PowerBook G4 12" Maintenance/Servicing

[Riviera122]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if there's any need for maintaining/servicing a PowerBook G4 in order to extend its lifespan?

I've just started using mine again after a year – works fine, but I'm concerned that I'll run it into the ground, as I plan on using it much more than I did previously. I imagine things like thermal paste will need reapplying after so many years. The top row of keys are also lifting in the middle – not sure why this is.

Any advice from PB experts on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Intell]

When replacing the thermal compound it is important to replace paste with paste and pads with pads. Do not replace a pad with paste or paste with a pad.

 

[MultiFinder17]

As someone who's kept his old college 12" PowerBook chugging for years now, there's a few kind things you can do for it.

1. Repaste/repad. The 12" PowerBooks use three pads, two soft ones on the GPU and Bridge, then a hard one on the CPU. The soft ones need to be replaced with similar pads (they're cheap online in large sheets that you cut to fit), but I've found that the CPU one can be replaced with paste. The GPU and Bridge are designed to have space for a pad, while the CPU nestles snugly against the heatsink. Double-check on yours before committing to it by putting a little dab of paste on the CPU, screwing down the heatsink, and seeing how well it spreads.

2. Cleaning. A teardown and thorough cleaning with a bunch of paper towels, Q-tips, and alcohol can make your PowerBook look and feel like new! Great chance to bang out any dents or warps that may be in the aluminum too.

3. As for your keyboard lifting in the middle, pop off the RAM door on the bottom and check the long black screw that goes up into the bottom of the keyboard. I've seen that work its way loose over time. Tightening it may drag the middle of your keyboard back down. If not, your keyboard may be bent somehow. Pop it off (take out the long black screw and two others on the top between F1/F2 and F11/F12 and see if you can straighten it out on a table.

If you have any specific questions, I'm happy to help. I love the little 12" and love helping people keep them running!

 

[ervus]

How hot does it run? One of the nice things about the 12" PowerBook is that the temperature sensors are not hidden. If it doesn't run too hot, I would not bother taking it apart because they are not trivial to open. If you do open it, I would also suggest cleaning and oiling the fan, and installing an SSD.

If it does quickly overheat when the CPU is loaded, then it probably has a broken solder joint which should be fixed.

 

[Riviera122]

As someone who's kept his old college 12" PowerBook chugging for years now, there's a few kind things you can do for it.

1. Repaste/repad. The 12" PowerBooks use three pads, two soft ones on the GPU and Bridge, then a hard one on the CPU. The soft ones need to be replaced with similar pads (they're cheap online in large sheets that you cut to fit), but I've found that the CPU one can be replaced with paste. The GPU and Bridge are designed to have space for a pad, while the CPU nestles snugly against the heatsink. Double-check on yours before committing to it by putting a little dab of paste on the CPU, screwing down the heatsink, and seeing how well it spreads.

2. Cleaning. A teardown and thorough cleaning with a bunch of paper towels, Q-tips, and alcohol can make your PowerBook look and feel like new! Great change to bang out any dents or warps that may be in the aluminum too.

3. As for your keyboard lifting in the middle, pop off the RAM door on the bottom and check the long black screw that goes up into the bottom of the keyboard. I've seen that work its way loose over time. Tightening it may drag the middle of your keyboard back down. If not, your keyboard may be bent somehow. Pop it off (take out the long black screw and two others on the top between F1/F2 and F11/F12 and see if you can straighten it out on a table.

If you have any specific questions, I'm happy to help. I love the little 12" and love helping people keep them running!

Thank you for the write-up. I think the 12" is simply a fantastic design; easily one of the best Mac portables. It's an inspiring machine to work on, with many useful apps available that run great. Just wish the keyboard was backlit...

How hard is the pad replacement/cleaning teardown for these? I've opened it up a few times, but have heard from others the 12" is difficult to work with. Are there any guides available?
[automerge]1593739951[/automerge]

How hot does it run? One of the nice things about the 12" PowerBook is that the temperature sensors are not hidden. If it doesn't run too hot, I would not bother taking it apart because they are not trivial to open. If you do open it, I would also suggest cleaning and oiling the fan, and installing an SSD.

If it does quickly overheat when the CPU is loaded, then it probably has a broken solder joint which should be fixed.

It seems to run pretty hot, especially during CPU-intensive tasks such as modern web browsing, but I feel like that would happen regardless. I'll check the temps. What's considered a "good" CPU/GPU temperature for this machine?

 

[MultiFinder17]

Thank you for the write-up. I think the 12" is simply a fantastic design; easily one of the best Mac portables. It's an inspiring machine to work on, with many useful apps available that run great. Just wish the keyboard was backlit...

How hard is the pad replacement/cleaning teardown for these? I've opened it up a few times, but have heard from others the 12" is difficult to work with. Are there any guides available?
[automerge]1593739951[/automerge]


It seems to run pretty hot, especially during CPU-intensive tasks such as modern web browsing, but I feel like that would happen regardless. I'll check the temps. What's considered a "good" CPU/GPU temperature for this machine?

iFixit has some solid guides for working on these. If you’ve ever taken the top case off your PowerBook, you’ve done 90% of the work. The 12” PowerBooks have nothing on the iBooks when it comes to being a PITA to work on

PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" Repair Help: Learn How to Fix It Yourself.

PowerBook G4 Aluminum laptops with 12-inch displays. Released in 2003 from Apple.

www.ifixit.com

Mine runs decently warm; I’ve never actually used a temperature monitor on it. I probably should at some point, if only to see what the temps in there are like. It’s never been unpleasant.

