Finding parts for an iMac G4.

[Avalon74]

I have an iMac G4 that Im wanting to restore. It boots, which is great by the screen has a pretty nasty scratch in it and the monitor arm doesnt keep the display up. The fan also sounds like a jet engine and the SuperDrive doesnt appear to read discs, but does eject them.

Its a 1Ghz 17-inch model with 2GB of RAM. Where can I source parts for this thing? Particularly the screen and the arm.

 

[Project Alice]

I have an iMac G4 that Im wanting to restore. It boots, which is great by the screen has a pretty nasty scratch in it and the monitor arm doesnt keep the display up. The fan also sounds like a jet engine and the SuperDrive doesnt appear to read discs, but does eject them.

Its a 1Ghz 17-inch model with 2GB of RAM. Where can I source parts for this thing? Particularly the screen and the arm.

The screen can be sourced from a 17" iMac G5. The superdrive is just regular old 5.25" IDE drive. You can stick whatever you want in there as long as it's IDE. A modern SATA drive would probably work if its short enough. Modern drives are usually shorter. But if you try to put one that isn't short in it, there won't be room for the adapter. It's already a tight fit.
The fan probably just needs cleaned, so if you take it apart and clean the whole thing really good it will probably sound normal.

The arm is the only thing that I'm not aware of there being a replacement. You could check eBay or maybe find a non working iMac to use as parts. Other than that, the arm is going to be the weak point in all G4 iMacs, unfortunately.

 

[Wouter3]

I have a 17" screen from a working iMac G4 as well as the fan for free. Depends where you live as sending it from Europe to the US might still be expensive. I agree with Project Alice that the best option is to get a non-working G4 iMac locally. I have been able to get one for €25 and turned it into an iLamp.

 

[Avalon74]

The screen can be sourced from a 17" iMac G5. The superdrive is just regular old 5.25" IDE drive. You can stick whatever you want in there as long as it's IDE. A modern SATA drive would probably work if its short enough. Modern drives are usually shorter. But if you try to put one that isn't short in it, there won't be room for the adapter. It's already a tight fit.
The fan probably just needs cleaned, so if you take it apart and clean the whole thing really good it will probably sound normal.

The arm is the only thing that I'm not aware of there being a replacement. You could check eBay or maybe find a non working iMac to use as parts. Other than that, the arm is going to be the weak point in all G4 iMacs, unfortunately.

Thanks! Thats very helpful. I eventually also plant to put an SSD in the thing, but without a working DVD drive I couldnt do that. Once I get the replacement parts I need and I have it apart again, I'll give it a good cleaning, and pop the fan out too to make sure its extra clean.

I have a 17" screen from a working iMac G4 as well as the fan for free. Depends where you live as sending it from Europe to the US might still be expensive. I agree with Project Alice that the best option is to get a non-working G4 iMac locally. I have been able to get one for €25 and turned it into an iLamp.

Unfortunately Im in Las Vegas, so that would probably be pretty expensive. Atleast the screen probably would be.

 

[za9ra22]

Thanks! Thats very helpful. I eventually also plant to put an SSD in the thing, but without a working DVD drive I couldnt do that. Once I get the replacement parts I need and I have it apart again, I'll give it a good cleaning, and pop the fan out too to make sure its extra clean.

I put a Pioneer DVR 110 superdrive in my G4 iMac a few months ago - sourced from eBay for $15, and it works perfectly - and is the same size as the original drive which was not functional.

It is a very, very, tight fit in the casing, and takes a bit of patience to get it in place, but is well worth it.

I also replaced the original HD with an SSD while I had it apart, because it didn't seem it would be a lot of fun to take apart agin later! That's made it a bit faster, and much smoother to use. Because the SSD is smaller than the original HD, even with adapter, so that fits much more easily.

One thing about the fan - don't forget that you'll need thermal paste when putting the thing back together, otherwise it can heat up and trip the fan very easily. Make sure the old thermal paste is cleaned off first, and that the heat pipe is properly fixed across the top of the CPU.

I haven't needed to try with mine, but I think the monitor arm can be tightened with the right implement.

