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Help! Removing VESA mount from 27" iMac?

M

mfrenkie2

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 14, 2010
4
0
Hey guys,
I have a VESA mount on my 27" iMac. When I installed it, I had to use the white plastic card to make the piece of metal with the screws pop out and lock in place. I have the VESA mount unscrewed and the original stand screwed back on, but the little bolt block thing is still locked in place sticking out of the computer. Anyone know how to unlock it so it will slide back into the machine?

Thanks!
 
mfrenkie2 said:
Hey guys,
I have a VESA mount on my 27" iMac. When I installed it, I had to use the white plastic card to make the piece of metal with the screws pop out and lock in place. I have the VESA mount unscrewed and the original stand screwed back on, but the little bolt block thing is still locked in place sticking out of the computer. Anyone know how to unlock it so it will slide back into the machine?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
dumb question why are you removing the adapter? defective imac?
 
Although the arm I got supports the 30lb monitor, it's a ridiculous amount of torque, so I'm afraid to move it around in fear of it ripping out of my wall. I'm just gonna go back to the normal stand until I move somewhere with stronger walls (I have aluminum studs right now).
 
You'd think so... but with the plastic card I remember pushing up some little piece of metal that made the screw block pop out, and I can't see the piece of metal anymore because it's like up inside of the unit.
 
I seem to remember that the mount had to be tilted all the way (it was either up or down - - I can't remember which), so that the release was accessible by the card.
 
Yeah...it should just "go" back in....people removing the stand have had the problem if they aren't careful that it'll pop back in by itself before they've attached the VESA adapter.
 
I found my VESA Mount Adapter manual, but it doesn't have instructions for removal, but perhaps reversing the installation instructions will do the trick. Here's the relevant parts:

  • Turn your iMac so that the back is facing you, then rotate the top forward until it won't go any further.
  • Release the latch by inserting the access card in the space directly above the top of the stand. The access card should go into the space at a slight upward angle for about 3/4 of an inch. If it goes further in, you've missed the latch, so try again.
  • Rotate your iMac forward until the 8 screws on top of the stand are visible and the stand is locked in place. Important: Keep your iMac upright until the stand is locked in place.
  • Hold the sides of your iMac and carefully lay it down so that the screen is resting on a soft towel or cloth on a flat surface and the stand hangs over the edge of your work surface.
  • Use the Torx tool to remove the 8 screws that attach the stand to the back of your iMac.

I'm surprised about two things: that there aren't explicit removal instructions in the manual, and that Apple doesn't have a pdf of this manual in their online support documentation. That is sloppy support on Apple's part.
 
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the replies
@fhall1 - It doesn't just go in for me, it stays locked in the outward position :/
@bobob - I could see the latch when I put the card in originally to get the piece to pop out. With the piece now locked in the outward position, however, the latch is way up inside the case and I can't get to it with the card.

Any other ideas? Thanks again!
 
bobob said:
I'm surprised about two things: that there aren't explicit removal instructions in the manual, and that Apple doesn't have a pdf of this manual in their online support documentation. That is sloppy support on Apple's part.
Click to expand...

Don't forget: the graphic in the instructions actually being wrong! They show it backwards - I spent a good few minutes trying to install it the way it was drawn before I wised up and realized that it was impossible. Talk about sloppy...

@mfrenkie2 - maybe a stupid suggestion, but you are entitled to phone tech support calls for 90 days... maybe try that?
 
Tilt the screen all the way down and then push the card in upward, toward the apple logo (assuming it's still on it's stand). The latch is up there.
i hope you already figured it out tho, cuz the downward facing screen would be annoying as hell to use.
 
Metal arm locked back inside

I finally got the metal arm which has the 8 holes to unlock and go back inside, but it is locked inside.... I hit the latch but it in no way let's the metal piece come back outside. I can't get it out, so how can I screw the stand back in????
This thing is an absolute nightmare. Can anyone help????
Please don't send me to the post on another site where the guy used floss. I can't figure out what he's trying to say in his description.
I have spent literally 4 hours taking off the vesa, putting the foot on, taking it off, fighting w/ the latch to let the metal piece go back in, and now to get it back out.... HHHHHHEEEEEELLLLP MMMMMMEEEEE!
 
Yvette123 said:
I finally got the metal arm which has the 8 holes to unlock and go back inside, but it is locked inside.... I hit the latch but it in no way let's the metal piece come back outside. I can't get it out, so how can I screw the stand back in????
This thing is an absolute nightmare. Can anyone help????
Please don't send me to the post on another site where the guy used floss. I can't figure out what he's trying to say in his description.
I have spent literally 4 hours taking off the vesa, putting the foot on, taking it off, fighting w/ the latch to let the metal piece go back in, and now to get it back out.... HHHHHHEEEEEELLLLP MMMMMMEEEEE!
Click to expand...

