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

cYrEad...

"When I removed the little problem plug, the white socket or female piece came right out with it - that white surface mount plug wasnt even really attached!"

You know what, in many cases it might be best to NOT PULL OUT the white female socket.

I have very fortunately completely solved the problem in my case by just GIVING THE PLUG A PUSH -- it was just that simple.

I had the mac RUNNING so I could see the results of tapping the plug. the solutin was nothing more than giving it a tap in the correct direction.

I can NOT BELIEVE that there was the idea of a €970 panel replacement ... for a loose plug. That is just evil. It would be literally exactly like throwing away a €1000 TV set, because the power plug on the wall was loose.

Again, in my case - by simply tapping on the loose plug - I fixed it. I added a tiny piece of cork on the back, with a piece of tape, and that provides a little more pressure to push it in.

TBC, I was able to easily fix it by having the display out WHILE THE MAC IS RUNNING.

You can get it so the bottom of the display is lifted up an inch, while the mac is running. That is to say, I DID NOT disconnect the various cables that connect the display. With the Mac ACTUALLY RUNNING, it is extremely easy to see that the cable is just loose, and a trivial push makes it work or not.

(I guess the "full solution" is to completely take the display out - ie, disconnect the various cables and take it completely out -- and then perform a welding fix. in my case I did not need to do this. the whole problem was literally nothing more than going "tap" with my finger.)

I did this last nite and I will post a video ASAP

Here is my exact procedure for fixing it:

1. stand mac up normally

2. put fingernails behind top of screen cover, pull sreen cover off

3. lay mac down on rear

4. remove the eight (8) useless screws

5. stand the mac up again

6. the display comes out at the TOP.........

7. very simply lean the mac forward, and the top will ease out

8. DO NOT PULL IT OUT MORE THAN TWO INCHES AT THE TOP,

as there are a number of short cables inside connecting the display

9. keeping the top out, lay the mac down on its back

10. now ease the bottom of the display out (again only two inches all round)

11. now put the TOP in, and using say an iPhone, wedge the BOTTOM open a few inches

12. plug in the power and let the mac start

13. LOOK AT KAOS' IMAGES TO SEE EXACTLY WHERE THE PROBEM IS.

it is at the extreme bottom left of the display towards you. ie get down onthe floor and look up at the underside of the display and you will see it.

Carefully rip off and throw away the stupid silver tape covering the problem plug

it's now incedibly easy to fix. with your finger, gently tap or push on the faulty loose plug.

in my case a tap fixed it - I added a tiny wedge (say a pirce of rubber) to put more pressure on it

I just didn't bother replacing the pointless eight screws in point (4) above. Slip the display back in, stand it up, put on the glass cover and get back to work. It's that simple! THANKS TO KAOS.

Summary:

1. remove glass screen

2. lay mac down

3. ease display out, but leave it connected and running

4. have the top of the diaplsy IN the mac, and the bottom OUT, wedged up two inches by any object

5. absolutely identify the problem area using KAOS' INFO

5. carefully remove and throw away the stupid silver tape

7. the whole problem is just a loose plug - tap it and you're done

8. ease the display back in, put the glass cover back on (if you bother using the glass cover) and work away.

that's the simple solution. the "badass" solution is to fully remove the diusplay (ie disconnect all the cables that hold the display to the mac), and have a workshop fix the tiny broken plug)

I'll post a video in a minute

IT IS JUST A LOOSE PLUG .... it's that simple.

Kaos2k,

short version, fixed without soldering - just bending those teeth on that white connector.

1st off, thank you very much to share this DIY fix. my 18 months old imac had this issue 3 weeks ago. i went to 2 different local apple store ( pleasanton, CA and santa clara, CA) just to show them a photo of the problem, they told me the check is free but they think it will cost me at least $600 to fix this. and then i found this post, after reading and reading i finally got the ballz to open it. i tried John-Paul May technique by pressing it gently with finger but it was still flickering. i pulled the white connector out (had to do some cutting on those white plastic to move it out). its really a small area for me to work with if i need to cut those black wire open and solder it down. so i tried to bend those little teeth from the white connector to point down, hoping it will get a better touch, i plugged it back in with some foam double-sided tape, put everything back together, AND IT WORKED !!!.

