Broken power button.

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Level 1

0 points

Broken power button.

I just got my iMac yesterday, and after testing everything worked, I swapped HDDs, for a newer, faster 80GB.

After getting it all put back together, I plug it all in, and press the power button. Nothing, and the button seems jammed. No big deal I thought, I'll just take it apart real quick and fix it. Lifting the iMac up, I hear a bit of rattling inside. I'm thinking "Oh, it must be that loose screw I lost. I'll probably need that". I open up my iMac, and see thousands of tiny pieces of plastic everywhere. Turns out, the plastic plunger that goes with the spring (inside the iMac case) to press the power switch, was completely destroyed.

So what now? Should I take to the Apple Store to repair? Though I doubt they'd do anything due to the age of the machine. However, don't iMac G4s and eMacs use the same power button as the old CRT iMacs?

Blue & White G3, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 10, 2007 9:32 PM

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Answer 1

spudnuty

Level 5

7,128 points

Oct 10, 2007 9:52 PM in response to Cloud121

Hi and welcome to the discussions group,
Is this an iMac tray or slot we're talking about?
Apple suggests when you work on the iMac face down it should be on a soft cloth. I use a big terry cloth towel at least double.
Even so that power button is very delicate and easily broken.
The actual power button is the little black button on the top center. Where the gray plunger part used to be. You should be able to activate it with the blunt end of a toothpick.
Hopefully the little circuit board it's on is unbroken. That's a whole other problem.
Dunno where to find that part but there are a lot of iMac junkers out there.
Richard

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Answer 2

Cloud121 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 10, 2007 10:04 PM in response to spudnuty

It's a slot loader. Summer 2001, 700 MHz.

The gray plunger is broken, and I've tried taking the outer button out, so then I can just power on and off with a pin or toothpick or something, but I'm having a very hard time with it.

All I need is a plunger. That's all. Any ideas where I can get one? Besides another iMac.

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Answer 3

Oct 10, 2007 11:39 PM in response to Cloud121

How about pressing the power button in the keyboard? If you are using a newer Apple keyboard or PC keyboard without a power button, you should be able to pick up an older Apple keyboard that has a power button. The original iMac keyboard had it. The original Apple "Pro" USB keyboard also had it. Some third party keyboards, like my old Macally iKey, have a power button.

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