I had two blown capacitors (Nichicon HN 1600uF 3.6v) . I have removed them and ordered new ones. They had the orange power coming out of the blown tops. From what I could visually tell, they were the only 2 blown capacitors.
My question is this: Do I need to replace the other type of capacitors around them or no? Thanks for the help!!
@SamAndrew27 You shouldn't need to. That being said, I would feel the tops of the surrounding capacitors for any signs of bulging, because even if they aren't visibly leaking, even the slightest bulging can be enough to cause a problem.
had a problem with this and a piece of the capacitor stayed in the whole and now I can't get it out. I am thinking about using a drill with a tiny bit to drill it out.
@curtflirt2 I had this problem for one repair I did. I bought a really small drill, it's normally used for making plastic or wood models, and it looks like a hobby knife (only it has drill bits). It works wonders. Just be sure to not damage the area around the stuck leads.
@curtflirt2 I had this same problem of the lead not coming off of the board (broke off from the capacitor). I heated up the other side of the logic-board and pulled the remaining lead out with needle-nose pliers. Then put the soldiering iron on it again and ran a needle thru the hole. Looks like the rest now.
@Bruce1Jackson I used a 230 watt gun, but I think that may have been excessive. Especially since excessive heat can damage components if you're not careful. Plus, with a gun, you can only apply heat in short, 1-minute-or-so increments. I would have been better off with a high-wattage iron.
Place a little flux onto the joint to be heated will help in removing the component. You could also used a hot air rework station to melt the solder. Also place a little flux onto the leads and board when you are ready to resolder the capacitor. There are many good youtube videos on How to solder.
@Bruce1Jackson You don't need anything like that sort of heat, what I do is use a low wattage soldering iron, apply some new solder to the existing this will melt the old solder, then simply desolder using de-soldering wick or a pump. =)
Yadda, Yadda, Yadda....The Apple G5's are fucking garbage. I just replaced the capacitors in a power supply and granted...it starts up which it did not do before...but it crashes every once in a while you are working on files. If they are not saved you lose your work. The capacitors are fine in the motherboard which is a relief...Changing the capacitors in the mother looks like a total pain
@BryanConover Really? I would have thought changing the caps in a PSU would be worse, since they're packed so densely and there are all different sizes. In fact, I'm working on another G5 repair that has a bad PSU and mobo, and while I've fixed the mobo, I actually decided to just purchase a new PSU from Craigslist for $50.
Hey bud, just wanted to let you know I finally got my 20" iMac G5 up and running at last. I had the board professionally recapped by Badcaps.net, also had power supply done. He charged me $120 including shipping. After a three month wait, I finally got mounting brackets for about $30 on eBay. When I got it all back together, I could not get it to show boot devices when holding down "Option" at boot. Turned out it was a bad Superdrive. Got it running after issues prepping hard drive. Cheers!
Geez.... I just finished recapping my imac g5, but now I got funny intermittent lines from the beginning, they're not random as when I decided to recapp it... do you know what could it be?
@ricardoph00 It could be the video card. I addition to having failing caps, G5s were also notorious for having video card issues. I would check the connection from the monitor to the logic board first though, to ensure it's screwed in tight.
@CrashOverride88 good information 450C is pretty damn hot make sure you buy yourself a good variable temp soldering station. Radio shack even has one for around $70
@Laxbro37 You're looking at a serious modding project. You can't simply swap out a G5 for an Intel chip; they use completely different architectures. You would need to remove every single internal component, including the screen, and replace everything with parts that use standard connections, since everything Apple uses is proprietary.
I'm totally not an engineer in any way, shape, or form (I've some computer know-how and am considering repairing my 17" iMac G5 logic board)... but I wondered about that Chip Quik Solder Removal Kit, sold by the same company/person you got your repair instructions from. Do you think that would've helped you out with the removal of the old caps?
Wow! I am impressed! I bet you felt great when you saw that screen boot up to the folder with the question mark - whew! What amazing patience you have in working with the de-soldering and installation of the new caps. I'm going to send my board off to be redone on my first generation 20" G5, and I also need a hard drive and mounting brackets - any idea where to get the brackets? Can you use any SATA drive or must it be an Apple unit? Great job!
@tomwspoon I bought my mounting bracket off eBay. They're ridiculously expensive though, I think I spent $60 for mine, whereas I only spent $50 for the drive.
Any SATA drive will work. I bought a 500GB Western Digital OEM drive for this one at Microcenter for $50, as it was the best value I could find (most 320s and 250s won't be lower than $40, whereas cheap 1TB drives are around $70 or $80).
@tomwspoon I bought my mounting bracket off eBay. They're ridiculously expensive though, I think I spent $60 for mine, whereas I only spent $50 for the drive.
Any SATA drive will work. I bought a 500GB Western Digital OEM drive for this one at Microcenter for $50, as it was the best value I could find (most 320s and 250s won't be lower than $40, whereas cheap 1TB drives are around $70 or $80).
To remove the charge in the capacitors you can simply short them or lay the contacts down on a very slightly cloth (Isolate yourself Be careful not to get a shock)
Once the charge has gone you will be able to solder easily. Its all about the electrons etc. Also adding new solder to the old solder will help with the flow by changing the composition of the solder. For more help on issues like this, please visit powerjackrepair. com and truestate. org Great Video BTW Keep up the Great work.
