The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

[Topcat]

This is phase 1 of a little series I'm trying on a few of these with different brands and values of polymers. I won't reveal the others until I try them out, but this mod was successful with the values used. This is the 10-dollar thrift store 20" Imac from THIS THREAD.

When I pre-tested this machine, it would power up, give me the 'chime', but would not display any video. The hard drive was missing from it as well. The machine specs are 2GHz processor, 2gb ram.

Here's the changes I made with the polymers, as to what I put in place of what, and where:



Here's just some pics showing the polies and my fantastic recapping job....I also recapped the PSU, even though it was a newer Delta build, the original caps were ok.....I figured what the hell, I'm in here....

Bird's eye view:



Caps in the corner by the RAM slots:


CPU Cluster:


VRM Inputs:


Graphics:


Going back together:




...and it POST's:


It's looking for the OS, which obviously isn't there......no HDD. I have no more spare SATA HDD's, I'll have to grab one and throw OSX on it to fully test it. So far, looks like a success! These ever-so-popular systems seem well worth the polymodding effort, I see a lot of them for repair. Based on the results of these experiments, I will soon offer a full polymer cap kit for these systems.

[Scenic]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

for testing stuff, i usually take old IDE HDDs and connect them up through SATA converters. they're below 10$..

but otherwise.. great job
i knew you'd do something like this when you said "This one is going to be part of an experiment." in the other thread

[c_hegge]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Nice. I have never worked on macs before (they aren't too popular here since nobody sells them). Reminds me of the GA-7VA I Poly-modded (https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=9466). I have another one awaiting repairs. I might poly-mod it too.

[kennyken]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Very interesting nice work Topcat.

[He's Dead Jim]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

awesome job...

my cousin just gave me a g5 17 inch..

she want me to pull her info off the hard drive and after that, it will likely be mine...

now i have something else to look forward too...

[Topcat]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Figured a good way to test this was to put it in use......what better way than in my office! I robbed the HDD from my 17" imac and put it in the 20", it booted right up. So far, its been stable doing video playback and web browsing, its been running a couple hours so far.

here she be


Messy Desk


The 17" taking a rest for a while.

[deckart]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Topcat,that's amazing,in your opinion,I've had a couple of Imac's that would chime,first two LEDS would light,but like yours,no video,I replaced all caps,but still no video,would faulty caps really influence the signal?,even on a mac with bloated caps the video would come on but with pixellated screen and curser.Great job BTW,I will be ordering the Polys when available!.

[ethaniel]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

That motherboard looks awesome with those polys. Great work, Topcat.

[godonr]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

deckart -- I just saw this post... third LED confirms video computer and LCD are talking. No light, no video signal. If you have AHT (apple hardware test) CD, run it. If it shows 2NVD/1/4:2103 error, video ram is bad. Another way to confirm this is to boot in safe mode. If you get video, it's the ram. If you're lucky like Topcat, the video related caps will get you working again.

[relkin67]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Very nice. I'm sorry now I recapped mine 4 months ago with Rubys (replacing same for same) - would have liked to have done this instead.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Hey TC - if a deal on Craigslist I just made doesn't turn out to be a flake, I will be buying a dead iMac G5 on Wednesday for $50. Expect an order for a G5 poly kit and a full report once I get the caps installed!

[ratdude747]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

no details yet on how i got it, but i will have a poly'd g5 headed my way soon as well.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

Damn, I just realized the fucker posted in the wrong city on craigslist - the imac is a 230 mile round trip away! Almost a full tank of gas ($28) in the Civic.

Is it worth the drive?

[Topcat]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

^
$75.00 for a G5 ($50 for the machine and $25 in fuel), that's still an absolute steal even if its only a 17". If it's a 20", its a mega steal!

[ratdude747]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

what generation/size?

if it is a gen 3, it was a bad call from day one- the kit is not for gen 3

if gen 1, depends on size ind what it has installed.

if gen 2, and all is installed, sure.

your call...

i hate f-tards who do that... like ebay n00bs who post stiff in the wrong section...

edit-tc beat me to the punch... just keep in mind it is a gamble... if more than bad caps are wrong, then you are screwed.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

I'm gonna go for it. These things go on CL around here for $300-$400. The potential to fix it and then flip it for profit outweighs the risk of it needing more than just a simple recap.

[Topcat]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

^
If you're just going to fix and flip, I wouldn't use the poly kit. Just do it in lytics, cheaper that way.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

I was thinking the same. Kinda 50/50 between keeping it and flipping, can't decide. I'll let you guys know the outcome.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

He flaked. We agreed on $50, then he stopped replying to my emails, called twice and no answer.

I'll be keeping my eyes open for another dead G5, and when I do, If I decide to keep vs. flip I'm going to poly mod it with a kit from TC .

[ratdude747]

Re: The Indestructible iMac G5 - Full Poly Mod

mine came in.

it is the badcaps.net poly mod #3. it is a 17"

the solder work was done by topcat and i attest it works great.

how i got it will be secret unless topcat says how.