Okay, I don't have one of these iMacs and I've only seen what I'm talking about here on the net, but I'm going to try and help. Here's the floss post from the Apple Store page that you referenced:

the same thing happened to me. I was able to get it back out using some dental floss believe it or not. There's a little nub on the arm holder, I took about 4 ft of floss and doubled it up on itself twice making about a 1 ft piece of floss that is 4x strong. I was then able to loop the floss over the nub and wrapped the other end around a screwdriver to get a better grip. I then pulled, and had to pull considerably hard untilr the hinge came back out and clicked into locked position. I imagine fishing line would probably work better being that its stronger, but I didn't have any at the time. Hope this helps.

* Answered by BA from New York * Feb 17, 2010​

What he's saying is that he took some floss and basically looped it till it was looped 4 times, to make it stronger, then he caught the one end of the loop around the nub on the iMac mounting bracket, and put the other end of the loop around the shaft of a screwdriver. Putting the floss around the screwdriver gives you something sturdier and stronger to pull with as it would probably hurt if you only used your fingers. You could use something thicker and stronger than floss if you have it (he mentioned fishing line) and it wouldn't need to be looped multiple times. He didn't mention tying the ends of the floss but I imagine that would be necessary. Here's a video that shows the mounting bracket and at approximately 1:26 you can see in the center of the bracket the nub that the floss hooks around (it's between the screw holes). I assume that based on the video you will need to stick the plastic card back in while you're doing the floss pulling to get it unlocked. I imagine this mounting bracket is spring loaded (and probably counter balanced) otherwise the iMac would never stay in any particular position when you tilted the screen, you'll be working against this to get it to come back out.

If this still doesn't make sense let me know and I'll figure out a way to make it clearer. HTH
 
thank u

Thank you for your help in explaining it. I really do appreciate it. It means a lot to me that you took the time to respond! ~Y
 
Yvette123 said:
Thank you for your help in explaining it. I really do appreciate it. It means a lot to me that you took the time to respond! ~Y
Click to expand...

Please post back if the "floss" method works for you as it may help others with the same problem in the future. Good Luck.
 
floss

no it didn't. i tried 5 times with the floss. I tried 3 times with fishing line.
nothing works. It gets almost out and then always breaks.
 
Yvette123 said:
no it didn't. i tried 5 times with the floss. I tried 3 times with fishing line.
nothing works. It gets almost out and then always breaks.
Click to expand...

Do you have something like picture hanging wire that you could try? If you do use wire, have the iMac unplugged and be careful with it inside the opening.
 
There was a thread, I thought here, a fewdays ago where a guy used 8 "pipecleaners to get the arm back out....jammed one pipecleaner end in each of the 8 holes of the mechanism, then pulled on all 8 at once and it worked.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
Do you have something like picture hanging wire that you could try? If you do use wire, have the iMac unplugged and be careful with it inside the opening.
Click to expand...

Thanks man you saved my day. Worked fine with the picture hanger on 24ich cinema display. Don't try the floss it always breaks (20 attemps :mad:)

Apple should really consider changing the design !
 
iMac VESA mount adapter help

I recently installed the VESA adapter for the first time and did not get the latch to properly lock in place. After removing the eight Torx screws from the stand, the flange buried itself back into the iMac. A credit card will not work to get it out. It requires some wire and a strong arm - an extra pair of hands are helpful. See my post on Apple Discussions:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19164681#19164681
 
cdangeralex said:
I recently installed the VESA adapter for the first time and did not get the latch to properly lock in place. After removing the eight Torx screws from the stand, the flange buried itself back into the iMac. A credit card will not work to get it out. It requires some wire and a strong arm - an extra pair of hands are helpful. See my post on Apple Discussions:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19164681#19164681
Click to expand...



Try this tutorial about retrieving the flange from inside your iMac. It worked for me and it was a lot easier than taking it to the Apple store.
http://how2queen.com/how-to-re-attach-your-imac-stand/
 
Forgive the extreme (12 year) thread necromancy, but there aren't a lot of places to share information on this problem. These are the things I wish I knew before wasting 5 hours on this with my iMac Pro:

  • The Mac or display must lie on its face. If it's on the stand, it's likely that the latch won't work.
  • You need to bend the stand toward the iMac or display with a surprising amount of force. You'll feel uncomfortable doing it, but you really do need to use a few pounds of force to give the latch room to move.
  • The spot to hit is dead-center in the slot above the stand, and it's only a cm or so inside the slot.
  • Aim as if the spot were mounted on the back of the case itself, and not within the stand mechanism.
  • There's no audible confirmation, just a slight springiness to your tool's movement when you find the spot. If you're using a plastic tool, you might mistake it for the tool bending. It's subtle.
  • Ignore the fact that the tool that came with the VESA stand is flexible. If your tool is bending more than a degree or two, you're doing it wrong. Thinness is the important part, not flexibility.
I ordered a cheap $4 set of stainless steel palette knives (for painting) and they turned out to be the perfect tools. I wasted hours with the original tool, business cards, credit cards, etc. before figuring out the above. Once I figured it out, I re-locked and locked it a couple more times to convince myself I hadn't just got lucky.
 
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