Let me help a little for those that get stuck Soldering and De-soldering.
15 Watt soldering iron will do fine, Always Use Flux with Solder even if it says it contains flux. Flux can be bought at any plumbing shop. Flux will make the temperature more even and de-soldering easier. There is one more issue that was giving you trouble... Remaining electricity in the capacitors. You must drain the power in the capacitors. -------> Please Read on ------>
So the metal pad on the bottom of the shaky cap was missing, so I used a new capacitor soldiered it from the top..Works great.. I'm pretty sure the fuzzy and distorted video comes from the two caps to the right of the 4 LEDs.. I replaced those two on another board for a buddy.. they didn't look damaged at all.. but when I replaced them.. the computer works fine now..
Nice video. Someone had the exact same problem with the capacitors (common issue, ehh?) and gave me the G5 to repair it. The problem is that someone else took the capacitor off already, but did it in a bad way. I think he tried to drill it.
The problem is that the PCB has top copper for the positive side and bottom copper for the negative side. By not taking the capacitors off carefully the two layers are no longer isolated. Result: short circuit. How am I going to fix THAT now?
I understand what you're saying, but when you solder the caps back in, won't the solder connect both sides anyways? Have you tested it and ensured that this is, in fact, a problem?
If so, I have no idea what you should do. At that point it might make more sense to get a new logic board.
Hey thanks for the post!! I followed your tutorial and repaired a 20" that had 3 bulging caps..
Feeling cocky, I bought another one off craigslist and noticed that the guy I bought it off replaced all of the caps himself.. so they all look brand new. I tried to reflow the soldier.. no luck, same grainy image, no boot.. Checked the PSU and tried to start it with another PSU I had from the one I fixed.. still no luck
It's possible he did it wrong... can you ask him if he drilled the old caps out, or desoldered them? Are you sure any gaps around the leads have been filled with solder? Are the caps the proper size, orientation, etc? All cables in tight? What do the LEDs on the motherboard show? When powered on, LEDs 1, 2, and 3 should be on, but 4 should be off.
Anyways, as I said before, All of the solder joints looked like cold solder joints.. So I reflowed them with flux..
There is one shaky cap to the right of the LEDs (1,2, and 3 are on) I think maybe the leads are off inside the cap..Do you know which cap serves which purpose?
Certainly possible the leads are off inside the cap. Also, see if you can find a diagram online showing what size cap goes where, because if I recall the G5's used two different size caps.
When I first looked at it, the ends all looked like cold solder joints, so I reflowed them all using flux..
As far as I know, everything looks good except one shaky cap (one of 32, to the right of the LED's (1, 2 and 3 on) maybe the leads are loose inside the Cap..
Anyways, thanks for the reply.. I'm going to replace the shaky one first, and I that doesn't work.. they're all getting replaced!!
also why do u need rubbing alcohol to remove compound? I just got a cloth and rubbed it off and then applied thermal paste, used a card to thin it out evenly... was super easy to take off.. so what difference does alcohol make? Unless im damaging the cpu somehow? But then again people sand down their cpu's for better contact... called "lapping" so i doubt it would hurt it just by cleaning with a dry cloth? Let me know please, just incase it does make a diff and im possibly damaging my stuff.
It shouldn't be a problem, I've just found that rubbing alcohol works really well to remove the compound without applying much pressure to the chip.
As for starting up 100% perfect... I can pretty much guarantee it won't be like that after just a bit more of use. Leave it on for awhile, play a DVD or something, it'll eventually have problems.
well one is goin to my lil sister to just play with til it dies, and the other im selling.. Ive had it running pretty much for 24 hours now, constantly, its been installing programs and youtube videos and just been on. Its really slow though, cpu usage is like 100% whenever you go on safari, dunno if this one is good enough for leopard. Its the 1.6 ghz G5 and has 760 MB RAM, but it was running much faster using the tiger discs..(dont think uppin ram will help)
Hm, that doesn't sound right. IMac G5s run pretty fast. Hell even my PowerMac G4 can play YouTube videos without using up all the processor (though the graphics are iffy).
If you open Activity Monitor and look at the running processes, does it say any one specific thing is eating up your CPU?
ya, safari uses like 100% of my cpu.... everything else is fine.. like i can watch DVD's and its perfectly fine, not choppy... but on youtube its like choppy videos.
Anyways, quick question, my friend has an iMAC G5 17 inch, and his power supply smells bad, the comp gets some power but we see no bad caps on logic board or the power supply.. going to replace the power supply due to the burnt smell , his is 17 inch NON ALS power supply, I have an ALS power supply.. will it be fine? or mus be ALS?
I'm pretty sure the only difference between ALS and non-ALS power supplies were that ALS supplies had a cut-out on the bottom to make room for the light sensor. I'm not sure if this was the only difference, however, so you might want to verify this before you swap them out.
tried it anyways, apparently the ALS cable is just clipped onto the supply, just took it off. Still doesnt work though, same thing.. I plug in and the LED 1 comes on solid, LED 2 as well, i hear my hard drive starting and going, but everything else is off, no fans. I looked at every capacitor on logic board and power supplies.. they are all perfect... like brand new perfect... so i have no clue.. might be an actual circuit problem, so not worth bothering to repair. Meh, what u think might be?
ya but everything is off cept the hard drive, even dvd drive isnt taking dvds. Could be dead cpu too ya... but yay for MAC.. u cant change it, so onto ebay this baby shall go lol.
