Need to ID G4 part:socket came off logic board (blue & white power cable

Bjticohan,

I recommend you listen to Richard/Spudnutty, and follow his advice. Look at his picture links in his post 12/2/2008 - these clearly show where the power socket needs to be attached to the board with glue (or some other adhesive) and where some very fine soldering work needs to be done.

In my case, I took Spudnutty's pictures and the socket to a local computer /electronics guy (not a superstore, but a one-man kind of operation) I found in the phone book and used his expertise with the soldering iron. The socket was inserted into the holes on the board and attached with a very small amount of superglue applied to the holes from the underside of the board. This solved the 'attached' issue.

Next, very fine soldering work was done to reestablish contact with the thin wires from the socket to the contacts on the board, being careful to keep the two wires and solder separate. 1,000JPY (about 11.00USD) later I was back in business, finished and replying to your message on the repaired machine.

Unless you have expertise with a solder iron and some very fine solder, I would recommend the $10 investment in expert help is worth it.

Bards,

1,000JPY (about 11.00USD)

Wow that is really a great price. I've charged more like $100 to do that repair and clients have been happy to pay it.
That's a great guy you found.
Richard

Hey guys,


Thanks for the advice! I actually decided to take a stab at it on Saturday... I got the smallest tip 15 Watt soldering iron from Radio Shack (it said, for use on circuit boards) The smallest rosin core solder that they had was 0.032 (which looked pretty big compared to the wires on the adapter). I also purchased a magnifying glass from Radio Shack that sits on a little stand.

My computer is the same as Gates, so the wires are extremely tiny. I did luck out a little though because the two wires on the right side (back and front) were still connected. The front left wire had just come loose from the solder, and the back left wire had broken in two pieces. The socket would rock side to side. I held the socket firm to the board with a small screwdriver, then soldered first the back wire then the front wire.

The solder was thicker than the wires, and if you've soldered before, it usually ends up in a bead that is larger than you want. So to do the soldering, I applied a small ammount of solder to the tip of the soldering iron, then removed almost all of it (by sliding it against a cold screwdriver) and practiced by sliding what was left against the screwdriver to see how much solder could be left on it. After practicing a couple of times, I slid the iron against the socket where the broken wire was (while holding it in place with a small screwdriver). After this, it did not rock side to side. I then only barely touched the left front wire with the tip of the soldring iron briefly.

I then pluged it back in and felt the connection break when I pushed down on the plug. So I re-did the left rear wire, waited until I was sure it was cold, and CAREFULLY pluged in the wire.

I put the computer back together, held my breath, turned it on... and it worked!!

I used the ifixit instructions to replace the hard drive, but I did learn that if before disconnecting the blue and white wire, you can tip the upper case cover up against the screen and remove the metal top shield before disconnecting the blue and white power cable. This way it more accessable, and you can carefully pry the two whitish pieces appart.

BJ

bj,
Good job.

I got the smallest tip 15 Watt soldering iron from Radio Shack (it said, for use on circuit boards)

Well I run mine down a bit on a dimmer just to make sure I don't damage the board.

The smallest rosin core solder that they had was 0.032 (which looked pretty big compared to the wires on the adapter).

Hmm I have RS solder here that's .015 and .022 maybe they don't have that anymore.

I also purchased a magnifying glass from Radio Shack that sits on a little stand.

Yes I have one here on a long arm ( used to be a Luxo lamp ).

I used the ifixit instructions to replace the hard drive, but I did learn that if before disconnecting the blue and white wire, you can tip the upper case cover up against the screen and remove the metal top shield before disconnecting the blue and white power cable. This way it more accessable, and you can carefully pry the two whitish pieces appart.

Right, what I recommend is that you not even attempt to disconnect those blue and white wires. It's not necessary and once you have the top case and the top shield swung up out of the way I tape them to the display with 3M blue painters tape. Then *I completely ignore disconnecting the power lead.*
It's not necessary to do that to replace the hard drive and with the danger involved there's no gain.
Richard

Right, what I recommend is that you not even attempt to disconnect those blue and white wires. It's not necessary and once you have the top case and the top shield swung up out of the way I tape them to the display with 3M blue painters tape. Then *I completely ignore disconnecting the power lead.*
It's not necessary to do that to replace the hard drive and with the danger involved there's no gain.

This is probably the most important piece of information to have when replacing the hard drive on this ibook. I must have missed it when I figured out how to replace mine. I will definitely remember it if I ever have to open up my ibook again.

Thanks Richard

bj

Hey bj,
Thanks for the thanks.
My motivation was I did this exact thing on a 900 G3. It was one of the first ones I took apart. I sent it to Superior and they epoxed and resoldered it twice which failed each time I tried to plug the power plug in. So I finally came up with this fix. (it was a client's iBook)
Next iBook that came in I thought:
"Why does this dang thing have to be unplugged anyway if I'm just swapping out the hard drive? Not gon' do it!"
If I have to unplug it (like removing the logic board) I have a set of special tools to hold the socket down while removing the plug.
Richard

I must say that you (Richard) really provide some great info to this forum. I've lurked here many times before. Similar to above, I stumbled here after realizing that the connector is easily pulled off. Right after this happened, I thought to myself... "I don't think I even had to disconnect this!"

