Cleaning inside a 27" iMac (2017)

[Crowbot]

My iMac is coming off warranty and after 3 years I'm sure there's lots of dust inside. (The CPU temp is up a few degrees). I have the pizza cutter to open it and I'm getting the replacement sticky tape but I'd like to hear from anyone who has opened one.
I'm an electronics tech. TIA.

(Damn Jony Ive for not using screws.)

 

[chscag]

I have the same model as you and my machine likewise came off Apple Care warranty about a month ago. Having said that, it's my opinion that you do not have to disassemble the machine to clean it. I cleaned mine by laying it down on a soft area (my bed) display face up.

I then used a small vacuum to clean the fuzz and dust from the bottom vents at the base of the display. Afterward I used compressed canned air to blow upward into the vents. I made sure I was far enough away from the vents so as not to cause any condensation.

After that, my iMac ran 5 to 10 degrees Celesius cooler than before. And it remains that way.

I really think that removing the display and relying on new sticky strips to seal it is only necessary if there was some inward maintenance that needed to be done such as changing out a drive.

I too by the way, am an electronics tech (retired) and would not look forward to disassembling my iMac. But it's up to you of course and whatever you feel comfortable doing.

 

[ignatius345]

I opened up and resealed my 2014 iMac 5K last summer. It's a pain in the butt process, for sure, but it's absolutely doable if you have some basic mechanical proficiency, instructions, the right tools and materials, and some patience. I got a kit from iFixit myself and followed their teardown guide, and it had everything I needed.

I'd also say, don't underestimate the amount of clean space to spread out. The iMac is heavy and huge, and the display will also need a place to lie face-down while you're doing your work to the interior. Now that I think back, I also spent way longer than I thought I'd have to removing the old adhesive before putting on the new.

If you can clean it out without opening, as @chscag suggests, I'd definitely go that route, myself. But if you DO open it up, you might as well see if you care to do any SSD upgrades while you're in there, because you're not gonna want to do it again anytime soon. There's some good info on these forums about upgrading the blade drives on these things if you're so inclined.

 

[Crowbot]

Thanks.

I have the VESA mount model and I took it off the mount to adjust if. I dropped it 6 inches onto a heavy blanket and apparently there was enough air to blow some dust out of the bottom vent from where the air normally goes in. But I'm going to give opening it a shot. I'm sure the fan blades need cleaning.

 

[chscag]

Make sure you get good quality sticky tape. One fellow (in another forum) reported that the tape he received from ifixit did not adequately hold the display on and that the display fell off after several days.

That's especially important for you since you're using a VESA mount.

 

[mj_]

Personally, I wouldn't risk damaging the device just to get some dust out. Dust and debris are much less obtrusive than many people think. Unless you live in an extremely dusty environment such as close to a major construction site, downtown Manhattan, or in close proximity to a desert (not to be confused with close proximity to a dessert, which is much safer for your iMac but less so for your waistline) it is more likely than not a total waste of time. Cleaning out the bottom vents will give you 95% of the effect at 5% the effort and time investment.

However, if you still insist on opening it you need to make sure to get good quality adhesive strips. Unlike @chscag I've heard terrible things about the OWC kit and mostly good things about the iFixit kit. With that said you can get OEM adhesive strips on eBay that are supposed to be better than both of those. Depending on what configuration iMac you have you may also want to consider upgrading your internal hard drive to a SATA SSD or maybe even Apple's SSD blade to a much larger Samsung NVMe SSD while you're already in there. Don't bother with replacing the thermal compound though as that will most certainly be an utter and complete waste of time and money.

 

[Crowbot]

Make sure you get good quality sticky tape. One fellow (in another forum) reported that the tape he received from ifixit did not adequately hold the display on and that the display fell off after several days.

That's especially important for you since you're using a VESA mount.

Thanks.

I got the iFixit tool and I think I have the tape too (but can't find it).

In my job, I routinely rip apart medical monitors, defibs and other life support stuff but I get nervous when it's my own computer.

 

[Crowbot]

Personally, I wouldn't risk damaging the device just to get some dust out. Dust and debris are much less obtrusive than many people think. Unless you live in an extremely dusty environment such as close to a major construction site, downtown Manhattan, or in close proximity to a desert (not to be confused with close proximity to a dessert, which is much safer for your iMac but less so for your waistline) it is more likely than not a total waste of time. Cleaning out the bottom vents will give you 95% of the effect at 5% the effort and time investment.

However, if you still insist on opening it you need to make sure to get good quality adhesive strips. Unlike @chscag I've heard terrible things about the OWC kit and mostly good things about the iFixit kit. With that said you can get OEM adhesive strips on eBay that are supposed to be better than both of those. Depending on what configuration iMac you have you may also want to consider upgrading your internal hard drive to a SATA SSD or maybe even Apple's SSD blade to a much larger Samsung NVMe SSD while you're already in there. Don't bother with replacing the thermal compound though as that will most certainly be an utter and complete waste of time and money.

I have to disagree. Dust on the leading edges of the fans can reduce their efficiency by 30% or more. Also, uneven accumulation can put the blades off balance and mess with the motor bearings.

I repair medical devices for a living. I know I can do this but I always get extra careful the first time doing a job.

 

[ignatius345]

Make sure you get good quality sticky tape. One fellow (in another forum) reported that the tape he received from ifixit did not adequately hold the display on and that the display fell off after several days.

That's especially important for you since you're using a VESA mount.

I did mine with the iFixit kit and the adhesive strips I got were fine (not discounting the other guy's experience). As I mentioned above, though, removing the old adhesive was quite involved for me, and I could also imagine that if anybody skimped on that step they might get a bad seal.

I will say, I eyed my monitor very carefully in the days after the repair

 

[Crowbot]

It's a bit absurd that we have to go through this just to keep our babies clean.

 

[Crowbot]

I finally got up the nerve to open it and clean. It wasn't bad at all with the iFixit kit. There was a good bit of dust. I cleaned the fan and as much as I could and sealed it with the tape. It runs 25 deg F cooler and the fan is running at 1200 rpm, which I think is as slow as it can go. Very happy.