Before you do that... what happens if you take off the cooling unit? Is there no way to release the chip from under there? I'd do it on mine, but because I've technically already sold it, I need it still working, lol.
Hazaaaaaaaaa!!!! I FIXED IT!!! Wahoooo lmao, okay so basically the copper layer that i screwed up.. what I really did was made the holes just a bit bigger than the originals.. so it wasnt contacting properly... SOOOO I cut into little pieces my solder.. shoved them into the holes to make them VERY tight.. basically filled the holes with solder.. THEN i heated them up a bit and voila... ME MAC WORKS!!!! Woot woot woot lmao... still try to avoid drilling :)
ive become an addict now, i bought another one for 100 dollars that had the same problem.. i opened it up, 3 capacitors were fully blown, while others were perfect... i took them out, but forgot i didnt have any capacitors left for replacement.. so i put the board back in, closed it all up.. and was gunna buy some caps... but instead i plugged it into the power... and.. woah.. it started up... like 100% perfect..wtf?? didnt replace the caps, just took them out and it works... is this normal? lol
To all about to fix their own iMAC G5... or any board... DO NOT DRILL!!!! lmao.. apparently the copper layer needs to be exactly the way it is... so if u drill it will corrupt and the terminals wont make proper contacts... do it the hard long way.. de-solder the stuff out :(
Now LED 1 is on solid, when i press the internal ON button, i hear a very faint click (electrical) noise, checked all my capacitors, all solder is good, double checked power supply.. its all good.. bleh, dunno wtf is goin on... think im gunna have to put my balls away and bring this to a pro to check it out... definately wont pay to get a logic board though.
think im sellin it for parts, can get 100 for the power supply (i know its good) prolly 20 for the DVD drive, another 40 for the airport card, wont sell the hard drive since I put that in myself. So lookin at 160 dollars in parts, then possibly sell the monitor with broken board, maybe someone can turn it into an external monitor or somethin, if possible.
I used cheap lead solder that came with the iron free... think i should use lead free solder instead? Would that make a diff?
so I think i probably screwed with a circuit, hope not. I changed the power supply capacitor before I did the logic board... there was 1 capacitor that was actually blown, changed it, and the rest were perfect looking.. gunna check the powr supply again, maybe i checked wrong. Oh the joys of DYI
nope, they arent touchin, i fixed the capacitor that was a bit off, and still same LED 1 flickering problem. Doesnt turn on at all.. just gunna end up gettin a logic board, unless did you sell your iMAC yet? or your board? Let me know, might buy from ya.
I've sort of sold it. I say sort of because he had it for a month, and two more caps blew, so it's back here, waiting for me to fix it again. I don't have a small enough drill bit though (one of the legs got stuck in the hole), so I need to purchase one first.
Bahahahaha, I did it!!! I used my electric drill, chose the SMALLEST drill bit in the set, i drilled my holes ahahah, screw de-soldering, just wiggle/pull the capacitors off with needle nose pliers, and drill the holes to get the solder out! Now to solder new capacitors and I will let u all know if i fixed me MAC. if not, who wants a drilled iMAC G5 2nd gen? 17 iinch. lol
Even your smallest may have been too large. You should have invested in a pin vice imho. Also, a soldering iron won't work; you need a soldering gun, like I have. My 230 watt gun ran $30 at Radio Shack.
By the way, 10 caps... that's a lot. I only had two (though after I replaced those, two more eventually blew-- I've now got it sitting back here on my desk, and I just need a little time to replace the newly blown caps!)
I drilled the holes, honestly it was a perfect drill, like the hole size was the same as the original hole. Put the capacitors on, the iMAC wont boot now, no power at all. Hahaha, MY LED 1 is flickering, but thats it, power nadda! I think one of the capacitors isnt soldered in right, so gunna get to that tomorrow and update here. Lmao though how I used a drill, i was careful though. Screw the soldering iron/ Gun! I may have fried the board from when I used the solder iron to desolder, guna chek
ya man, I used better rated ones. In place of the 1800uf 6.3v ones i used 2200uf 6.3v ones
for the 1000uf 16v ones i used the same
the 1000uf 16v one is kinda slanted and i noticed its not touching the board lol... so im gunna do it now and update. So funny though how in my rage I jjust grabbed the drill and got the job done (well the removal) just hope its that capactior... hope I didnt burn the board itself during the desolder attempt (held my 60 watt in spot for like 30 mins and didnt melt!