Thank you again to Kaos2k and John-Paul May.

Having just fixed the same problem I thought I'd add my observations.

On taking the screen out of the mac I couldn't work out why the little white plug/socket assembly was quite so loose. There didn't seem to be much chance of a decent connection at all but moving the wire around certainly affected the left side screen brightness to I delved further.

The white plastic plug assembly actually has three parts. The female part is embedded in the mac and not removable but has two little plastic extensions holding the wire and 2 male parts of the plug/socket assembly in place. I prised the white plastic lugs to the side and the wire with plug attached came out easily. This is the interesting part...you will notice the end of the plug is actually of the IDC (insulation displacement connector) type as commonly used in telecoms etc. The black wires with the first (black) part of the male plug fit inside the second (white) nylon IDC sleeve which has the gold plated connectors. This assembly as a whole forms the male plug part of the connector. In my case the IDC connection had not been made properly. I simply "squeezed" the black part of the plug into the white nylon sleeve with a pair of pliers and then put the whole plug back into its white socket. I am now typing on a uniformly lit mc screen again. The plug in socket assembly is still just as loose but the problem is fixed. It seems as though it was never the socket assembly causing the problem but a failing IDC contact because the original plug was never crimped properly. I'd suggest trying this first before cutting the cable an attempting soldering.

Another interesting point was that even with the whole plug/socket assembly disconnected the screen was still half lit. Has anyone else noticed this?

Just fixed mine.

***BEFORE YOU TRY SOLDERING, TRY THIS FIRST***

Materials: aluminum tape.

Follow all the other guides to remove the LCD.

Once you're at the point where you can see the connector, lift the two white flaps UP.

It will bend the plastic but now you are able to wiggle/pull out the black connector.

After you have loosened the white flaps, leave the connector EXPOSED from the tape and reassemble the LCD and cables into the housing.

While having all cables still plugged into the housing, power up your monitor so you can see the darkness.

Lift the top of the monitor out slowly, no more than 4 inches (there is a wire behind the top)

What you will do is pull out the top slowly, and then slide the bottom out.

Tuck back the top portion back in and use something to prop the bottom off leaving space for you to tuck your hand in behind the connector. One of the previous posts has a picture of the bottom propped up so you can have a visual.

Now that you've exposed and loosened the connector after lifting the two flaps, you should be able to fiddle with the connector and see where your "sweet spot" is to achieve full brightness on the left dim.

Once you've found that sweet spot, use a long piece of aluminum tape to tape down that orientation. (the sweet spot will be the point where all connections are good)

Reinforce the orientation of the cable and connector with an additional one or two layers of aluminum tape.

Now press on all areas of the tape so that it conforms to the shape of the cables/connector.

Press on all areas of the cable and connector portion to make sure you no longer see any changes in brightness or flickering.

I like to put additional square layers on the connector portion itself to make sure it is resistant to shaking/handling in the future.

If all is well, you should have a pretty stable fix without the need or risk of soldering.

*** TIP ***

* when looking for the sweet spot, I realized my screen would not light up because the connector was in too deep. I had to pull the black connector slightly up and away from the board to achieve full brightness. I then tugged on the cable tightly to apply pressure/tension to maintain that orientation and connection. I applied tape thereafter.

BEST OF LUCK AND I HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE!

I tried a simpler quick fix to this problem. In exposing the white plug, I was able to get the lights to come on by adding pressure but the suggestion of attaching a piece of cork to put pressure on the plug did not work for me. I then realized the pressing the plug in was not so much the problem as pressing it down. I think what has happened is the cord on the plug was pulled too tight in construction. With time and heat the wires eventually gave way. After all, there are at least 4 of these plugs... why is it only the one on the bottom left that is giving out? I wedged a small screwdriver above the plug and pushing down got the lights to come on. I then thought if I could permanently wedge something in place it might just worked. I had a japanese chop stick handy which comes to a point about 2 mm in diameter. I wedged this in and the lights came on. I then cut the tip off with sharp wire cutters and left it in place... it worked! I put some masking tape over this, sealed it up and I am back running. Hopefully, the pics show the process and results.

