eMac take apart guide? Video, if preferable.

[neoelectronaut]

I've got my 2003 eMac sitting in my closet with what I assume is a bad Hard Drive. The computer boots but it never gets to the OS.

So, I assume it needs a new hard drive. I planned on doing this months ago but I've got little use for the thing, so it sits in the closet collecting dust. I've changed out the DVD drive on the thing before with little issue, but as I understand the HDD is a little further in and that kinda scares me, as the DVD drive was frightening enough as it is.

I actually made an attempt to get to the hard drive before but I stopped about halfway through because I was afraid I was going to take something out or remove a screw and then forget where it went, rendering the computer busted for good.

So, anyone know where I can find a good quality, detailed guide on the take apart of an eMac, or even better a video showing the steps?

 

[american me]

Can't help you with a guide but if you want to take the safest route you can always get an external hard drive and connect it with firewire and boot off that.

 

[hughvane]

where I can find a good quality, detailed guide on the take apart of an eMac?

Links sent to you via Private Message.

 

[neoelectronaut]

Considering that my mother uses a PC and I have a current iMac, is this even worth ruining to repair or should I just keep the sucker in storage/sell the thing with a bad HDD?

 

[noodle654]

Considering that my mother uses a PC and I have a current iMac, is this even worth ruining to repair or should I just keep the sucker in storage/sell the thing with a bad HDD?

It really isnt worth the hassle of dealing with it. If you have an iMac and have no need for it, then I would put it on CL and sell it. Not worth much really.

 

[zmttoxics]

eMacs are great if you have some fw400 drives you need to share out, or just as a wifi station. My 1.25GHz eMac has 2GB of ram and a 160GB harddrive and runs 10.5 Server in my lab at the office. Its a nice terminal / web station in a pinch

I have had 2 eMacs and taking them apart isn't all that bad as long as you have the right screw bits for the outer shell screws. I would say maybe an hour job for the first timer. An hour of work to save a machine seems worth it to me, but that is your call.

 

[kernkraft]

Beware!!!

I have a few eMacs that I just recently started using again after getting them back from the garage.

1.) They have small IDE HDDs that are worthless and are difficult to replace. They have FW400, meaning that with minimal cost, you can have an external, fast-spinning HDD to boot up from. You won't notice any speed degradation, in fact the 7200rpm SATA drives can be even cheaper than the IDE drives that are becoming rarity. When you eventually retire the eMac, you won't even need to take it apart - RAM can be removed from underneath and the Airport Extreme card can be removed/installed where the optical drive is.

2.) But most importantly, the eMac still has a CRT display that stores thousands of volts, even weeks after unplugging them. If you touch various parts of the computer, you can get FATAL electric shock.

It's just not worth the risk. People risked it when eMacs were relevant and relatively expensive, but those days are over.

There are some good sources for upgrading eMacs and I considered overclocking until I learnt that it only makes sense with the ones that have less than 1GHz. Here is a link to start with, ( http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/eMac/eMac-upgrade.html ) but again, if you can avoid it, DO NOT open up the computer or have someone do it for you (preferably with plenty of old-days TV/computer experience).

 

[max¥¥]

2.) But most importantly, the eMac still has a CRT display that stores thousands of volts, even weeks after unplugging them. If you touch various parts of the computer, you can get FATAL electric shock.

why is everyone so scared of a crt, have a look at this, and if you are still worried , see the glass tube with the thick red cable leading to the part of the pcb usually labeled "high voltage" don't touch any of that

 

[kernkraft]

why is everyone so scared of a crt, have a look at this, and if you are still worried , see the glass tube with the thick red cable leading to the part of the pcb usually labeled "high voltage" don't touch any of that

The author is only questioning the real possibility of having a fatal electric shock that is caused by the CRT display. Meanwhile, he claims that other parts are more dangerous: "...potentially much more dangerous (and exposed) part of a CRT-based Mac's circuitry"

He also wrote that:
"The Real Danger

Finally, one last warning: The most dangerous part of a CRT-based Mac is actually the low-voltage power supply. There are big capacitors charged to nearly 170V, and these are large enough to discharge slowly through you (and your heart). And, unlike HV, these voltages are sometimes found on exposed circuit board traces or terminals.

There are bleeder resistors in the circuit to rapidly discharge the capacitors, but resistors can fail. Touching those caps before they've discharged has a much higher potential for bodily harm."

But whatever the exact statistical risk, you don't know whether the OP has any condition, whether he/she understands anything about electricity, so I am glad that I brought up the subject, because people DO and DID die from CRT displays and touching dangerous parts of circuitry.

In my point, if there is a risk of 100 to 1, I don't want to take it.

 

[max¥¥]

The author is only questioning the real possibility of having a fatal electric shock that is caused by the CRT display. Meanwhile, he claims that other parts are more dangerous: "...potentially much more dangerous (and exposed) part of a CRT-based Mac's circuitry"

He also wrote that:
"The Real Danger

Finally, one last warning: The most dangerous part of a CRT-based Mac is actually the low-voltage power supply. There are big capacitors charged to nearly 170V, and these are large enough to discharge slowly through you (and your heart). And, unlike HV, these voltages are sometimes found on exposed circuit board traces or terminals.

There are bleeder resistors in the circuit to rapidly discharge the capacitors, but resistors can fail. Touching those caps before they've discharged has a much higher potential for bodily harm."

But whatever the exact statistical risk, you don't know whether the OP has any condition, whether he/she understands anything about electricity, so I am glad that I brought up the subject, because people DO and DID die from CRT displays and touching dangerous parts of circuitry.

In my point, if there is a risk of 100 to 1, I don't want to take it.

ok, i understand that but i see so many people who say to any person with a crt mac "oh don't open that the crt tube will give you a fatal shock", i just wanted to say that the risk is alot less than people think, but the policy i use is don't go poking any components you don't know what they do

 

[MRiOS]

I'm interested in finding a guide like this myself. I have a friend who is still using a 2006 eMac and is experiencing the issue of the date resetting upon boot. I have a feeling the logic board battery (that little watch battery, CRxxxx model?) is dead, and seems like it would be easy enough to replace, but I can't find any guides that show me or at least walk me through the proper way to repair the eMac.
I'd rather not spend the $50+ for the Apple Training Series book that I think has the eMac still in it, so If there is a guide out there on the internet, I'd like to find it. Just to see how difficult repairs are on the machine.

 

[kernkraft]

I'm interested in finding a guide like this myself. I have a friend who is still using a 2006 eMac and is experiencing the issue of the date resetting upon boot. I have a feeling the logic board battery (that little watch battery, CRxxxx model?) is dead, and seems like it would be easy enough to replace, but I can't find any guides that show me or at least walk me through the proper way to repair the eMac.
I'd rather not spend the $50+ for the Apple Training Series book that I think has the eMac still in it, so If there is a guide out there on the internet, I'd like to find it. Just to see how difficult repairs are on the machine.

The battery costs a few dollars and can be replaced where the two RAM moduls sit, on the bottom, without opening the main case. You need a Philips screwdriver and it's just one screw. I had two of those batteries last week from Ebay. I think they are LS14250 by type.