Okay... so I noticed like about 10 capacitors were VERY slightly starting to bulge at the top of them.. so i just got needle nose pliers and wiggled/pulled them out. I tried heating the solder.. it wouldnt melt at all.. first used my 25 watt solder pen, and then my 60 watt solder pen... it took about an hour just leaving it directly right on to just remove one capacitor pins... WOW... 60 watts and it took that long.. i think im just gunna drill, lmao.. ill let u all know
lol, I just bought an iMAC G5 2.0 generation 2.. wouldnt show any display... LED 1 and LED 2 came on, but the 3rd wouldnt.. I fixed it by pressing Option Command + P + R all at once right after the computer starts, hear the startup sound, then hear it again, let go of the keys, now it starts. Installing OS X 10.5 right now :D wahooo didnt even have to change the caps!!! (they looked fine) was getting graphic fuzzyness, but it went away.. so think its gunna go soon, meh. Bought it for 50 bucks.
I found a couple capacitors blown in the actual power supply... but you can get the capacitors from any electrical shop, usually the small ones have it...
On the logic board you need 1800uf 6.3v and 1000uf 16v
you can use anything thats HIGHER llike 2200uf 50v, it wont hurt, its always better to go higher, NEVER go lower!!! Make sure the replacements are thinner than the original or at least the same size.
I have it on the camera, but I haven't had a chance to upload it yet. I've had a lot to do recently, including a "secret" project that I will do a video on in the future after it's complete.
In my case the machine started, made the chime noise but black screen. When I started the machine with the back removed first two diagnostic leds did light which indicated that the motherboard and GPU were not communicating. I could also clearly see that capacitors needed to be replaced, one had exploded and many were bulging.
Paid 80 euros for the machine, 2GB ram and 250GB were addded by previous owner. Cheap Mac :)
hello their uhm i have a question about your repair. when you used the rubbing alcohall, to get the thermal paste off the chip that says canada, and the copper peice, did you have too reapply any thermal paste or grease? please reply, and great video. :)
Yes. The only reason you have to take it off in the first place is because the old paste is partially dried, which isn't good for heat transfer (the whole reason it's there in the first place).
Yeah you can find a lot of them with this problem on eBay or CraigsList. I was considering buying another one, but personally, I've decided that it just isn't worth it, unless it's free or under, say $10 :P
I had two blown capacitors (Nichicon HN 1600uF 3.6v) . I have removed them and ordered new ones. They had the orange power coming out of the blown tops. From what I could visually tell, they were the only 2 blown capacitors.
My question is this: Do I need to replace the other type of capacitors around them or no? Thanks for the help!!
SamAndrew27 3 months ago in playlist Comp Repair
@SamAndrew27 You shouldn't need to. That being said, I would feel the tops of the surrounding capacitors for any signs of bulging, because even if they aren't visibly leaking, even the slightest bulging can be enough to cause a problem.
lifeinhd 3 months ago
@lifeinhd That's what I was thinking, but wanted to be sure. Thanks very much!
SamAndrew27 3 months ago
had a problem with this and a piece of the capacitor stayed in the whole and now I can't get it out. I am thinking about using a drill with a tiny bit to drill it out.
curtflirt2 3 months ago in playlist Favorite videos
@curtflirt2 I had this problem for one repair I did. I bought a really small drill, it's normally used for making plastic or wood models, and it looks like a hobby knife (only it has drill bits). It works wonders. Just be sure to not damage the area around the stuck leads.
lifeinhd 3 months ago
@curtflirt2 I had this same problem of the lead not coming off of the board (broke off from the capacitor). I heated up the other side of the logic-board and pulled the remaining lead out with needle-nose pliers. Then put the soldiering iron on it again and ran a needle thru the hole. Looks like the rest now.
SamAndrew27 3 months ago
what watt do you need to take them off
Bruce1Jackson 1 year ago
@Bruce1Jackson I used a 230 watt gun, but I think that may have been excessive. Especially since excessive heat can damage components if you're not careful. Plus, with a gun, you can only apply heat in short, 1-minute-or-so increments. I would have been better off with a high-wattage iron.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
Place a little flux onto the joint to be heated will help in removing the component. You could also used a hot air rework station to melt the solder. Also place a little flux onto the leads and board when you are ready to resolder the capacitor. There are many good youtube videos on How to solder.
audiqv8 9 months ago
@audiqv8 Thanks. I couldn't find my flux, so I had to grind down the flux coating and rely on heat alone.
I like your username btw.
lifeinhd 9 months ago
@Bruce1Jackson You don't need anything like that sort of heat, what I do is use a low wattage soldering iron, apply some new solder to the existing this will melt the old solder, then simply desolder using de-soldering wick or a pump. =)
spk1209 11 months ago
Yadda, Yadda, Yadda....The Apple G5's are fucking garbage. I just replaced the capacitors in a power supply and granted...it starts up which it did not do before...but it crashes every once in a while you are working on files. If they are not saved you lose your work. The capacitors are fine in the motherboard which is a relief...Changing the capacitors in the mother looks like a total pain
BryanConover 1 year ago
@BryanConover Really? I would have thought changing the caps in a PSU would be worse, since they're packed so densely and there are all different sizes. In fact, I'm working on another G5 repair that has a bad PSU and mobo, and while I've fixed the mobo, I actually decided to just purchase a new PSU from Craigslist for $50.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
Comment removed
tehmattbookpro 9 months ago in playlist MAC
@BryanConover Different capacitor brands have nothing to do with your Mac crashing. Ask your doctor about reinstalling Leopard.
tehmattbookpro 9 months ago in playlist MAC
Hey bud, just wanted to let you know I finally got my 20" iMac G5 up and running at last. I had the board professionally recapped by Badcaps.net, also had power supply done. He charged me $120 including shipping. After a three month wait, I finally got mounting brackets for about $30 on eBay. When I got it all back together, I could not get it to show boot devices when holding down "Option" at boot. Turned out it was a bad Superdrive. Got it running after issues prepping hard drive. Cheers!
tomwspoon 1 year ago
@tomwspoon Congrats! Not a bad price either. Certainly beats spending $300 for a used logic board replacement.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
Geez.... I just finished recapping my imac g5, but now I got funny intermittent lines from the beginning, they're not random as when I decided to recapp it... do you know what could it be?
