Thank you for the video, however I took the longer road and disassembled the display entirely. It is cumbersome and tedious, but I could not imagine to solder it the way you did. After disassembling the frame and everything I was able to disassemble the and isolate the left part of the backlight LED strip. With this in plain sight I was able to re solder the connector again nice and clean. For those that come her and look for solutions.
Hello Gerry, I just finished fixing my iMac 27" using your technique. It was not an easy task but I persevered and was rewarded with a beautiful bright screen all the way across. Although I did hold my breath when I powered up the iMac for first time after the repair. This was a fair challenge for me and I am not inexperienced in computer repairs. This is definitely not for a novice or faint of heart but if your daring enough, go for it! Thank you for making this video and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Gerry: Many thanks from Colorado for this incredible tutorial. I was able to do most of it myself and then call in the experts to do the solder work. My screen is as bright as new on the left side. With that said, for those of you thinking about doing this yourself; the solder work on this is pretty difficult. I work in a building with about 30 electric engineers and only one of them was brave enough to give it a go. It took him about an hour to do the solder. He had to use a high temperature attachment with a very thin tip. It's best to access it by tilting the iMac screen up (so the contacts are facing more horizontal) and positioning a magnifier or microscope over top (and a good light). If you don't have all of these pieces, and pretty decent solder experience, you're probably going to have a bad time. Thanks again!
Just did this fix to my neighbor's iMac. About 2 hours in we experienced the "what have we gotten into" feeling, as lands 3 and 4 decided to have an affinity for solder bridges, but perseverance and extreme magnification saved the day. This machine was so far gone that simply jamming the connector wouldn't work, or I would've tried that first just to see if he could limp along for another year. I agree with the other commenters...a good iron, good working conditions, extreme magnification, all requirements. A digital microscope helps. But this is very doable with modest skills, as long as you are deliberate, methodical, and cautious. Plan for 4-6 hours, and if it only takes 2-3, use the extra time to toast your success!
Thank you for posting this video Gerry, today I fixed my father's 27" imac, it took me about 6 hours as I'm not really experienced with computers, but this make my dad happy again as he is 89 years old and was planning to get rid of his Imac. Absolutly usefull tutorial!!!
@@gerrysweeney how much expensive is to buy the piece itself intsead of soldering it? what would be the name? imacs are so shitty I swear. Thank you for the tutorial
My iMac screen went totally black when I powered it on. I moved the iMac off my desk to the floor and when I plugged it back in the screen came on but with a dark shadow on the left side of the screen exactly like what you are seeing. I followed what you did and it fixed it! thank you.
big thank you! I do the repair like in your video. My mac has exactly the same problem. Good soldering skills are absolutely necessary and a good brand soldering iron as well. I used a 16W Ersa soldering needle (1mm). Take 20mins for the complete repair, and safe 500€ ;).
Gerry, Thanks so much for sharing this. I repaired my 2011 iMac 27" today, but instead of soldering, I put a piece of thick UHMW tape on the back side of the connector. The problem is definitely that the pocket which the connector goes into is too large, and the tape, which is .012" thick, makes up the difference and now the connector is snug. Scotch tape is .0025" thick, so 5 thicknesses of that tape would work. Use care when replacing the connector so the contacts line up- push it to the right (toward the side of the screen) as you push it in. Also, there is a small ridge at the top of the pocket, part of the retention design. I scraped that away to make it easier to replace the connector.
Hi Gerry, thanks for sharing this and your tear down video. Like hundreds of others I have been tolerating this problem with a 2010 model for many many years. I saw your video a few years back but don't have those soldering skills or the right tools for the job. Decided to try the tape option. My connector was quite snug in the socket, left, right, top and bottom, so I couldn't ram any tape between the connector and the socket. Instead I folded some electrical tape over and over into a flat square that I placed on top of the connector. While pressing the connector hard into the socket, I taped it all down. So far, so good! Problem solved! Good chance it will come loose again but not too difficult to re-do. Many thanks!
I had a similar experience with Apple when my 17" iMac developed the vertical line grid problem when it was only 13 months old. They just sat on their hands and said I should have bought AppleCare. After I replaced the screen myself with a second hand one I got on eBay for £150 I found out that they'd issued a recall and were replacing them even though they were out of warranty. Great products, but an appalling company. Props to you for this repair, it was very adventurous and I'm glad it worked for you.
How is Apple starting a recall that extended beyond the warranty period a sign of an "appalling" company?!? Apple's support isn't perfect, but it's far ahead of what any other computer or phone manufacturer gives.
