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Very interesting problem and solution, with pictures!

N

NYR99

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 30, 2007
718
80
Ok, so here goes.

I have a 24" aluminum iMac. Since I've had the iMac, it has been on a wall mount via the Apple VESA mount adapter. As those of you who have installed this know, that part of the installation process includes sticking a card in the back of the iMac to release and lock the bracket that the mount screws into.

Well today I decided I want to put my iMac back on its original stand. I will be buying a 2nd monitor which will now be put on the articulating wall mount that the iMac has been on.

So I unscrew the wall mount from the iMac, and lay the iMac face down on the desk to take off the Apple VESA mount. After that comes off is where the fun starts...

So after I take off the VESA adapter, just the bracket where the original stand screws into is visible. I remember something with that plastic card, so I take my credit card, (and stupidly) insert it into the back of the iMac, and BAM! To my disbelief, the mount where the stand screws into in now locked, recessed inside the iMac, making it impossible to now attach the stand.

So now I'm flipping out. There is seemingly no feasible way to bring the mount back outside of the iMac. I try sicking a card inside, and prying it out with a screwdriver, to no avail.

After about 20 more minutes of brainstorming and flipping out, and thinking I am going to have to completely disassemble the iMac, I come up with this solution. Involving art style pipe cleaners.

Here are the pics (clickable thumbnails):

-Bracket still recessed:



-After pulling up (with A LOT of force) while holding the card inside the iMac, the bracket is finally out and in its locked position:



-Stand reattached:


I had to snake a pipe cleaner into each one of the 8 screw holes using very pointy needle nose pliers. At first I used only 4 pipe cleaners, but they all broke after a little to the the immense force. I can't believe how much upward force it took to bring the mount mount back out. Does anyone know if there is a spring in there, or something like a piston?

Well, tomorrow I will be going to but a 24" monitor to use as a second monitor with my iMac.

Thanks for enjoying my stupidity :D
 
Thanks. I just finished setting it up...

Tommysmonitors003.jpg
 
Haha, thanks. I like it a lot. I just wish Apple sold low end budget monitors this way they could match. I just went with a cheap Asus 24" monitor (although, it does look smaller than my iMac, but I think the Asus is wider).
 
I also have a fix

I fell into the same trap today. I tried several options and even was going to spend $30 to bring it to the local apple associated store to pull it back out. They said they had a "special apple tool."
Well, I took some picture handing wire, ran it through one hole and tied it off. I then took the other end and wrapped it around a thick screwdriver. I also put on a mitten to ease the pain. All I did was pull up as I slid the card into the slot. Presto! It worked and I am sitting here typing on my iMac, back on the factory stand.

Great job with the pipe cleaners!
 
Ditto, fell into the same trap while installing the VESA adapter to arm mount it, i did not realize that it needed to "lock" in place. I managed the first VESA adapter installation w/o incident (which is amazing, because it was not locked now that i look back); but, the 2nd one.... so as i removed the stand it went "SNAP" back into the monitor... at which point I realized what predicament i was in. I left it a bit so i could look it up and think about it (and i had a couple of meetings to go to). I knew it had a good strong spring in there.

Thanks to the posting here, i realized what i was up against - improvised by taking apart some heavy duty clips and bent the wires on them to fit into the screw holes and used four of them to leverage the thing back out (but not before pulling a muscle in my right arm pulling it out).

For some reason, it wasn't clear enough to me in the instructions that the stand should LOCK when pulling it back enough to see the screws... - and i did pull it back quite a bit ... and it was a pain to unscrew them when it's not locked, let me tell you. The tool did not fit very well into those screws.

Well, i know now exactly how to do it.. so once again, i'm now an expert at one more thing...

John Q.

p.s. Mine was the 27" Cinema Display.
 
Last edited:
Haha, wasn't it crazy how much force was needed to pull it back out? And I am glad my post helped you out.
 
Did the iMac run properly wall mounted? Cooling was fine?

This makes me want to wall mount the new 27" when it is finally released.
 
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