Thanks!
ricardoph00 1 year ago
@ricardoph00 It could be the video card. I addition to having failing caps, G5s were also notorious for having video card issues. I would check the connection from the monitor to the logic board first though, to ensure it's screwed in tight.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
mine blew those as well. so i bought new capacitors off ebay and then soldered them to the logic board work as new.
ovdirtbiker 1 year ago
@ovdirtbiker ebay? you can get one at radio shack for $1
fancysnake1 11 months ago
@fancysnake1 i know but you get them cheaper all together then individually
ovdirtbiker 11 months ago
@fancysnake1 there are diffirent types of caps
fl0r1svdk 7 months ago
@fl0r1svdk Ok then.. What type?
fancysnake1 7 months ago
@fancysnake1 there are a lot of diffirencas based on the meterial ther made from and the esr for more info chec wikipedia
fl0r1svdk 7 months ago
@fl0r1svdk I know that. I was asking what type you're talking about...
fancysnake1 7 months ago
@fancysnake1 the imac ones are electroltic and low esr the radio shack ones have a normal esr
fl0r1svdk 7 months ago
my imac g5 24 start up blac screen and fan run you can se my video at my youtube
thank you
bojer78 1 year ago
@bojer78 Do you know how to take apart your iMac? Start there. Inspect all the capacitors for damage. Let me know if any of them need replacing.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
can you help????? thank you
bojer78 1 year ago
@bojer78 What do you need help with?
lifeinhd 1 year ago
@CrashOverride88 good information 450C is pretty damn hot make sure you buy yourself a good variable temp soldering station. Radio shack even has one for around $70
Thevinylhouse 1 year ago
Please help me is their any way to put in a intel core duo processer in a power pc g5 please please respond thanks!
Laxbro37 1 year ago
@Laxbro37 You're looking at a serious modding project. You can't simply swap out a G5 for an Intel chip; they use completely different architectures. You would need to remove every single internal component, including the screen, and replace everything with parts that use standard connections, since everything Apple uses is proprietary.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
I'm totally not an engineer in any way, shape, or form (I've some computer know-how and am considering repairing my 17" iMac G5 logic board)... but I wondered about that Chip Quik Solder Removal Kit, sold by the same company/person you got your repair instructions from. Do you think that would've helped you out with the removal of the old caps?
kateraide 1 year ago
Wow! I am impressed! I bet you felt great when you saw that screen boot up to the folder with the question mark - whew! What amazing patience you have in working with the de-soldering and installation of the new caps. I'm going to send my board off to be redone on my first generation 20" G5, and I also need a hard drive and mounting brackets - any idea where to get the brackets? Can you use any SATA drive or must it be an Apple unit? Great job!
tomwspoon 1 year ago
@tomwspoon I bought my mounting bracket off eBay. They're ridiculously expensive though, I think I spent $60 for mine, whereas I only spent $50 for the drive.
Any SATA drive will work. I bought a 500GB Western Digital OEM drive for this one at Microcenter for $50, as it was the best value I could find (most 320s and 250s won't be lower than $40, whereas cheap 1TB drives are around $70 or $80).
lifeinhd 1 year ago
@tomwspoon I bought my mounting bracket off eBay. They're ridiculously expensive though, I think I spent $60 for mine, whereas I only spent $50 for the drive.
Any SATA drive will work. I bought a 500GB Western Digital OEM drive for this one at Microcenter for $50, as it was the best value I could find (most 320s and 250s won't be lower than $40, whereas cheap 1TB drives are around $70 or $80).
lifeinhd 1 year ago
To remove the charge in the capacitors you can simply short them or lay the contacts down on a very slightly cloth (Isolate yourself Be careful not to get a shock)
Once the charge has gone you will be able to solder easily. Its all about the electrons etc. Also adding new solder to the old solder will help with the flow by changing the composition of the solder. For more help on issues like this, please visit powerjackrepair. com and truestate. org Great Video BTW Keep up the Great work.
colincarlsen 1 year ago
Hi Mate, Thanks for your honest video...
Let me help a little for those that get stuck Soldering and De-soldering.
