Nekochan Net

hi,

My son's iMac G5 pws is starting to poop out. This is the iMac without the iChat camera.
On e-bay the pws goes for about a $100. Anyone know a good source for picking up an iMac G5 pws?

thanks.

_________________
x1 x2

Have you taken the machine apart yet? Could be another case of bad capacitors.

http://thecapking.com/applg5.html

I replaced the bad caps in my eMac with a kit from that website. Worked out well.

_________________
Stuff.

Ditto with the badcaps check.
These power supplies are madly hard to find refurbished.

_________________


<-------- A very happy forum member.

thanks.
Looks like we're going to run with the cap king kit.

I am glad i asked here first instead of buying a new power supply. Didn't know about the bad caps issue.

_________________
x1 x2

bad caps have plagued a lot of apple's

emac g4, imac g5 1.8's, als, isights, g4 mdd psu's, and i seem to recall early g5 tower psu's...

_________________

OK - surgery is turning into a problem on this imac. I am replacing the 1000uF caps and have removed the 5 old caps.
The new caps won't fit in the holes and one cap has a pin stuck.
What's the trick to cleaning out these holes in order to inset the new caps?

thanks.

_________________
x1 x2

Copper strand and a good coating of flux.

_________________
Stuff.

Also, I recommend using a soldering gun for this, around 140W should do the trick. Soldering irons have a hard time keeping the heat on those thick PCBs (the multiple layers act like a big heat spreader).

_________________
Stuff.

Especially when one end of the component is connected to a ground or power plane.

A big iron works well also and is easier to hold - 100W or so.

Sometimes you just need to hack leads to fit. Spaghetti sleeve any that are long enough to cause shorting problems.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

The 1000 uF caps are off. There is solder in the holes. I got a closer peak at it with a large magnifying class.
I need to get the solder out of the holes.

What will do the trick here? I am using the soldering equipment in our electronics lab at work.
I have a desoldering iron here at work that hooks up to compressor. Will that be hot enough?

Or should I just stick with a big iron and copper wrap?

_________________
x1 x2

You can try adding more solder in an attempt to get the copper to work. That or place the cap leads in the holes and heat the contacts with placing pressure to make them slide through while the solder is hot...

_________________
Stuff.

get a thermostat controlled iron, I have... 60W (?)

that and some solder and a braid should be all you need... I've pulled grapefruit-sized caps out of amplifiers and the such (not to mention #6 stranded leads, et al) with just that. actually I used for the longest time a 40W iron that I got at RS for $4.99 with no problems- but it eventually died.

IMO flux is unnecessary unless you are soldering plumbing.

_________________
(Maradona) (DavidVilla) A1186 (Xavi)
A1370 (Messi) dp43tf (Puyol) A1387 (Abidal) A1408 (Guardiola)

"InfiniteReality Graphics - Power Through Complexity"

Interesting your 40W iron did ok. My 40W Crappytire Mastercraft iron never worked on manufactured PCBs, and my new 50W Weller failed miserably as well. My Weller 140W Gun however had no troubles.

Flux helps clean the metals so the solder flows better. Essential when you want to ensure a solid bond, and definitely helps when trying to get it to move elsewhere - such as onto the braided copper.

_________________
Stuff.

it's all in the tip! I've used fancy expensive irons with misshappen tips and they are completely useless.

_________________
(Maradona) (DavidVilla) A1186 (Xavi)
A1370 (Messi) dp43tf (Puyol) A1387 (Abidal) A1408 (Guardiola)

"InfiniteReality Graphics - Power Through Complexity"

Rosin core kind of works, but getting a bottle of rosin flux improved my soldering quite a bit. It makes a difference, especially when repairing older boards.

To remove solder from holes:

Get one of those cheap "solder sucker" spring pump things. Sucker on one side, iron on the other, poke the trigger and presto - clean hole. Not as good as a real (nice) desoldering iron, but affordable.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)