imac g5 video gone bad....capacitor! FIXED

[morrisroad]

I was in iphoto the other day and poof the green video lines appeared and the machine stalls. Did some research and diagnosed bad caps /logic board as the most likely culprets. See pic for a cap that is split.

Wondering:

1) Anyone recently had this resolved by Apple (last few months in 2011). I understand that some may have had them repaired earlier this year as an exception.

2) Can I simply replace the one cap or do they all need to be replaced? Most appear to be sold as kits.

3) Does anyone know folks that rebuild the logic boards? It seems that it is one route to solve the problem, if you don't have the tools to replace caps.

Thanks.

 

[morrisroad]

So I sourced some capacitors on ebay to replace the one you see bubbling there in the picture.

I didn't have to take apart as much as some videos or blogs would suggest. Basically, I removed the SuperDrive, the cover for the fan, power supply and memory. I disconnected all the plugs, removed screws and it was out.

 

[wrinkster22]

these machines were horrible in terms of repairs. Good luck on fixing it. You could try to fix it or you could see how much apple would charge to fix it.

 

[morrisroad]

I only replaced the 1 capacitor and the screen was back to normal. I didn't replace any other as they looked ot have been replaced already with the exception of a few including the one that was blown.

As far as the soldering goes, I got a 60w soldering iron from the source, along with some lead free rosin core solder, and some heat sink conducting gel. Guy there didn't know if I needed flux and neither did I for certain. I didn't spend to much time thinking about it and moved on.


The soldering should have been easier, as I have done it before with the lead stuff, but for some reason the solder was bouncing off the tip of the tool. Then when I was heating the pin it took a while, eventually the solder melted put flow was slow so I am think it is because I did not use flux. At any rate the stuff melted and put it all together an turned it on and works.

Someone had mentioned it could have been the video card, it was not. However, it did produce simliar symptoms, green lines messed up screen and no boot up.

Problem solved.

 

[PPFee]

I only replaced the 1 capacitor and the screen was back to normal. I didn't replace any other as they looked ot have been replaced already with the exception of a few including the one that was blown.

As far as the soldering goes, I got a 60w soldering iron from the source, along with some lead free rosin core solder, and some heat sink conducting gel. Guy there didn't know if I needed flux and neither did I for certain. I didn't spend to much time thinking about it and moved on.


The soldering should have been easier, as I have done it before with the lead stuff, but for some reason the solder was bouncing off the tip of the tool. Then when I was heating the pin it took a while, eventually the solder melted put flow was slow so I am think it is because I did not use flux. At any rate the stuff melted and put it all together an turned it on and works.

Someone had mentioned it could have been the video card, it was not. However, it did produce simliar symptoms, green lines messed up screen and no boot up.

Problem solved.

did you attempt to contact apple about making an exception like you said or no? im facing the same thing i think, unless its a bad power supply

 

[flatfoot]

@OP: Kudos to you for that repair.

 

[UncleSalty]

You only needed to replace the bad one. They sell the kits because its rare for just 1 cap to go bad, at least on pc motherboards
As you found out its not a huge job but to have it done for you the big cost is labor to get the board removed/reinstalled.
Congrats

 

[Eddy29]

iMac logic board capacitors

Be wary of those selling replacement logic boards (with allegedly improved capacitors). I shelled out $280 to Galaxy Hardware in Eugene OR for one such replacement board, which they replaced in my 17" 1.8GHz iMac, only to find it FAIL after less than 18 months of normal operation with the same capacitor problem. They had promised that their boards used only 'new and improved' parts...

 

[morrisroad]

Won't hibernate....

Seems its cooked again and won't go into hibernate. I haven't opened it, but thinking maybe another cap.

Good thing I have been backing up.

 

[MacOG728893]

Seems its cooked again and won't go into hibernate. I haven't opened it, but thinking maybe another cap.

Good thing I have been backing up.

Time for a new machine?