I agree with others that Apple should stand up and accept responsibility. I recall a company, I think it was the first manufacturer of polartec, whose factory burnt down. They decided to keep all employess on full payroll while the factor was rebuilt; I believe this took over a year. That's a company with integrity. Like others, I made the switch to Mac in the last year and have been very happy. But without integrity we are likely to switch back. I can see why Apple doesn't want to do this, they can't jury rig a fix like I and others have; they have to replace the screen which is likely the most expensive component. But there is much more than the short term cost of repair at stake here. They should not underestimate the value of long term loyalty.

Thanks to all of you for helping with this repair... without a forum like this I would have been nowhere.

Here's the exact problem:

1. remove glass screen

2. lay mac down

3. ease display out, but LEAVE IT CONNECTED and running

4. have the top of the diaplsy IN the mac, and the bottom OUT....

4B. ...use any plastic object to hold open the bottom - see photo

5. absolutely identify the problem area USING KAOS' INFO

5. carefully remove and throw away the stupid silver tape

7. the whole problem is JUST A LOOSE PLUG - tap it and you're done

8. ease the display back in, put the glass cover back on (if you bother using the glass cover) and work away.

for DETAILS read two messages above.

{it is commonplace to slip the screen out of an iMac, to swap the hard drive. if you have not done this before: remember that you can only take it out A FEW INCHES - there are a number of cables connecting the mac and the display unit. Apple made these cables quite short, so, you can only ease the display out A FEW INCHES. you can find many, many detailed explanations on the internet, how to slip the screen out.}

that's the simple solution. the "badass" solution is to fully remove the display (i.e. disconnect all the cables that hold the display to the mac), and have a workshop fix the tiny broken plug properly using solder -- as KAOS was able to do, because he's awesome !

HERE IS A DRAMATIC VIDEO THAT SHOWS THE PROBLEM!

http://youtu.be/4QJ4rqvn2G8

CLICK TO PLAY DRAMATIC VIDEO !!

in the video you will see my finger simply tapping the plug, and the problem completely clears, completely returns, completely clears, etc., depending on whether or not I am pressing lightly on the plug.

I don't know about lawsuits etc. but it is utterly amazing that Apple will not fix this.

It is completely incorrect to think the "display must be replaced". It would be like saying, you must replace a whole washing machine, because the 25-cent power plug on the wall happens to be broken.

I will say this, it is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE that Apple DO NOT KNOW the problem is simply a 25 cent socket. Any technician, upon opening the case, would instantly look at it and say "oh look, the power socket on the bottom left is loose"

Note that in some cases you may even be able to fix it WITHOUT removing the stupid metallic tape that hides the plug. ie, simply pushing a little on the tape in the right spot, might make it connect. the only "real" solution is to re-engineer the socket, as KAOS did. (The problem appears to be the tiny socket, rather than the tiny plug.)

Thank you again KAOS for saving the day here.

normally an iMac display tilts OUT two inches, with the TOP out two inches and the BOTTOM in.

ease the WHOLE THING out, and put the TOP in with the BOTTOM out. use some object to hold the bottom open. so it looks like this:

again to be clear, the many short cables which connect the display to the iMac are still in place. plug in the iMac power plug and the machine will run completely normally.

be very carteful when doing this, because you could scratch your work table with the sharp edges of the iMac stand.

here is the exact problem. look for the flat black cable on your left. There is a piece of silly silver tape over the flat black cable in question. Remove the tape carefully (ie, being careful not to further pull-out or damage the plug)

notice the flat black cable on your left in this photo (running up and down in this photo).

to repeat, that piece of flat black cable is covered by some silver tape - remove the tape slowly and throw away the tape

And here is the entire source of the problem with LG display units in iMacs ...

the tiny socket/plug where that flat black cable enters. (I have small fingers and you can see how small the socket/plug is.) this phioto is taken "from the floor upwards" ie, I shoved the iPad inside the open iMac so that the iPad front camera was pointing upwards.

