[GUIDE] Fix iMac flickering and dark screen problems out of warranty

Greetings,

My earlier attempt at a fix to this problem using a japanese chopstick didn't last. The dark side of the screen returned and the screen would often go completely blank. Hitting the on/off button repeatedly often would bring the screen back but got very annoying. So, with much trepidation, I began the repair as Kaos2K and Gerry Sweeney... and it worked! But, this is not for the faint of heart. I was not an experienced solderer and this was a challenging job but it can be done. Here are some pointers:

1. Definitely watch Gerry Sweeneys youtube video. Its slow to start but its easy to skip ahead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSzmyqQFZ2M

2. I bought a microsoldering kit from RadioShack for about $40. It had everything needed, notably had fine tips and flux core solder. It was only a 20 watt soldering iron and some in this forum expressed concern in this regard but it did the job just fine. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=34760766

3. Practice soldering. I like the videos referred to earlier in this forum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN7UGWYmBY

Use the 30 guage wire wrap as suggested earlier. Practice joining two pieces of wire. The approach I used was to "tin" the wire initially; place a small amount of solder from the iron onto the wire. Let it cool; then hold the two wires together and heat them briefly to mobilize the solder. With practice this gets easier.

4. Buy a strong lamp with built in magnifying lense. I got mine at OfficeMax for $40 but they had some ugly ones for $25. There is no way I could have done this work without magnification and a bright light.

5. If you are not sure how to remove the LCD screen see this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDciJHx4II4

Its not very difficult but there are 4 plugs that need to be removed. There is one that I had a hard time with, a gold one. I eventually bent the silver wire holders off on each side. Keep trying, you can get it.

6. You have to access the plug and clean the plastic out as Gerry describes in his video.

7. Inside the plug hole are 6 metal contacts; you need to solder a wire to each contact. I did this by "tinning" the wire first, holding the wire in place, then briefly touching the wire with the iron to mobilize the solder. A second is

long enough. Too long and you'll start removing all the wires you've previously stuck. I had very little solder on the wires; too much and you will risk shorting out to the next wire. I gave each wire a gently tug to make sure it was firmly in place. Once I got the hang of it it went fairly quickly. Once all the wires are in place I tested each adjacent wire with a volt meter to make sure they weren't shorting out. Don't try to remove solder with copper desoldering braid... you will just pull of all the wires you have attached. Get it right the first time or clean everything of with desoldering braid and try again.

8. With that done, the other end of each wire needs to be solder to the white female end of the socket. Gerry's video shows this step well. There is less than a millimeter to work with but if you've gotten this far this is the easy part. Once done I put electrical tape on both sides of the socket to make sure it doesn't short out. I was very worried about wires pulling off the solders during reassembly so everything was carefully taped down.

That's about it. The whole process took about 5 hours with a few breaks and worked the first time. I figured my odds of succeeding were less than 50% but I figured if it didn't work I was getting a new computer. I've heard there is no guarantee that replacement screens won't have the same problem.

I have signed up for the class-action lawsuit and a lawyer called me about a month after I signed up on their website. I would give a link but it seems these are getting censored. A quick web search should direct you if interested. The lawyer said it is a long shot but these things often settle out. In general, I don't like class action lawsuits as it is only the lawyers who benefit (30% of the total settlement!). But in this case, I am on board. Best of luck to all.

In my experience, the only people to benefit from the class action lawsuits are the lawyers. I would imagine that if you were to enter into it, you would receive about $3.24 in compensation. After the lawyers take their millions. 🙂

Kaos,

Yes, the US judicial system will only cover us americans. But I would be surprised if european countries don't follow. Microsoft ran into all kinds of problems embeding Internet Explorer in Europe but it was never a problem in the US. It just takes notifying the right authorities. But most of all, I am so pleased the fix worked. And grateful there is a productive mechanism for sharing a fix to a difficult problem.

Best,

NEO

James,

The lawyers make out big time. Which is why they are willing to take a long shot on this one. I was involved in a class action on Trex decking... mold was appearing in the decking. The class action promised about $200 to buy cleaning reagents when it is very clear that they won't penetrate deep enough into the decking to kill the mold. It will only come back. We spent about $700 on deep oxy-based cleaning agents and a sealer. We'll never get that back but the lawyers have made out very well. But again, its a fix I would not have found without forums.

Best,

NEO

Thanks for all the great information posted here! I was on the verge of buying a new screen, but decided to give self-repair a shot after looking through the instructions and pictures.

My experiences with this repair:

• I thought I was quite good at soldering, but this was really difficult!
• There are two similar connectors at each side of the screen. Eager as I was, I managed to take apart the wrong side one first, really surprised to find the connector strongly bonded. Fortunately, I took another look at the posted pictures before ripping out the good one.
• Lazy as I was, I simply cut off the black connector, stripped the original black cables a little bit, applied some solder on each of them and soldered the wires directly to the pads on the screen:

Notice that the rightmost pad down below is electrically connected to the more easily reachable pad on the upper right hand side (probably ground or Vcc). I used that to connect the corresponding wire and only had to cope with five more down below:

I know it looks pretty bad but I checked for any shorts before reconnecting the display - it was all evenly lit now, and (hopefully) no one will ever see my hack solder job...