Basically, I'm not ready to tackle/learn micro-soldering techniques. With a wife and baby, along with starter rebuild impatiently waiting, I think my best bet is to get a pro to solder the connection back. The two prongs are still attached to the connector. I put a phone call into Apple, but wasn't able to get a good estimate. Any recommendations as to where to take it and what a fair price is. I'm guessing Apple would be the most pricey. The over the phone estimate was +$400!

Hey phono and Welcome to Apple discussions,

Basically, I'm not ready to tackle/learn micro-soldering techniques.

I think you should look for someone to do the work like Bards found. (see above)

The two prongs are still attached to the connector.

Right the difficulty is when you try to resolder that connector directly to the board. That's why I use tiny wires to make the connection.

I believe that socket is initially attached to the board by a robot in an oven or using microwave soldering techniques.

Richard

Well I have a microwave, but how much for one of these soldering robots!? : )

I'm searching locally for repair. Anyway to boot this thing in the meantime? I'm guessing not since the broken connection is at the logic board, but thought I'd ask.

Thank goodness for my iPhone but I wish I had a bigger screen and a keyboard!

Hey phono,

Anyway to boot this thing in the meantime? I'm guessing not since the broken connection is at the logic board,

Well actually there is and it depends on how the socket came off the board. If you can still see two good clean traces where the socket came off the board. The computer will boot if you apply power and short those two points together. Careful of course not to short to any other point.
I use a short piece of stripped solid #24 ethernet wire to do this.
Richard

For the iBook G3, there are pads on the underside of the board that you can run fine wires to - in case you have removed the pads from the front. I imagine you could probably find the same for the G4 iBook.

Mad Dog

Hey Tom,

there are pads on the underside of the board that you can run fine wires to - in case you have removed the pads from the front. I imagine you could probably find the same for the G4 iBook.

I find it's a case by case analysis. If you read my early posts on this I tracked the broken traces out using continuity on my digital multimeter. I tracked the traces to SMT devices (capacitor or resistor) and tacked the wires to those. They are huge compared to trying to solder to a tiny trace.
Often you can see where the power traces go if you examine them under 10X magnification.
The G4s have all been repaired from the same side of the board. I did one 900 G3 that needed to come from the reverse side as you note.
I use a tiny iron shaped like a blade to do this. I also avoid messing with the traces or pads since they are easily damaged by too much heat. Low temp I suspect.
Richard

I dont think I could solder a wire to a trace - just not enough there. I just poked around with the multimeter on the G3 board to find a connection. I got lucky after only a few minutes and now its easy to fix. Apple also conveniently put 2 through holes on the board close to the new spots, so getting them top-side is not a problem.

What spots did you run the wires to for the G4 ?

Mad Dog

Hey Tom,
Here's a post from "Power, etc":
"Hey iBookfragger and Welcome to Apple Discussions,
Here's a pic of a 12" 1.33 board I have here in my repair pile:
http://tinyurl.com/7s4epq
verify with a continuity meter that these points are connected on yours.
I then solder two tiny stranded wires to the SMT devices at the points indicated and lead those wires to the ripped socket contacts.
It's a lot easier and requires a much less steady hand than Duane possesses.
In addition some of these sockets leads didn't stick out as much as these for the 1.33 and are pretty much completely hidden under the socket itself.

These sockets were fragile. These were held physically to the board with the two solder attachment pads near the back. Others were epoxied to the logic board and the tabs were soldered to the traces.

I recommend not removing that plug when swapping out the hard drive. It's been ripped off the board too many times around here. Me included!"

Most of the G4s I've worked on are relative easy to trace out the power grounding circuit since the traces are quite evident leaving the socket pads.
I solder to the SMP devices they're like boulders compared to the traces
Rihard

Hey Tom,
Here's a post from "Power, etc":
"Hey iBookfragger and Welcome to Apple Discussions,
Here's a pic of a 12" 1.33 board I have here in my repair pile:
http://tinyurl.com/7s4epq
verify with a continuity meter that these points are connected on yours.
I then solder two tiny stranded wires to the SMT devices at the points indicated and lead those wires to the ripped socket contacts.
It's a lot easier and requires a much less steady hand than Duane possesses.
In addition some of these sockets leads didn't stick out as much as these for the 1.33 and are pretty much completely hidden under the socket itself.

These sockets were fragile. These were held physically to the board with the two solder attachment pads near the back. Others were epoxied to the logic board and the tabs were soldered to the traces.

I recommend not removing that plug when swapping out the hard drive. It's been ripped off the board too many times around here. Me included!"

Most of the G4s I've worked on are relative easy to trace out the power grounding circuit since the traces are quite evident leaving the socket pads.
I solder to the SMP devices they're like boulders compared to the traces.

Richard