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Imac G4 dead on arrival - bought thinking it was simple repair

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Dj Mike

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Joined
Sep 2, 2023
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Anyone ever work on repairing a iMac g4 ??? I don't know where to begin with this. The machine won't even turn on. I changed the battery,, still nothing.
 
Most likely the power supply, and good luck in finding a working replacement. Have 2 machines currently awaiting me going through the power supply. Could try resetting the PMU.
 
I have a working iMac G4, even with a bad battery it should still turn on (I've detached it will restoring and it still booted). As @twolazy said, sounds like the PSU.
 
Ok, next question - has anyone rebuilt or recapped an IMac G4 power supply and/or the logic board ??
 

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I know there was a Mac Rumors guy in Germany fixing them for a few years, not sure if he's still in business. Haven't heard of anyone US based though.
 
Dj Mike said:
Ok, next question - has anyone rebuilt or recapped an IMac G4 power supply and/or the logic board ??
Click to expand...

It just uses SMD electrolytics, they're not hard to replace. Just twist them 5-10 degrees back and forth until the legs break and pull the cap gently off. Use your soldering iron with fresh solder and flux to clean the remnants off the pads. You can then either hold the new cap down and solder the ends with solder wire, or you can put two dabs of solder paste and squish them down with the new cap and solder it. I prefer using paste because you get a cleaner result.

You'll definitely need to clean the board though, its filthy, and looks like it may have leaked electrolyte all over it. Either that, or it was in a smoker's home and has cigarette smoke tar covering everything.
 
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