Thanks to all the contributors! Peter

Hi,

I managed to get an Apple display for a very low price a couple of weeks ago and I was actually able to "fix" it for a limited time thanks to this thread, but the problem outlined here reoccurred soon after. However, the reason for mine not working seems to involve a more difficult fix. The contacts of the LED strip/bar have completely burnt off and I haven't been able to solder the wires to anything, since no contacts exist... I've included a photo of this, hoping that someone with more experience will be able to help me.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h207/zerofear007/IMG_20140914_230924.jpg

I've even contacted LG's part source in Canada for a replacement bar since I couldn't find anything from the source (YOUNGLighting, according to the text on the LED bar). The bar that doesn't have any issues, which illuminates the right side, has no visible damage whatsoever. I even looked at it for comparison to see if I can use a jump in the trace for the new wires in the burnt bar, but I have no idea where I should attach them.

The bar reads YOUNGLighting LGT2795-L 00.P2808G001 Rev.A. 20100304 and the LEDs are numbered D37 to D72 (the D72 label tore off with the contacts, apparently).

Thank you.

I sent this info from this thread to my local Apple store and asked them to fix the connector while they have my iMac open to replace the video card. Here is what they said:

We have also seen these discussions, and it looks like it works for these guys. Unfortunately, it's not a service we're able to offer here, but it looks like it would be a great option if you'd like to try it on your own. We tried leaving you a voicemail yesterday, the graphics card is covered under an extended quality program from Apple so there will be no charge to get the gray screen issue taken care of. As you've seen from those discussions, the graphics card won't fix the screen dimming on the one side. In order to keep our service agreement with Apple if we were to address the screen dimming we'd have to replace the whole screen, which would cost $643. We've already got the graphics card on its way from Apple. Let us know if you'd like us to replace the screen.

So I asked what happens to the old screens that get taken out. Here is what they said:

The old screens are sent back to Apple's service depot after we verify that the new screen is working. They have two prices, an "exchange price," which is the one I quoted you before, and a "stock price" where the screen doesn't have to be sent back. That price is usually a few hundred dollars more expensive

I suspect at least part of the reason replacement screens still have the same problem is because 'new' screens are often just refurbished ones with no fix.

I am not happy with Apple.

I just got my 2011 27" iMac back from the apple store tonight after they changed the video card under the "extended quality program" mentioned above (which in fact I consider more of a cover-up for having installed a lower quality/untested or god knows what component from the beginning).

Strangely, at the store, the guy who gave me back the machine did mention "potential future troubles to the screen" that would of course not be covered by the guarantee, including "large stains on the display".

So I asked to check the mac there and then, but it turned on perfectly fine and I happily came home.

Now, about 5 hours later, the right half of my screen has turned quite darker than the left, so much so that it's quite hard even to read the names of the HD, files and folders icons.

So I've searched the support forum for any info and stumbled upon this topic.

Bottom line: has anybody else gone through something like this?

Any chance of getting it reviewed by the store without forking out 700 bucks (well, euros rather, since I'm in Italy) for a new display?

For once, all's well that ends well!

The morning after I brought back the iMac to the same apple store without an appointment and was received immediately nonetheless.

When I showed the half dark screen the genius guy told me he would put it down as a "contaminated lcd", though that was not a proper description (contamination being spots here and there and not a full half screen problem).

Got an email 4 hours later that the problem was solved and was able to pick it up again the next day with no charge.

The explanation I got was there were some 'connection' troubles inside with no further details....

It has been working without a glitch for the past 5 days, and I sincerely hope it will stay that way.

Hello there.

I had the same problem with an Apple Cinema Display 27 inch Led.

Thanks to all for this thread because it was very helpful.

My only oportunity to bring the Cinema Display back to life is to change the entire backlight assembly.

My backlight is named LGT2795-L/R is the same as in Imac 27 inch.

I need a cracked LCD from a 27 Imac or from an Apple Cinema Display.

Dear "fabian1323" or "Rain Man" please tell me that you still have the broken LCD. Thanks a lot.

Hello there Kaos. Thanks for finding a solution. I tried to pressure solution. And it works, but from time to time I have to readjust the little piece that I placed inside for pressure. So I was thinking about fixing it by soldering it. I have one question though.

What kind of wires are you using. Just some basic one thread copped wires? Like these?

http://www.dx.com/p/7003-diy-pcb-copper-core-jumper-cable-wire-single-conductor- coil-black-250m-183366

Thanks.

does anyone know if I can use the LCD from an HP Z1 all in one desktop to replace the one on the iMac, it's this panel here, http://www.ebay.com/itm/301417061741?_trksid=p2059210.m2750.l2649&ssPageName=STR K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT, any input will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

I have yet another quick fix that worked for me. The only thing I had to remove was the glass.

1. Remove glass

2. Form a coat hanger wire into a hook.

3. Insert hook at the bottom left so that the end of the hanger is now pushing from the back against the connector

4. Apply pressure by pushing the hook to the left - towards the edge of the frame. If the screen turns bright, then cut the wire to length so it doesn't protrude out of the front.

5. Fashion a wooden shim to keep the pressure on, reinsert the hook and wedge the shim.

6. Reinstall the glass

Same problem here iMac 27'' 3.4 (Mid 2011) .... shame for Apple.. Me and my friends have a really bad example,, shame I was trying to convince them that the Apple products would not get any problems...

Anyway guys...

Because I want my computer back... anyone, that can sell me a 'fixed of future problems' (soldered) (bad pixel free etc..) screen lcd panel, please contact me asap. I will pay for it (lcd+job+shipping etc)...

Thanks