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Imac monitor died

F

Friskies

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 2, 2008
2
0
Hi guys, please HELP

I have a 2003 I-MAC. The background light in the monitor died. The specific details of the monitor are:

I need to know if there exists a technical service that can and will repair the problem and if not, would I be able to order the necessary pieces and repair it myself?

iMac PowerPC, G4, 1GHz
Year 2003
 
Is it the 17-inch screen? The backlight is part of the LCD panel and cannot be replaced separately. You're looking at a total replacement panel. Refurbished panels are available if you look around like this one.

I don't know how easy a job it would be to replace it on your own. There are also places that will do the whole job for you. It's not going to be cheap though and the price of the part may be more than the current value of the machine itself.
 
Any other idea??

Hi again,

I really appreciated your helpful answer. It's a 17 inch screen. Are you sure that the monitor would need a full replacement? Would it not be posible to just replace the light bulbs. I will try to upload the fotos to show you which parts I'm referring to. Trying to save $.

Once again you've been very helpful. Thank you.

Sincerely,
 
Upon researching this further it appears I may not have been entirely correct in my advice that a total LCD replacement is necessary for your machine. That's the case for the current iMac displays.

That said, I found this 2 year old thread here on MR that you may find helpful since it is someone in your exact situation. Even at that time it seems like the $350 total LCD replacement would be a bargain compared to just replacing the backlight bulbs. Someone in the last post does suggest perhaps trying to find a cracked or otherwise damaged G4 panel with good backlights and then swap them if that's a possibility for you.

The site I linked you to for the refurbished 17" G4 panel does not appear to stock backlight parts. However, I did find that they also sell brand new replacement panels for $649.95 -OR- in your case for $399.95 if you just send in your broken one for replacement.

You'd want to check with them to be absolutely certain but this appears to be the exact panel you'd be replacing.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.
 
I found more info here that you may find relevant. One thing you should verify is if it is in fact a burned out fluorescent bulb or a bad HV inverter so that the bulbs are not getting the proper voltage. If it is the latter you'd be wasting your money on a panel replacement and apparently its a much cheaper repair.
 
Actually, I'm currently having a (very) similar problem.

My iMac is much older, a Snow colored G3 that had been purchased back in 2000. I tried turning it on, and the computer itself turns on fine (I know this because the power light turns on, and it's possible to hear the change in volume when pressing the keys on the keyboard), yet the monitor does not respond.

I saw that the monitor was getting dimmer and dimmer by the day, and I plan on getting a new computer, but I did not get the chance to make recent backups of my files.

Is there a way to retrieve these files, or does the computer have to be sent out to get the monitor replaced (I'm assuming the lightbulb inside the monitor died)?
 
dukebound85 said:
it might be cheaper if you hook up an external display and just forget about using the imac display

just another option on the table
Click to expand...

I considered doing that, and there are a few monitors lying around this house.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an area of the iMac that allows for an external display to be hooked up. There's just the section for the power cord, and the area with all the USB, Firewire and Ethernet ports.

Note this is a G3 iMac, with a CRT screen.
 
Friskies said:
Hi guys, please HELP

I have a 2003 I-MAC. The background light in the monitor died. The specific details of the monitor are:

I need to know if there exists a technical service that can and will repair the problem and if not, would I be able to order the necessary pieces and repair it myself?

iMac PowerPC, G4, 1GHz
Year 2003
Click to expand...

It is possible to change the bulbs yourself,but you need to be technical,and they are not that expensive.
But, it seems to me your inverter is broken,original ones can be expensive but they are also available in your (good)local electronics shop.
I fixed my brothers lcd this way,but after that he could not change its brightness,no big deal for him.
A new monitor is a few 100 dollars,2 new inverters cost him 25 bucks.
 
Vidgmchtr said:
Actually, I'm currently having a (very) similar problem.

My iMac is much older, a Snow colored G3 that had been purchased back in 2000. I tried turning it on, and the computer itself turns on fine (I know this because the power light turns on, and it's possible to hear the change in volume when pressing the keys on the keyboard), yet the monitor does not respond.

I saw that the monitor was getting dimmer and dimmer by the day, and I plan on getting a new computer, but I did not get the chance to make recent backups of my files.

Is there a way to retrieve these files, or does the computer have to be sent out to get the monitor replaced (I'm assuming the lightbulb inside the monitor died)?
Click to expand...

Once you get a new Mac, you can connect the two via firewire, and boot the G3 iMac into target disk mode, from there you can copy all of your files.
Here are directions on how to use Target Disk:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

All current macs, can be used in target disk mode, and pretty much any mac made after mid 1999.

Hope this helps!

Don
 
Vidgmchtr said:
Dmac: This is good news, thanks! =D

I shall try this when I get my MacBook.

justperry: Should Dmac's suggestion fail, I shall try this too. :)
Click to expand...

Another suggestion, should my first suggestion fail, would be to open up your iMac, and pull the HDD out, and put it in a external enclosure like this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159075) which will only run you around $25. All you have to do is take your HDD out of your iMac, and then pop it in there, and connect it to you new MB, and then you can use it as an external HDD, or even put a larger HDD in the enclosure.

Don
 
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