ON EDIT: You can put an SSD in the system without a working DVD drive. You'll need to have some way to connect the SSD to a USB port (I put mine in a drive adapter), and then use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (my personal favorite of the two) to clone the existing drive to it. I did this, and then switched the drives. The iMac booted just fine from the clone on the SSD.

 

[Avalon74]

I put a Pioneer DVR 110 superdrive in my G4 iMac a few months ago - sourced from eBay for $15, and it works perfectly - and is the same size as the original drive which was not functional.

It is a very, very, tight fit in the casing, and takes a bit of patience to get it in place, but is well worth it.

I also replaced the original HD with an SSD while I had it apart, because it didn't seem it would be a lot of fun to take apart agin later! That's made it a bit faster, and much smoother to use. Because the SSD is smaller than the original HD, even with adapter, so that fits much more easily.

One thing about the fan - don't forget that you'll need thermal paste when putting the thing back together, otherwise it can heat up and trip the fan very easily. Make sure the old thermal paste is cleaned off first, and that the heat pipe is properly fixed across the top of the CPU.

I haven't needed to try with mine, but I think the monitor arm can be tightened with the right implement.

ON EDIT: You can put an SSD in the system without a working DVD drive. You'll need to have some way to connect the SSD to a USB port (I put mine in a drive adapter), and then use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (my personal favorite of the two) to clone the existing drive to it. I did this, and then switched the drives. The iMac booted just fine from the clone on the SSD.

Ive actually tried to get an SSD in there, but I couldnt get the enclosure closed again, so I dont know if the adaptor was just not the right type or what but I'll be a thing I attempt again once I have all the parts in hand. (Also while I know I can clone the internal drive to an SSD, the drive still has all the old apps and stuff from the person I acquired the computer from (no sensitive data that I could see, so I want to do a clean install of Leopard (from Tiger) so I'd need the DVD drive to work anyway to use my Leopard disc)).

I did reapply thermal paste to the heatsink as well, but I dont know if it was enough... (I also did repaste the CPU while I was in there, so I'll also bechecking that I secured the heatsink properly as well).

Iv also tried tightening the monitor arm, using just a pair of needle nose pliers, but it doesnt seem to help so I think the spring might just be worn out... at which point replacement would be the only option... so unless I can find a spare 17-inch arm that isnt worn out I'll probably just have to live with it as it is... its not dropping super low... but I cant really keeping the display where I want it either.

Once I get this thing restored I then had a MDD G4 with a dead PSU to mess around with as well... and Id give anything to find a good condition G4 Cube...

 

[za9ra22]

Ive actually tried to get an SSD in there, but I couldnt get the enclosure closed again, so I dont know if the adaptor was just not the right type or what but I'll be a thing I attempt again once I have all the parts in hand. (Also while I know I can clone the internal drive to an SSD, the drive still has all the old apps and stuff from the person I acquired the computer from (no sensitive data that I could see, so I want to do a clean install of Leopard (from Tiger) so I'd need the DVD drive to work anyway to use my Leopard disc)).

I did reapply thermal paste to the heatsink as well, but I dont know if it was enough... (I also did repaste the CPU while I was in there, so I'll also bechecking that I secured the heatsink properly as well).

Iv also tried tightening the monitor arm, using just a pair of needle nose pliers, but it doesnt seem to help so I think the spring might just be worn out... at which point replacement would be the only option... so unless I can find a spare 17-inch arm that isnt worn out I'll probably just have to live with it as it is... its not dropping super low... but I cant really keeping the display where I want it either.

Once I get this thing restored I then had a MDD G4 with a dead PSU to mess around with as well... and Id give anything to find a good condition G4 Cube...

It's an incredibly tight fit inside - as you obviously know! My SSD came with a carrier that located it on top of the DVD drive in the same place as the original HD, so aside from the IDE/SATA adapter, the whole assembly was smaller. The adapter made it a little tight, but it was the DVD drive that caused the problems, because it can only locate in exactly one specific position, and wiggling it into place isn't exactly possible!

It took about an hour in the end, and most of that was getting the DVD drive and SSD/adapter back in and correctly located.

I think the test for adequate thermal paste would be to boot up the system, and see if the fan noise is the same with nothing but MacOS running. If it is, then it's not an overheating issue, but could be bearings in the fan itself, or even the existing hard drive. Mine went almost silent when I'd replaced the drive - the original was a lot more noisy than I'd thought!

