Ibook Clamshell No Charging Light or Power

Ih8reno

macrumors 65816

Original poster

Aug 10, 2012

1,383

206

• May 20, 2014

• #1

I just picked up a blue clamshell for $20. When I tried it out at the buyers it was finicky but turned on and worked just fine. Bring it home and I can't get it to power on. Battery is long dead but I have the correct power adapter from my other clamshell. No charging light comes on and it won't boot. I've tried pressing the reset, also the Pmu and still nothing. Am I now the proud owner of a cool paperweight?

 

Altemose

macrumors G3

Mar 26, 2013

9,189

487

Elkton, Maryland

• May 20, 2014

• #2

Ih8reno said:

I just picked up a blue clamshell for $20. When I tried it out at the buyers it was finicky but turned on and worked just fine. Bring it home and I can't get it to power on. Battery is long dead but I have the correct power adapter from my other clamshell. No charging light comes on and it won't boot. I've tried pressing the reset, also the Pmu and still nothing. Am I now the proud owner of a cool paperweight?
ImageImage

Click to expand...

Try removing the battery and holding the power button for 30 seconds with the battery removed. Also try a new PRAM Battery.

 

Intell

macrumors P6

Jan 24, 2010

18,955

509

Inside

• May 20, 2014

• #3

Altemose said:

Also try a new PRAM Battery.

Click to expand...

iBook's don't have a PRAM battery.

 

Ih8reno

macrumors 65816

Original poster

Aug 10, 2012

1,383

206

• May 20, 2014

• #4

Nothing doing. I know the power adapter works as it boots my graphite ibook.

 

H

harrymatic

macrumors 6502

Dec 30, 2013

331

23

United Kingdom

• May 21, 2014

• #5

It's possible that the DC board is bad, either from a damaged connector or a faulty component. I had this with a Dual-USB iBook G3 a while back, just swapped it out with a new one and it was fine.

 

Altemose

macrumors G3

Mar 26, 2013

9,189

487

Elkton, Maryland

• May 21, 2014

• #6

Intell said:

iBook's don't have a PRAM battery.

Click to expand...

The iBooks have the small cap that holds the date and time info, where as the PowerBooks have a dedicated PRAM battery, correct?

 

Intell

macrumors P6

Jan 24, 2010

18,955

509

Inside

• May 21, 2014

• #7

Altemose said:

The iBooks have the small cap that holds the date and time info, where as the PowerBooks have a dedicated PRAM battery, correct?

Click to expand...

Mostly correct. The 12" Powerbook has a capacitor like the iBooks.

 

Altemose

macrumors G3

Mar 26, 2013

9,189

487

Elkton, Maryland

• May 21, 2014

• #8

Intell said:

Mostly correct. The 12" Powerbook has a capacitor like the iBooks.

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Learn something new everyday. I mainly only do repairs on Intel(l) Macs so that is where most of my experience comes from. Sorry for the confusion I may of caused to the viewers. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

jrsx

macrumors 65816

Nov 2, 2013

1,057

18

Tacoma, Washington

• May 21, 2014

• #9

I would definitely try a new DC-in board. That has fixed several iBook G4s for me. Pull out the battery and plug it in, and hold down the power button, and if you can hear any noise, maybe a small buzzing, then it is the DC-in board.

 

Intell

macrumors P6

Jan 24, 2010

18,955

509

Inside

• May 21, 2014

• #10

Altemose said:

Learn something new everyday. I mainly only do repairs on Intel(l) Macs so that is where most of my experience comes from. Sorry for the confusion I may of caused to the viewers. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Click to expand...

Don't feel too bad. Many people on here miss that tidbit of information.

 

Altemose

macrumors G3

Mar 26, 2013

9,189

487

Elkton, Maryland

• May 21, 2014

• #11

Intell said:

Don't feel too bad. Many people on here miss that tidbit of information.

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At least I'm not alone. But I feel pretty dumb since I had a G3 open a few weeks ago for a hard drive swap.

 

Ih8reno

macrumors 65816

Original poster

Aug 10, 2012

1,383

206

• May 21, 2014

• #12

Nope no noise, I did notice last night where it plugs in got a bit warm.

 

Altemose

macrumors G3

Mar 26, 2013

9,189

487

Elkton, Maryland

• May 21, 2014

• #13

Ih8reno said:

Nope no noise, I did notice last night where it plugs in got a bit warm.

Click to expand...

My money is still on DC In Board.

 

jrsx

macrumors 65816

Nov 2, 2013

1,057

18

Tacoma, Washington

• May 21, 2014

• #14

Ih8reno said:

Nope no noise, I did notice last night where it plugs in got a bit warm.

Click to expand...

I would replace the DC-in board. Symptoms are: You hear it buzzing or a cap buzzing, it gets hot (I burned myself on a DC-in board on my first iBook once ), If you twist around several times and it changes colors briefly, extremely hot adapter after a while, etc. Also, one easy way to check is digging into the iBook and checking the jack into which the DC-in board plugs in, and seeing if a multimeter detects voltage. If not, it is indeed your DC-in jack.
Picture demonstration:

 

Ih8reno

macrumors 65816

Original poster

Aug 10, 2012

1,383

206

• May 21, 2014

• #15

Unfortunately I don't think I have the skills to do this. Guess it'll have to be a conversation piece.

 

jrsx

macrumors 65816

Nov 2, 2013

1,057

18

Tacoma, Washington

• May 21, 2014

• #16

Ih8reno said:

Unfortunately I don't think I have the skills to do this. Guess it'll have to be a conversation piece.

Click to expand...

It's not impossible to do
You can find extremely detailed free instructions on http://www.ifixit.com.
If you don't want to do it, I wonder if there's anybody in your area that would do it: it's not super expensive part on eBay, and shouldn't be that much for someone to do it.