Two New (to me) iMac G4's (1.25GHz, 2GB's RAM)

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Level 3

818 points

Two New (to me) iMac G4's (1.25GHz, 2GB's RAM)

Recently acquired 2 used iMac G4's, both the same specification with the exception of the screen size (17" and 20"). The 20" was shipped with the original box the other wasn't.

Both are in near mint condition absolutely no blemishes and work flawlessly. The bases aren't quite as white as a New one.....and that leads me into my question. What's the best to clean with to bring back to a bright white. I read that Mr Clean Magic Eraser would do the trick. Any ideas or recommenditations?

Also should I disassemble to clean out the dust that's surely accumulated?

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2012 MBP 15.4 2.6 i7 Quad USB3

Posted on Jan 26, 2013 3:45 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

82,965 points

Jan 26, 2013 8:25 PM in response to Mini-Mac

I wouldn't as the base has vents which could easily get clobbered by the wrong cleaning material. Let them be a dirty. Disassembly of these machines is not easy. They are among the first to utilize cooling gel on the logic board. Bring it in for service to an authorized technician if you feel it is not operating to spec and if you can get the hardware test CD, that will help a lot. Otherwise Techtool Pro can give you a good hardware analysis, if you can find a 10.5 PowerPC compatible version.

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Answer 2

Mini-Mac Author

Level 3

818 points

Jan 27, 2013 6:07 AM in response to a brody

a brody wrote:

I wouldn't as the base has vents which could easily get clobbered by the wrong cleaning material. Let them be a dirty. Disassembly of these machines is not easy. They are among the first to utilize cooling gel on the logic board. Bring it in for service to an authorized technician if you feel it is not operating to spec and if you can get the hardware test CD, that will help a lot. Otherwise Techtool Pro can give you a good hardware analysis, if you can find a 10.5 PowerPC compatible version.

Assuming thermal paste is what your referring when you say "cooling gel", I'm aware that the thermal paste has to be replaced when opening up the computer (I replace the thermal paste on my Black Macbook).

I figured at some point I will upgrade the RAM and possibly the HDD which would be a good time to knock the dust off the old girl. I really love the G4 iMac (sure wished Apple would make a modern version). If Apple made a modern version of the G4 iMac I would be in line with money to spend.

Do you see any problem in erasing the current (factory installed 160GB) HDD and install Leopard as a fresh install. After reading several post about issues installing, is why I ask. I figured as long as my retail version of Leopard is good and I can boot and partition the HDD using the Leopard install disk to APM I wouldn't have any issues. I do NOT have the original install disk.

BTW, Cleaning the White outer dome is what I'm referring to when I asked about cleaning

Thanks

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

82,965 points

Jan 27, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Mini-Mac

You can do it, but you won't get access to Classic. 10.5 does not have Classic. That allows you to access Mac OS 9 applications. Also AppleWorks was part of the original install of something before 10.5, and is not part of 10.5, nor is iLife except for iTunes.. If you clean the outer white dome, make sure you don't let anything liquid get closed to the optical drive door, or the vents on top or below, or the ridge where the bottom of the base comes off. Otherwise you might get something into the electronics. Some of the compressed air cans I've used spray a foam. Those you have to be really careful with not to get the foam in those areas.

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