[G4] Flicker on an older i-mac

[Doug McNutt]

At 09:46 -0500 4/26/04, rich northouse wrote:
>I have an older i-mac G3.  The screen flickers and sometimes has a green cast to the color.  I have been told that it might be a "flyback transformer" or perhaps a loose solder joint.

Apple brand monitors, and that includes the all-in-one boxes are almost impossible to get maintenance information for. Some very popular models have been reverse engineered but one has to pay for the (probably illegal) results.

One can't purchase parts from Apple and without the manual you can't choose suitable substitutes. Forget about replacing a flyback transformer.

But. . .  A very common problem in Apple monitors is bad solder joints, especially in places where there are both large and small joints. The picture tube connector or the base pins of the flyback, for instance. It's as though the wave or reflow soldering operation can't get enough temperature for the big joints without overheating the little ones.

Missing or intermittent colors can also be cable connections and yes there are cables inside an i-Mac.

With luck you can find take-apart instructions. I have seen pdf's for machines up to the 9600 series and haven't looked for anything more recent. It's the schematics and alignment voltages that can't be had. They're as secret as source code. Even the dealers don't have them.

-- 
-->  The best programming tool is a soldering iron <--