if you watch the "dramatic video" in the previous post above, I very simply tap that connection on/off with my finger, and you will see the display become completely normal / dark / normal / dark, as I move my finger on and off.

it's just that simple. it is a real tragedy that this has cost many people $1000+ for a new display unit.

the "full solution" is to re-engineer the badly-made, badly-installed socket using soldering -- SEE HOW KAOS DID IT IN THE ANSWER ABOVE.

in my case, by adding some pressure it fixed the prblem.

so I simply got a small piece of wine bottle cork....

about half the size of the smallest piece you see there. i taped it over the problematic plug with a piece of sellotape. there happens to be a large flat piece of plastic, in the iMac, behind the problem area, so, the cork simply pushes against the plug

(I do not know if fine Spanish Cork, that is to say Quercus suber cambium, is the ideal material to use here, but it seems really perfect - firm yet gentle. If it bursts in to flame, I'll have to replace the piece of wine cork it with a piece of pencil eraser, or whatever.)

if I can find a workshop that will do the soldering job, I'll just take the Mac in and happily pay a technician to fix-up the micro-plug in question properly.

once again, to replace the whole LG display unit here, would be just like replacing a whole $1000 refrigerator, because, the 25 cent power plug on the wall is broken.

result -- €1,000- saved. thank to KAOS.

Ok so I know of ONE MORE PANEL AVAILABLE right now in Europe, very cheap. (March 2013.)

You can find it on eBay, LM270WQ1 and it is being sold by zeytech.de who are in northern Germany.

They had two and I bought one!

The one I bought is an A2 variant (see here for discussion of controllerBoard plug variants http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1151134 )

Here's the box ... the surgery .. and amazingly the finished working result.

<a href='http://postimage.org/image/rc777j4sf/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s3.postimage.org/rc777j4sf/image.jpg' border='0' alt="a" /></a>

<a href='http://postimage.org/image/u7kaee8sf/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s3.postimage.org/u7kaee8sf/image.jpg' border='0' alt="b" /></a><br /><br />

<a href='http://postimage.org/image/ldtdxaltr/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s3.postimage.org/ldtdxaltr/image.jpg' border='0' alt="c" /></a> <br /><br />

Essentially, I did not have the time (or skill !) to do KAOS' solution

So unfortunately I had to spend the money on buying a panel from eBay. (New panels from Apple ae way too expensive to make it worthwhile on a two year old computer.)

One note with swapping panels. Your new panel will not have the metal brackets around the outside. (These are just 50 cent bent metal brackets that are glued on the edges of the panel.) I actually just found it too annoying to pull the brackets off the unused panel, so, I just didn't bother. (To be clear it would take you maybe one minute to do this, I just couldn't be bothered.) So, I simply haven't bothered screwing in the new working panel. There is actually almost no need to screw in the panel on an iMac - they sit there fine behind the magnetized glass front, unless you need to tip your iMac upside down! I prefer to be ble to get in to the iMac at any time to swap the drive or whatever, so I personally have never bothered even putting the screws in. For this reason I just didn't bother even pulling the brackets off the other one (also, I don't like glue!)

And again, in my case since the LM270WQ1 panel I got from eBay was an A2, but my Aug2010 Mac happened to have a C2 ... I had to swap the controller board, which is annoying, but detailed at the macrumors link above. Again, the controllerBoards are utterly identical, but LG annoyingly changed a small plug used on them. For this reason, you have to swap the controllerBoard!! (I guess, if you could find the "other type" of cable, or a plug adaptor - you could do that. KAOS, you could probably swap the plugs I bet.)

All thanks to KAOS for properly figuring out this problem, saved me $1000. Thank you so much, really.

This same thing happened to my 2011, barely 18 month old iMac. Left hand side of screen predominately darker than the right hand side. After quotes of £450 upwards for a brand new screen from repairers and no apparent 'quick fix', I opened her up myself as I wasn't prepared to shell out anymore money.