15 Watt soldering iron will do fine, Always Use Flux with Solder even if it says it contains flux. Flux can be bought at any plumbing shop. Flux will make the temperature more even and de-soldering easier. There is one more issue that was giving you trouble... Remaining electricity in the capacitors. You must drain the power in the capacitors. -------> Please Read on ------>
colincarlsen 1 year ago
@colincarlsen NEVER use flux from a plumbing shop on electronic gear! You need to get flux designed for electronics.
alphabeets 1 year ago
Comment removed
colincarlsen 1 year ago
Vaya mierda de video
txilibrist 1 year ago
where did you buy your capacitors from
Jadinlee95 1 year ago
@Jadinlee95 Jameco Electronics, if I recall correctly.
lifeinhd 1 year ago
Next time use a cheap $10 solder sucker. You will be able to do it by yourself.
U2ForNow 1 year ago
update:
So the metal pad on the bottom of the shaky cap was missing, so I used a new capacitor soldiered it from the top..Works great.. I'm pretty sure the fuzzy and distorted video comes from the two caps to the right of the 4 LEDs.. I replaced those two on another board for a buddy.. they didn't look damaged at all.. but when I replaced them.. the computer works fine now..
simonhead666 1 year ago
Nice video. Someone had the exact same problem with the capacitors (common issue, ehh?) and gave me the G5 to repair it. The problem is that someone else took the capacitor off already, but did it in a bad way. I think he tried to drill it.
The problem is that the PCB has top copper for the positive side and bottom copper for the negative side. By not taking the capacitors off carefully the two layers are no longer isolated. Result: short circuit. How am I going to fix THAT now?
ALEJANDROMESIAS 2 years ago
I understand what you're saying, but when you solder the caps back in, won't the solder connect both sides anyways? Have you tested it and ensured that this is, in fact, a problem?
If so, I have no idea what you should do. At that point it might make more sense to get a new logic board.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
Nice thanks this video was helpful
juanpeter 2 years ago
Hey thanks for the post!! I followed your tutorial and repaired a 20" that had 3 bulging caps..
Feeling cocky, I bought another one off craigslist and noticed that the guy I bought it off replaced all of the caps himself.. so they all look brand new. I tried to reflow the soldier.. no luck, same grainy image, no boot.. Checked the PSU and tried to start it with another PSU I had from the one I fixed.. still no luck
Any suggestions?
Or should I just replace all of the caps again?
Thanks
simonhead666 2 years ago
It's possible he did it wrong... can you ask him if he drilled the old caps out, or desoldered them? Are you sure any gaps around the leads have been filled with solder? Are the caps the proper size, orientation, etc? All cables in tight? What do the LEDs on the motherboard show? When powered on, LEDs 1, 2, and 3 should be on, but 4 should be off.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
Hi
Just replied to the wrong person (sorry rayskate)
Anyways, as I said before, All of the solder joints looked like cold solder joints.. So I reflowed them with flux..
There is one shaky cap to the right of the LEDs (1,2, and 3 are on) I think maybe the leads are off inside the cap..Do you know which cap serves which purpose?
Thanks
simonhead666 2 years ago
Certainly possible the leads are off inside the cap. Also, see if you can find a diagram online showing what size cap goes where, because if I recall the G5's used two different size caps.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
where did you get the caps? I have a 17 g5 with 5 bad caps.thanks
rayskate 2 years ago
Jameco Electronics I believe. Might be spelled Jaameco.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
When I first looked at it, the ends all looked like cold solder joints, so I reflowed them all using flux..
As far as I know, everything looks good except one shaky cap (one of 32, to the right of the LED's (1, 2 and 3 on) maybe the leads are loose inside the Cap..
Anyways, thanks for the reply.. I'm going to replace the shaky one first, and I that doesn't work.. they're all getting replaced!!
simonhead666 2 years ago
also why do u need rubbing alcohol to remove compound? I just got a cloth and rubbed it off and then applied thermal paste, used a card to thin it out evenly... was super easy to take off.. so what difference does alcohol make? Unless im damaging the cpu somehow? But then again people sand down their cpu's for better contact... called "lapping" so i doubt it would hurt it just by cleaning with a dry cloth? Let me know please, just incase it does make a diff and im possibly damaging my stuff.
junglemage666 2 years ago
It shouldn't be a problem, I've just found that rubbing alcohol works really well to remove the compound without applying much pressure to the chip.
As for starting up 100% perfect... I can pretty much guarantee it won't be like that after just a bit more of use. Leave it on for awhile, play a DVD or something, it'll eventually have problems.
What do you plan to do with 2 iMacs though??? :P
lifeinhd 2 years ago
well one is goin to my lil sister to just play with til it dies, and the other im selling.. Ive had it running pretty much for 24 hours now, constantly, its been installing programs and youtube videos and just been on. Its really slow though, cpu usage is like 100% whenever you go on safari, dunno if this one is good enough for leopard. Its the 1.6 ghz G5 and has 760 MB RAM, but it was running much faster using the tiger discs..(dont think uppin ram will help)
junglemage666 2 years ago
Hm, that doesn't sound right. IMac G5s run pretty fast. Hell even my PowerMac G4 can play YouTube videos without using up all the processor (though the graphics are iffy).
If you open Activity Monitor and look at the running processes, does it say any one specific thing is eating up your CPU?
lifeinhd 2 years ago
ya, safari uses like 100% of my cpu.... everything else is fine.. like i can watch DVD's and its perfectly fine, not choppy... but on youtube its like choppy videos.