 

[Avalon74]

It's an incredibly tight fit inside - as you obviously know! My SSD came with a carrier that located it on top of the DVD drive in the same place as the original HD, so aside from the IDE/SATA adapter, the whole assembly was smaller. The adapter made it a little tight, but it was the DVD drive that caused the problems, because it can only locate in exactly one specific position, and wiggling it into place isn't exactly possible!

It took about an hour in the end, and most of that was getting the DVD drive and SSD/adapter back in and correctly located.

I think the test for adequate thermal paste would be to boot up the system, and see if the fan noise is the same with nothing but MacOS running. If it is, then it's not an overheating issue, but could be bearings in the fan itself, or even the existing hard drive. Mine went almost silent when I'd replaced the drive - the original was a lot more noisy than I'd thought!

It seemed to me when I tried to set the SSD in the connector on the IDE adaptor was the wrong way around to have it sit properly (it was from OWC), but maybe I was just doing it wrong, either way I'll attempt it again as soon as I get the rest of the parts.

Yea, I think Im just gonna replace the fan with one from ebay as well. Cant hurt at this point, since Im gonna be in that deep anyway.

 

[CooperBox]

It seemed to me when I tried to set the SSD in the connector on the IDE adaptor was the wrong way around to have it sit properly (it was from OWC), but maybe I was just doing it wrong, either way I'll attempt it again as soon as I get the rest of the parts.

Yea, I think Im just gonna replace the fan with one from ebay as well. Cant hurt at this point, since Im gonna be in that deep anyway.

HERE's a link showing the precise placement of my SSD together with recommendation for the StarTech IDE/SATA adapter. Not the cheapest but it works well. There are other cheepo's but the positioning of the connectors requires a longer ribbon cable, which makes refitment of the assy even tighter and difficult than normal. Suggest you don't go there......
Also be certain that your replacement fan is of the same pt/no, and not just 'similar'.
Refurb of the G4 superdrive is usually fairly straight forward, I've done several. Generally it's the laser lens that requires careful cleaning.
Also it's unfortunate that you're on the other side of the 'pond' in Las Vegas as I have a 2nd G4 Cube and Apple Studio Display that I possibly plan to sell very soon.

 

[weckart]

I haven't needed to try with mine, but I think the monitor arm can be tightened with the right implement.

I think it can up to a point depending how worn the arm joints are. I watched a video yesterday of a Japanese guy who replaced the dead logic board in his iLamp with a hackintosh setup. He also replaced the panel with a FHD one, which required disassembling the by then very loose monitor arm. He did it with two prongs of a pair of needle nose pliers. After replacing the monitor cables and retightening the joints, the monitor arm held the new panel steady and allowed easy adjusting of position without drooping.

 

[za9ra22]

It seemed to me when I tried to set the SSD in the connector on the IDE adaptor was the wrong way around to have it sit properly (it was from OWC), but maybe I was just doing it wrong, either way I'll attempt it again as soon as I get the rest of the parts.

Yea, I think Im just gonna replace the fan with one from ebay as well. Cant hurt at this point, since Im gonna be in that deep anyway.

My SSD came from OWC too - with a carrier to fit the HD mount in the iMac. I got it wrongly placed after I cloned the old drive to it, and the IDE/SATA adapter didn't fit properly. Checking it against the original drive in the same mount made it easy to figure out where I had gone wrong!

I think it can up to a point depending how worn the arm joints are. I watched a video yesterday of a Japanese guy who replaced the dead logic board in his iLamp with a hackintosh setup. He also replaced the panel with a FHD one, which required disassembling the by then very loose monitor arm. He did it with two prongs of a pair of needle nose pliers. After replacing the monitor cables and retightening the joints, the monitor arm held the new panel steady and allowed easy adjusting of position without drooping.

That's a great video, thanks!!

 

[Avalon74]

My SSD came from OWC too - with a carrier to fit the HD mount in the iMac. I got it wrongly placed after I cloned the old drive to it, and the IDE/SATA adapter didn't fit properly. Checking it against the original drive in the same mount made it easy to figure out where I had gone wrong!

Yea, I'll have to pay closer attention next time. Thanks!