WOW!
Tina and Jim... you are simply amazing! The Optical Drive (ODD), HDD
and the RAM were from OWC, so I believe they'll fit.
GREAT tip on the Battery, dust-bunnies, and the pillow on the neck!
(I need a pillow on my neck too!) I thought about the battery, but
got side-tracked, so this got me refocused!
I will lift the bottom as suggested as I will be generating more heat
with the 7200rpm HDD. Raising it up should allow more air-flow. But
aren't the new drives being made now running much cooler than they
used to? I thought I recalled somewhere that the new large drives
are actually running cooler than the 5400's of long ago. Ah, maybe
my mind is trying to let me think the things the way I want them to
be... or something like that.
As far as the thermal paste, I have heard not to over-do putting it
on, but there needs to be enough the seat the parts together for
proper cooling. And to definitely not block the cooling "shafts"
that are in those blocks, or pads that conduct the cooling.
The thermal paste I purchased is GELID Solutions Thermal Compound.
The feedback from purchasers was really good, so I chose this as it
comes with a little spatula to spread the compound.
Any secrets in applying the paste to where it doesn't seep into the
cooling ducts? I haven't opened it up yet, waiting for the parts and
the time, so I don't know how big or small those duct holes are. I
guess you could roll-up a small piece of paper and put it in the
hole, then let it expand to size, then paint the paste around that.
I don't know, but am open to your learned suggestions.
I just want to thank you both for taking the time out of your
precious day to really go through everything! I'll say it again...
y'all are simply amazing!
THANKS - GOD BLESS - HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!
On Aug 26, 2010, at 1:43 PM, Jim Scott wrote:
On Aug 26, 2010, at 11:06 AM, Tina K. wrote:
J. R. Rosen wrote:
Got a 20" G4 (USB2) iMac the other day, and am going to put in 2
sticks-O-RAM (1gb + 1gb). So while I was in there, I thought I'd
add a 500gb HDD and a 24x DVD RW. That's about as far as you can
carry upgrades, as it already has bluetooth and wifi.
I have printed the article on Accelerate Your Mac about the do's
and don'ts, and I've been following the latest posts about the
thermal paste.
My question is... as y'all have been actively inside the G4 dome
(Jim and Tina), are there any tips, tricks, or other nuances you
could throw my way to help me through this endeavor? Any: "if I
had only know about that then" kind of things, or is it pretty
straight-forward?
One think to keep in mind right off the bat is that an ODD much,
or possibly any, larger than the OEM unit will not fit into the
carrier. I believe it was a Pioneer 106 that Apple put in those
machines but I could be mistaken. Also the stock HDD is a 5200 RPM
unit so if you install a 7200 RPM drive there will be more heat
generated, you will probably want to keep the inlet & outlet clean
and hopefully keep it in a cool environment.
Dis/reassembly is pretty straight forward. The outer user cover is
a no brainer but be careful with the inner factory cover as it
houses the MoBo and has several wires and cables attached to it.
The first gen G4s had a cable that ran to the ODD/carrier that
often broke upon disassembly but Apple corrected that on the USB 2
models. You will want to keep an eye on the Airport antenna wire
during dis/reassembly too.
Oh, and of course don't ruin all your work with a static jolt!
Get all the dust bunnies out while you're in there. Replace the 1/2
AA clock battery with a new one, unless the one in there tests at
3.6 volts or slightly higher.
Pay attention to the jumper settings on the optical disk drive
(ODD) and hard disk drive (HDD). Set the new ones the same way, but
be prepared to open it up again and reset them. I've set "new" ODDs
and HDDs the same way as Apple did, only to find that some
manufacturers' products don't always behave the same way as
original equipment.
Be aware that there are two different physical sizes of RAM sticks,
with the longer 184-pin PC2700 stick mounted in a logic board slot
and the shorty 200-pin PC 2700 SODIMM in the bottom user-accessible
slot. If you can't find PC2700, PC3200 also will work. In fact,
I've found PC3200 sticks that were installed in G4 Macs by Apple
that were advertised as having PC2700 memory.
Replace the thermal paste or pads with new top-quality thermal
paste before you put it back together. Apple specifies using a T-15
Torx bit on the four case bolts, and that they should be torqued to
17 inch-pounds. I use my automotive tools to do that, but I've also
successfully used a T-15 screwdriver and really cranked down on
those bolts. Whatever you do, make sure those bolts are so tight
that you can't easily loosen them by hand. That should be enough
torque to clamp the heat sink/pipe pieces together properly. Be
careful when torquing, as the six-point openings in those bolt
heads are easy to strip out/misshape.
I usually put 4 half-inch rubber feet on the bottom of an iMac G4
to raise it above the desktop and get better cooling/air flow. It
doesn't take much to block those cooling holes in the base, and
this at least gets keyboard and mouse cables out of the equation.
Avoid putting too much stress on the neck and LCD. Apple techs use
a fancy styrofoam holder, but I found that a firm pillow works just
as well. I put the pillow on a table, then lay the back of the LCD
and neck on the pillow. That puts the base of the iMac in the
appropriate vertical position for disassembly while also preventing
rolling movement.
Have fun!
-- Jim
J. R. Rosen
jrose...@sbcglobal.net
281-467-5366
281-586-9876 fax
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek His Will in all you do,
and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
--
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 imaclist@googlegroups.com
To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