Anyways, quick question, my friend has an iMAC G5 17 inch, and his power supply smells bad, the comp gets some power but we see no bad caps on logic board or the power supply.. going to replace the power supply due to the burnt smell , his is 17 inch NON ALS power supply, I have an ALS power supply.. will it be fine? or mus be ALS?
junglemage666 2 years ago
I'm pretty sure the only difference between ALS and non-ALS power supplies were that ALS supplies had a cut-out on the bottom to make room for the light sensor. I'm not sure if this was the only difference, however, so you might want to verify this before you swap them out.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
tried it anyways, apparently the ALS cable is just clipped onto the supply, just took it off. Still doesnt work though, same thing.. I plug in and the LED 1 comes on solid, LED 2 as well, i hear my hard drive starting and going, but everything else is off, no fans. I looked at every capacitor on logic board and power supplies.. they are all perfect... like brand new perfect... so i have no clue.. might be an actual circuit problem, so not worth bothering to repair. Meh, what u think might be?
junglemage666 2 years ago
If the fans aren't turning on, do you think it's possible the CPU is fried?
lifeinhd 2 years ago
ya but everything is off cept the hard drive, even dvd drive isnt taking dvds. Could be dead cpu too ya... but yay for MAC.. u cant change it, so onto ebay this baby shall go lol.
junglemage666 2 years ago
Before you do that... what happens if you take off the cooling unit? Is there no way to release the chip from under there? I'd do it on mine, but because I've technically already sold it, I need it still working, lol.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
its welded on i think, so I've heard before... just like the video card. Not gunna bother, plus does a replacement cpu exist? lol
junglemage666 2 years ago
Hazaaaaaaaaa!!!! I FIXED IT!!! Wahoooo lmao, okay so basically the copper layer that i screwed up.. what I really did was made the holes just a bit bigger than the originals.. so it wasnt contacting properly... SOOOO I cut into little pieces my solder.. shoved them into the holes to make them VERY tight.. basically filled the holes with solder.. THEN i heated them up a bit and voila... ME MAC WORKS!!!! Woot woot woot lmao... still try to avoid drilling :)
junglemage666 2 years ago
Congrats, glad you could make it work :)
lifeinhd 2 years ago
ive become an addict now, i bought another one for 100 dollars that had the same problem.. i opened it up, 3 capacitors were fully blown, while others were perfect... i took them out, but forgot i didnt have any capacitors left for replacement.. so i put the board back in, closed it all up.. and was gunna buy some caps... but instead i plugged it into the power... and.. woah.. it started up... like 100% perfect..wtf?? didnt replace the caps, just took them out and it works... is this normal? lol
junglemage666 2 years ago
To all about to fix their own iMAC G5... or any board... DO NOT DRILL!!!! lmao.. apparently the copper layer needs to be exactly the way it is... so if u drill it will corrupt and the terminals wont make proper contacts... do it the hard long way.. de-solder the stuff out :(
junglemage666 2 years ago
it MUST be lead free? or is that just a safety thing?
junglemage666 2 years ago
See the thing I PMed you.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
Now LED 1 is on solid, when i press the internal ON button, i hear a very faint click (electrical) noise, checked all my capacitors, all solder is good, double checked power supply.. its all good.. bleh, dunno wtf is goin on... think im gunna have to put my balls away and bring this to a pro to check it out... definately wont pay to get a logic board though.
junglemage666 2 years ago
Yeah, with a logic board going for $350+ and the computer being worth only about $400, it's not worth it :(
lifeinhd 2 years ago
think im sellin it for parts, can get 100 for the power supply (i know its good) prolly 20 for the DVD drive, another 40 for the airport card, wont sell the hard drive since I put that in myself. So lookin at 160 dollars in parts, then possibly sell the monitor with broken board, maybe someone can turn it into an external monitor or somethin, if possible.
I used cheap lead solder that came with the iron free... think i should use lead free solder instead? Would that make a diff?
junglemage666 2 years ago
Yeah, you def. need lead free.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
and by that i meant DIY
junglemage666 2 years ago
so I think i probably screwed with a circuit, hope not. I changed the power supply capacitor before I did the logic board... there was 1 capacitor that was actually blown, changed it, and the rest were perfect looking.. gunna check the powr supply again, maybe i checked wrong. Oh the joys of DYI
junglemage666 2 years ago
I hope your soldering joints aren't touching by any chance?
lifeinhd 2 years ago
nope, they arent touchin, i fixed the capacitor that was a bit off, and still same LED 1 flickering problem. Doesnt turn on at all.. just gunna end up gettin a logic board, unless did you sell your iMAC yet? or your board? Let me know, might buy from ya.
junglemage666 2 years ago
I've sort of sold it. I say sort of because he had it for a month, and two more caps blew, so it's back here, waiting for me to fix it again. I don't have a small enough drill bit though (one of the legs got stuck in the hole), so I need to purchase one first.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
Bahahahaha, I did it!!! I used my electric drill, chose the SMALLEST drill bit in the set, i drilled my holes ahahah, screw de-soldering, just wiggle/pull the capacitors off with needle nose pliers, and drill the holes to get the solder out! Now to solder new capacitors and I will let u all know if i fixed me MAC. if not, who wants a drilled iMAC G5 2nd gen? 17 iinch. lol
junglemage666 2 years ago
Even your smallest may have been too large. You should have invested in a pin vice imho. Also, a soldering iron won't work; you need a soldering gun, like I have. My 230 watt gun ran $30 at Radio Shack.
