New iMac condensation inside screen glass

Does anyone have a diagram of the internals of the imac? whats on that "spot" that causes it to only appear on the said area..

This is bothersome.. I just want a computer that works.. without a HUGE disturbing (mind you I'm quite bothered by even a dead pixel) 1x3" condensation that might ruin my investment on a new compy 😐

I'm guessing that it is a corner that does not have adequate ventilation which creates the temperature differential between ambient air temperature and the case temperature.

For example, right now the ambient temperature in the room is 70 degrees but some of the internals are as hot as 130 degrees (according to iStat). That isn't huge, but what if you were in a colder room of say 50 degrees? Who knows if that would cause it or not.

hey ... i had this problem too..and i sent it back to apple but my new one isn't here yet...
i've taken some pictures and uplaoded it on my flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13789713@N02/

looks it like yours?

the original poster can speak for themselves right? and the post asked if anyone else had seen this particular issue. so to tell someone to shut up and just 'take it back' is not a good answer nor the answer the poster asked for. i am looking into buying a 24" imac and so to see that this may be a widespread problem is important to me. so i thank the people that actually answer kindly and truthfully.

here is a disassembled iMac:
http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac2007_mid/imac_2007_mid02.html

the position that appear condensation seems to to be a fan dedicated to the optical drive. in the next page ( http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac2007_mid/imac_2007_mid03.html), you can see there are totally 3 fans, left side is for the cpu heat sink, centre for harddisk, and the right one for the optical drive.

seems the optical drive fan is causing the problem, and the only different than the other 2 fans, is the optical drive release much less heat than cpu and harddisk.

these are the only my findings. no conclusions yet

Looks like if this problem is due to some design flaw, that its nearly impossible to rectify unless a design change ~ so much for buying an iMac this year eh 😟 I might pass 2007 and wait for the next product before I get a mac.. which totally *****.

The bigger fan is obviously the optical drive fan, so it may be the one contributing to the condensation. With the weather here in British Columbia (Canada) If I get this iMac, im sure to see lots of those everyday.. not good 😐

@ Lex Masberg: THATS HUGE. bigger condensation build up vs. the other pictures i've seen.. totally distracting.

lok, thanks for the links.

here's my update.

phoned Apple Support and they immediately arranged for my 24 iMac to be collected and replaced - no questions asked.

Am just testing my replacement. Left 3 days to acclimatise this time. Weather in UK has been cool to cold but i always fired up the Macs when the heating had warmed to room up nicely.

So far, after 2 days use no condensation - hurrah!

however left side of screen seems brighter than right - camera light meter seems to confirm this - more testing ongoing. Anyone else had this?


And really, i figured the condensation was due to temp differences between air and air and metal, etc but why is the space between the glass and the LCD not vacuum sealed to prevent this? Is there a good reason?

Is the glass really only held on by magnets?

This is my explanation:

Any of the three vents blows warm (from the room) or even hot air (when the iMac has already been turned on for some time) under the glass front due to a leak somewhere in the right corner of the screen. As glass has a low specific heat capacity (~ 0.8 kJ/(kg*K)) it will stay at a temperature lower or close to room temperature and as warm air can hold more humidity than cold air (exponential relation), the warm air that flows by the cold air surrounding the direct environment of the glass will cool down and won't be able to hold as much humidity which then leads to condensation.
I suggest to either heat up the room (a lot) to heat up the glass front or cool the room while aerating it.

Hello

Just my two cents.
The front glass is fixed by four magnets.
Perhaps, inserting four thin rectangles of steel between the magnets and the case would add sufficient vent to get rid of the oddity.
Many of us own old 3"1/4 diskettes whose steel slider may be used as a source for the named rectangles.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 23 octobre 2007 17:45:50)

Take care, if you do that, dust will come beetween glass and screen...

Hello

Of course dust may be a problem but I'm quite sure that dust would not destroy the circuitry while water may do that.

An other track would be to look if there is not a piece of protection film left somewhere by error.
This kind of remaining film was described some months ago for xxBooks.
Maybe it strikes again clobbering a vent circuit.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 23 octobre 2007 19:23:21)

I go for removing the glass and placing some kind of black bezel (with magnets) to keep the nice original look. No condensation and no gloss. With such bezel accessory, Apple would be able to satisfy customers that like matte screen, which is a common complain that I read in the forums about the new Alu iMacs.

Oh please-- get a grip. Flaming idiots-- as in roasting them is legitimate and sporty! You really are a wowser.

i get my new 2.8ghz 24 " alu imac today and i have a few questions...
perhaps you see the pictures from my first alu imac with the huge dust..
should I wait some hours or days before i start it the first time...
or isn`t it usefull...

Lex, I think its not a matter of time, but a matter of temperature and humidity. I think that you should just wait for the Mac to be at room temperature. That does not guarantee that that you will not get condensation, given that we could be talking about a design flaw, heat generated by the machine, bad airflow, who knows what... But if the machine is at room temperature, I think that's the best you can do.