> On Nov 28, 7:36 am, [email protected] wrote: > > Hi > > > > I'm at my sister's house looking at her imac and there are horizontal lines > > across the screen. > > > > She is disabled (had a stroke and has severe speech center damage) and > > can't tell me when this started or what she was doing at the time. > > > > 2 GHz Power PC G5 17" flat panel iMac running 10.4.11 (2GB RAM, 250GB HD) > > > > Can anyone point me in the right direction to start looking for a solution? > > If this is fixable is it worth the cost. She just bought this machine used > > 6 months ago. She is on a fixed income and I can't afford to buy a new > > machine for her either. > >
> Why not try connecting an external monitor to the iMac and setting it > as the primary monitor to see if it is the screen that is the > problem... You will need an adaptor to plug in another screen, but > they are not expensive and are useful later... > > Mark On Nov 29, 2009, at 1:08 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can borrow one from work. > > I don't have any problems with taking this thing apart if I can get good > directions and what ever is wrong is obvious enough for me to diagnose (with > help from the experts on this list. > > Years ago this list helped me replace the hard drive in my 400mhz iMac, after > the repair person wanted $500 for the job. > > Sheri C Horizontal lines on the screen indicate video problems. It could be the video chip circuitry, or it could be the infamous bad-capacitor problem. It also could be bad capacitors in the power supply. Google "iMac G5 capacitors" and you'll get a raft of hits. The fact you've got video on the screen confirms the inverter is OK and that the data signal cable is OK. If the horizontal lines move up and down or come and go, it's highly doubtful it's an LCD/screen problem. Mark's suggestion to connect an external monitor also should confirm the internal LCD is good or bad. If the lines also appear on the external monitor, that will confirm the problem is inside the iMac, most likely a bad/failing logic board, to which the video chipset is soldered. Since iMac G5s had a known problem with bad capacitors (the Apple logic board replacement program closed about a year ago), you're very likely looking at a failing logic board. It's possible to replace the bad capacitors, which may well "cure" the problem. However, that may not fix the problem if the video circuitry has been damaged. I know; I've replaced capacitors on two iMac G5s and that did not fix the problem. It did fix the problem on a third iMac G5. A replacement capacitor kit costs about $50 and it's a lot of work to dismantle the iMac and then remove and replace 25 or so capacitors. It's not a job for the inexperienced, especially since the no-lead solder used to mount the capacitors makes removal very difficult. (Google "iMac G5 Jim Warholic" for more details, to buy replacement capacitors, and to learn what's involved.) New iMac G5 logic boards are very expensive. Used ones may or may not work, so caveat emptor there. There are several eBay vendors who have advertised a repair service for iMac G5 logic boards, but I have no personal experience with them and can neither recommend nor advise caution. My experience is that iMac G5s and white iBook G3s are the most failure-prone Apple products of this decade. I've wasted more dollars and time than I care to think about in the process of trying to repair too many of them. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