 

[ervus]

I recently replaced the "pads" in my powerbook with copper shims of suitable thickness and this has made distinct improvements in the cooling. I also made a copper cross to sit on the GPU between the VRAM chips. Some of GPU chips come with this and some don't. The copper additions really helped with peak temperatures. The overall temperature is still limited/controlled by the fan speed. Along these lines I have also noticed that the fan will cycle more slowly. So it takes longer for it to come on, and then it will tend to stay on longer.

 

[ervus]

This seemed like a good thread to collect some info on the known heat sink issue with this model:

 

[AphoticD]

I found the easiest fix has been to push the standoff posts back in and drop a blob of solder on the rear. the solder will hold up better than glue over time.

 

[bsdppc]

One of the nice things about the 12" PowerBook is that the temperature sensors are not hidden.

Is there a diagram/photo floating around somewhere that shows these temperature sensors?

 

[ervus]

ioreg -lc IOHWSensor | grep temp

 

[bsdppc]

ioreg -lc IOHWSensor | grep temp

Ah, I thought you meant physically visible.

$ ioreg -lc IOHWSensor | grep hwsensor-location ... "HDD BOTTOMSIDE","CPU TOPSIDE","GPU ON DIE","REAR MAIN ENCLOSURE" ... "BATTERY"

I was hoping to be able to visually inspect the sensors to see if anything obvious was wrong with them (unplugged, damaged, discoloured, or proximal to other components exhibiting abnormal health signs). With perhaps the exception of the rear main enclosure, all of the others look to be integrated into their respective components, and not visible to the naked eye.

 

[r34per]

Don't mean to hijack OP's thread, but would the process be similar for a 17" powerbook? I just picked one up and have been wanting to use it as my main laptop and want to make it's going to last a while.

 

[ervus]

Also, it's possible to oil the fan from the top side. Peel back the sticker enough to expose some holes in the plastic (i.e. peel it back about half way), then dip a pin or a bent piece of wire in oil and use it to add a drop through the hole at an angle to the shaft in the center of the fan. A really noisy/worn out fan can still work fine for a long time with some thicker oil. If you can keep the sticker surface clean (no oil), then you can just lay the sticker back down.

 

[atalan4]

Is it possible to lubricate this type of fan? It seems to be sealed.

 

[ervus]

Try the other side.

 

[philgxxd]

I think you have to disassemble it more.

 

[ervus]

I suppose you could cut it open, or pry off the crimped bearing cover. In my opinion, it's easier to peel back a sticker...

 

[atalan4]

I did not notice there was also a sticker on the other side! Should I put oil on the three wholes?

 

[ervus]

I was searching for something else and came across another 12" PowerBook thread, so I thought I'd link it here:

Another nice PPC specimen

Already with an excellent example of G4 PowerBook 15" and 17", I started looking around for a 12", but particularly wanted an A1104 1.5GHz model, the last of the breed in that particular size. And one fell into my lap sooner than I imagined. And great condition too. Seen here perched on a newly...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[s4mb4r4m4]

I did not notice there was also a sticker on the other side! Should I put oil on the three wholes?

As someone with a newly noisy fan at low speed, can anyone confirm that some PTFE in the three visible holes will have any affect on lubricating the fan itself? I've previously pulled fans off their spindles when there's been no plug but the holes are at least semi-promising?

 

[ervus]

PTFE is a solid. I would suggest lubricating an oil film bearing with oil.

2¢

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

As someone with a newly noisy fan at low speed, can anyone confirm that some PTFE in the three visible holes will have any affect on lubricating the fan itself? I've previously pulled fans off their spindles when there's been no plug but the holes are at least semi-promising?

I regularly use PTFE to lubricate tower computer cans. Most recent I used this on as the cpu heatsink fan on one of my Quicksilvers and it works flawlessly- really amazing how it makes those obnoxious fan noises just go away. The one caveat about PTFE is that it does not last as long as oil IME. Now for a tower, thats not a big deal - just open the door and the fans are right there and easily accessible but for a portable like a 12" powerbook, I'd want to put something in there that has viscosity and multi-year staying power. For this reason, I'd go with Ervus and look for a bearing oil that will "stick around" (pardon the pun)

 

[ervus]

I guess I don't understand what you guys are talking about. This is what "PTFE" means to me:

Polytetrafluoroethylene - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's a plastic. To use this material as a bearing it seems like you would need to take the fan apart and replace the sintered bronze piece with a piece of plastic. It seems like you would still want oil in there anyway or it will wear out quickly.

 

[s4mb4r4m4]

I guess I don't understand what you guys are talking about. This is what "PTFE" means to me:

Polytetrafluoroethylene - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's a plastic. To use this material as a bearing it seems like you would need to take the fan apart and replace the sintered bronze piece with a piece of plastic. It seems like you would still want oil in there anyway or it will wear out quickly.

ANTI FRICTION DRY PTFE (Discontinued)

WD-40 Specialist Anti-Friction Dry PTFE Lubricant is a great lubricating spray for a number of scenarios and environments. Its anti-friction formula makes it perfect for high use or repetitive mechanisms that require protection from daily wear and tear, such as door and window tracks, chains and...

wd40.com.au

As an example. Just a type of lubricant.

So my question is around if anyone has actually serviced a 12" Powerbook G4 fan when it's noisy and could tell me if it's accessible from the top, bottom, or neither.