4/05/2011

iMac G3

While driving over a month back i noticed this computer by the side of the road. It looked like it was fairly new so i threw it in my trunk. Ya i took a computer out of the trash.
How to repair an iMac G3, monitor
I started reading about it and learned that it was an iMac G3 and they stopped making them in 2003. On ebay, when they work, they are only worth about $300.

I plugged it in and amazingly, nothing happened! I kind of figured that since it was in the trash. So i went about trying to fix it.

The short version of the story is I didn't fix it. These iMac's are impossible to work on. It took probably 2 hours of me removing screws and trying not to break plastic before i could even look inside of the thing.
disassemble iMac G3 computer, case, screen
iMac G3 parts, case, disassemble, repair
My only hope was a fuse i saw on the motherboard that might have blown. I checked it but it was fine. So i said forget it, there's no way i'm going to get this to work so i started taking everything apart. That took another hour or so.

I realized why they probably threw it out. It's one of those things where the broken part might only cost a few dollars but the cost to pay someone to fix it might be a few hundred dollars.
salvage parts, computer, iMac, G3
I ended up throwing most of it out but i did get the 80Gb hard drive, DVD drive, 2 small speakers and 2 ram cards. I'm using the hard drive in the new computer i built.

But if anyone asks for your help in fixing a Mac, just tell them to throw it out, it isn't worth it.
useable parts from and iMac G3 computer

3 comments:

walter164 said...

What are you gonna do with the shell? And where did you start with dismantling it? I have one I want to take apart too.

Notitlerequired said...

I was planning on doing something with the shell because i thought it looked cool but ended up throwing it out. I have too many projects going on now as it is.

And you can see from the first picture that i started with the green plastic on the back. The hardest part was the white/clear plastic along the front of the monitor. By that point i didn't care and just started ripping out the bolts holding everything together.

Anonymous said...

I bought one of those for 50 dollars....

Fabiàn, from Montevideo,Uruguay