I followed all of the threads above. The afforementioned white connector/socket that is meant to supply power to the screen is the single worst piece of equipment I've ever seen installed in any electrical product. Absolute rubbish and it is a disgrace that people have been charged silly amounts of money for new screens etc, when this component has been used within a supposedly top of the range computer.

I had absolutely no chance of soldering the wires directly (hats off to KAOS for managing that) so what I did was pull the flat black cable tight (towards the top of the screen), then, with quite a bit of difficulty, managed to use some fresh metallic tape to hold the cable in place. It took a while but the screen is back to it's original state and looks beautiful.

Many thanks to KAOS and John-Paul May for their detailed analysis above. It worked for me and saved me a few pound notes! I will be logging this problem with Apple and also the relevant consumer rights authorities as Apple should not be allowed to get away with this.

John-Paul May wrote:

I am so pleased it is fixed in your case! that's the best possible out come when it is "just" a matter of pulling and pushing on the cable, somehow.

"The afforementioned white connector/socket that is meant to supply power to the screen is the single worst piece of equipment I've ever seen installed in any electrical product."

Could not agree more. Well said. It's truly unbelievable.

It's not the white socket that's faulty, at least in my personal case and I suspect in most cases, it's the crappy solder job binding it to the board at the bottom of the LCD. (Perhaps some people have damaged that white piece taking apart the LCD, leading them to believe that the piece itself is faulty.) This is shoddy manufacturing, plain and simple.

I never got around to posting my repair pics, so here they are. Here you can see how small that piece really is by comparing it to a penny. That thing is small!!

Now you can see what happened after I pried away the enclosing plastic and started to slip the whole thing out. It just came out no resistance whatsoever, it was completely disconnected. All those little metal tabs should be soldered into the LCD. This picture shows why, in most cases, you have little to no hope of getting a replacement white piece to help at all. I think the people who've been having luck with the "pressure" approach have a white piece that hasn't completely broken off yet. They probably have a few intact solder joints and the pressure holds the remaining joints on. Once all joints are broken, there's no way you'll ever get it to line up and conduct.

Here you can see the new soldering job in progress. As described above, this is very difficult and time-consuming and requires having the right tools. Those wires are small and the connected are deep in there. The distored metal edge is from the hot soldering iron touching it. It's like playing the game "Operator". 🙂

Finally, I reconnected all the wires back to the original white piece and then connected it and taped it up to the side of the LCD. I thought this would be easier than soldering wire-to-wire. The fact that this worked (and has been working fine since then) is proof that the white piece itself is fine.

Once again, a huge shout out to Kaos2K. There's no way I would have ever attempted this if he hadn't led the way!

Thank you for this thread for giving me hints and step guides to fix this....Thank you Kaos2k and others that posted notes and how-tos....Actually fixed it without solder nor any complicated ways....

It's simple but as I said without this thread I wouldnt be able to even take the first step...

HOTGLUE the plug for a snug fit while pulling it towards the top position, Do not pull to hard, just enough to make the cables stick to the connectors for contacts....

No mess, No fuss...just simple as that....

It may be a TEMPORARY/PERMANENT solution....took me about less than 30 mins...including testing (unplugging and replugging)

So far so good...no flickers and no dark side...:)

hi,

Yes, the problem is fixed now. I did not manage to take photo when I was doing it, but i am sure we are happy to help here if you can explain to us how far to get to now.

i got to the connector, i tried gently pressing it, wiggle the connector, apply pressure with tape, nothing was helping. so i cut things up to remove the black cable (6 small wires) along with the white connector with you will see 6 teeth that stand straight up in the center and 1 smaller one on each side. that 2 on each side seems useless because you can see only 6 black wires. i used a small clipping tool and just gently bend the teeth so when i put it back it, it will have a better touch to the board.

just did what you said and IT WORKED! , first did what kaos wrote about putting somre pressure, didn`t work, then i tryed taking out the display , taking out the tape and tapping the plug, and that was the hole deal, added some silver tape to hold the plug in place because i don`t know how to solder that....but replacing the tape worked perfect....THANK YOU JONH, JUST SAVED ME AND OTHERS A LOT OF MONEY!

Vic

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