By the way, 10 caps... that's a lot. I only had two (though after I replaced those, two more eventually blew-- I've now got it sitting back here on my desk, and I just need a little time to replace the newly blown caps!)
lifeinhd 2 years ago
I drilled the holes, honestly it was a perfect drill, like the hole size was the same as the original hole. Put the capacitors on, the iMAC wont boot now, no power at all. Hahaha, MY LED 1 is flickering, but thats it, power nadda! I think one of the capacitors isnt soldered in right, so gunna get to that tomorrow and update here. Lmao though how I used a drill, i was careful though. Screw the soldering iron/ Gun! I may have fried the board from when I used the solder iron to desolder, guna chek
junglemage666 2 years ago
You're sure you used properly-rated caps?
lifeinhd 2 years ago
ya man, I used better rated ones. In place of the 1800uf 6.3v ones i used 2200uf 6.3v ones
for the 1000uf 16v ones i used the same
the 1000uf 16v one is kinda slanted and i noticed its not touching the board lol... so im gunna do it now and update. So funny though how in my rage I jjust grabbed the drill and got the job done (well the removal) just hope its that capactior... hope I didnt burn the board itself during the desolder attempt (held my 60 watt in spot for like 30 mins and didnt melt!
junglemage666 2 years ago
Okay... so I noticed like about 10 capacitors were VERY slightly starting to bulge at the top of them.. so i just got needle nose pliers and wiggled/pulled them out. I tried heating the solder.. it wouldnt melt at all.. first used my 25 watt solder pen, and then my 60 watt solder pen... it took about an hour just leaving it directly right on to just remove one capacitor pins... WOW... 60 watts and it took that long.. i think im just gunna drill, lmao.. ill let u all know
junglemage666 2 years ago
Lmao, this ones plus and this ones minus... lmao... never touch a machine again :) lol. Who calls the negative terminal "minus".,...
junglemage666 2 years ago
I calls them as I sees them.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
lol, I just bought an iMAC G5 2.0 generation 2.. wouldnt show any display... LED 1 and LED 2 came on, but the 3rd wouldnt.. I fixed it by pressing Option Command + P + R all at once right after the computer starts, hear the startup sound, then hear it again, let go of the keys, now it starts. Installing OS X 10.5 right now :D wahooo didnt even have to change the caps!!! (they looked fine) was getting graphic fuzzyness, but it went away.. so think its gunna go soon, meh. Bought it for 50 bucks.
junglemage666 2 years ago
Please can you tell me where you bought the capacitors for this imac it would really help me
Richardmeelo 2 years ago
I found a couple capacitors blown in the actual power supply... but you can get the capacitors from any electrical shop, usually the small ones have it...
On the logic board you need 1800uf 6.3v and 1000uf 16v
you can use anything thats HIGHER llike 2200uf 50v, it wont hurt, its always better to go higher, NEVER go lower!!! Make sure the replacements are thinner than the original or at least the same size.
junglemage666 2 years ago
why did you fix it then just sell it for the money i would just keeped it.
colinstienke 2 years ago
I had no use for another computer, much less a four-year-old desktop with a processor that's no longer supported by the latest OS.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
wheres your other video of the hdd and the caddy? any way great video. this video was very helpful thanks man!
RandomActsCorp 2 years ago
I have it on the camera, but I haven't had a chance to upload it yet. I've had a lot to do recently, including a "secret" project that I will do a video on in the future after it's complete.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
I also did repair an iMac G5, it is 1.6Ghz model.
In my case the machine started, made the chime noise but black screen. When I started the machine with the back removed first two diagnostic leds did light which indicated that the motherboard and GPU were not communicating. I could also clearly see that capacitors needed to be replaced, one had exploded and many were bulging.
Paid 80 euros for the machine, 2GB ram and 250GB were addded by previous owner. Cheap Mac :)
huutoapaljon 2 years ago
hello their uhm i have a question about your repair. when you used the rubbing alcohall, to get the thermal paste off the chip that says canada, and the copper peice, did you have too reapply any thermal paste or grease? please reply, and great video. :)
RandomActsCorp 2 years ago
Yes. The only reason you have to take it off in the first place is because the old paste is partially dried, which isn't good for heat transfer (the whole reason it's there in the first place).
lifeinhd 2 years ago
hello what was the problem with your G5?
Mine was a black screen !
frodon11 2 years ago
I had two capacitors that had leaked. It wouldn't boot past the blue screen.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
superb video 5/5. What are the specs of the capacitors tht u replaced???
djdevil360 2 years ago
I've just updated the video description with a link to the guide I used, which should have everything you could possibly want to know.
lifeinhd 2 years ago
thank you I'm thinking of buying a cheap broken imac and repairing it ;)
djdevil360 2 years ago
Yeah you can find a lot of them with this problem on eBay or CraigsList. I was considering buying another one, but personally, I've decided that it just isn't worth it, unless it's free or under, say $10 :P
lifeinhd 2 years ago