I don't know why she swallowed a fly.

Perhaps she'll die!
Click to expand...
Now you just need to get a spider in there.
 
Henri Gaudier

Henri Gaudier

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 4, 2005
526
0
France
It is annoying ....

Apples cost a lot more in Europe than the US and as such it's a serious investment! My worry is what if after a year or two I have more, say 20 or 30 of these things? The second hand value will be seriously lowered.

Anyway, the photo was taken on an Olympus C-70 Z which is a 6.1 mega-pixel digital camera.

I've phoned Apple France and it's not covered by warranty, so I'm going to have to take it 60km (40 miles, one way) to my nearest dealer and pay! And even if it was a fault I'd still have to take it myself as I can only expect a home visit with Apple Care. This is a change for the worse. With my last G3 iMac it was repaired at home 3 times!

The unit really should be sealed & so I see this as a design fault and I think Apple should make a little effort towards customer satisfaction but, no.

Thanks for taking an interest.
 
wdlove

wdlove

macrumors P6
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
The iMac can't be sealed. The vents are needed to cool the G5 processor.

You should try the compressed air to see if that might blow the bug out. Otherwise I would be afraid to try anything else. Taking it to an Apple seller would just be safer. It would be worth asking, maybe they would help you out at a low or no fee. Just try being very polite. ;)
 
E

enckwanzer

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2005
35
0
Charleston, IL, USA
wdlove said:
The iMac can't be sealed. The vents are needed to cool the G5 processor.
Click to expand...
I wonder if you could put up screening over the vents. That could stop computer "bugs" from getting inside and allow continued airflow. It might not look pretty (screening taped over the vents), but it could get the job done.... Good luck!!!
 
B

BenReed

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2005
3
0
I have the same problem

Hi Henri,

not sure if you will get this answer since it is a long while since you posted.

I have the exact same problem. I also live in the country (don't let those city people talk you out of it, they don't know what they are missing!) and I have a few insects stuck between the layers of the LCD screen. I agree that this is a design flaw, but I never imagined Apple would do anything about it so I never tried.

I managed to get rid of one of them by gently tapping the screen where it had died. It fell down an inch or so and I just kept tapping until it had gone. However the other 3 I have will not budge. I have given up worrying about it. I don't even notice them now.

Did you get the problem fixed? I would be interested in knowing if Apple managed to sort it out.

Ben.
 
R

RobHague

macrumors 6502
Jul 8, 2005
397
0
I'm still trying to imagine how anything can get beween the backlight and the screen?? I thought it was completley sealed or dust and other crap could get into there and that would be a problem (especially over time)....

I hope the ACD being 'sealed' are free from this kind of problem, id be rather annoyed if it happened to me. I'm just thinking of the PMG5 and all those holes on the front... -_- be like driving on the motorway for bugs. SPLAT! Into the G5 Heatsink they go :rolleyes:
 
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