Antonio Tejada I've been a Mac user for almost 20 years now, and they are not the company they were. My first experience of them was when my s/h iBook went faulty and they fixed it under warranty even though it was a second user machine. I thought this was fantastic so when I bought a wireless mouse from them, and it went faulty, I wasn't expecting a problem; but their first reaction was to tell me that because the computer I was using it with was out of warranty that the mouse wasn't covered by the warranty. I pointed out that the mouse was a separate purchase and had its own warranty and their next move was to try to offload the responsibility onto the manufacturer. Only after a long tussle and threats of legal action did they agree to replace it. Then I bought my first Intel iMac and after just 13 months the display became unusable. Apple's first response was to say that it wasn't covered and that i should have bought Apple Care. Then I found out that a guy in France had forced Apple to acknowledge responsibility for it. I contacted them again and they said that any ruling in France was not binding upon them in the UK so basically "see you in court, mate". As for the alleged "recall" this may have happened in the US, but I know of no-one in the UK with this problem who's had it fixed by Apple under any global recall. They certainly didn't contact me about it even thought they were aware of the problem, and even though it's a very well documented manufacturing fault, at no time they did acknowledge to me that it was anything other than an isolated case. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a Mac-phobe, but I'm not a fanboy either. The best I can say about their customer services is that it is inconsistent. If you contrast it with, say, Dell, they are not the easiest to contact when things go wrong either. You have to jump through a lot of hoops before you get to actually talk to someone from Apple unless you have an Apple Store nearby or happen to know people who work for them (which, fortunately I do). Dell, on the other hand, seem to have superb customer support. Unfortunately you do need it a lot... I also find their "nanny knows best" attitude towards software development irritating and patronising. While their OS and it's interface is probably the best in the world (just my opinion) they seem hell bent on ruining it by over-egging the pudding. Then there's the forced upgrades. Software that doesn't work as intuitively as it should yet they still spin it as being "the best". Numbers is a prime example. I couldn't wait to ditch Excel for Numbers which has some really nice features; only to find out that it lacks a "transpose" command, something which is fundamental to a lot of the things I do with a spreadsheet. Apple's response: "no-one uses the transpose function anyway so we didn't bother with it" despite the fact that it would have been simplicity itself to implement. About four years later they announce, with fanfares, a "great new feature; the transpose function!!" Because, apparently, we all did want it after all... They just couldn't bring themselves to admit that they'd dropped a bollock and forgot to include it, because, in Excel (and in AppleWorks before that) it's tucked away in a weird, counter intuitive "Paste Special" dialogue box. Until Yosemite came a long (which, despite some bugs in the beta version is the most stable and speedy OS since Snow Leopard) I was seriously considering jumping ship to Linux because you hear a lot from Apple about "controlling the user experience", and I don't want my user experience controlled, thanks. i want to be able to work with my computer the way I want to rather than be forced to use Apple's idea of how I should be working with it. My big problem with Apple is that they don't really listen to their users and a lot of us long term, power-users are getting pissed off with them. A friend of mine runs a post-production studio and has about two dozen Mac Pros, all rack mounted. He's just ditched Apple in favour of a Hackintosh option because the new mac Pro design (the vacuum cleaner) isn't compatible with his studio any longer. Sorry if you're a fanboy and my opinion offends you but it is born of experience and not one I have formulated on a whim.
***** For what it's worth, I've been a Mac user since 1992, so I've seen all but the earliest days of Apple's support. It's also possible that their UK support was worse than what I have experienced in USA and Switzerland, the places I've lived. In my experience, Apple's support was its worst in the mid-1990s, with widespread stories of people giving up after waiting on hold for an hour without getting through. Local support was at the whim of the local dealer, who might have been great, or horrid. Ever since about 2000, it's been vastly better, especially in the stores, where store managers have wide latitude to go beyond what's required. (An example: A few years ago, my sister spilled water on her MacBook. She took it to the local Apple Store, hoping to be able to get it back within the week without it costing a fortune, since obviously it's user error. Not only did they fix it under warranty anyway, they quoted a 3-hour turnaround -- and then called her after just 45 minutes and said it was ready.) Anyhow, all I said was "Apple's support isn't perfect, but it's far ahead of what any other computer or phone manufacturer gives." I'm not sure how that makes me a "fanboy" (a loaded term used by folks who want to distract from the factual basis of a discussion). Saying that a given company merely has the least-bad support isn't necessarily praise, just pointing out that everyone else is much, much worse. The grass is NOT greener on the other side. And I still don't understand how extending warranty coverage MAKES them appalling, which was the original claim of yours I am disputing.
I had the same issue. I ended up wiggling the wiring around to make a good connection and then glued it in place. It beats soldering the little connections but not quite at secure. So far it's working well. Hopefully it will hold up over time.
Thanks for the comment, you are lucky to be able to get away with that, I would worry that heat up/cool down cycles will eventually cause enough movement to make that fail again, but if its working for you now thats a good fix :) thank you for sharing. Gerry
There are several folks showing the "6 wire" fix. The sockets on each side of the display backside are actually on the LED strips (2 that go across the backside) You can buy new LED strips (the sockets on them) for $15.00 310mm LED Backlight Lamp strip bar 36leds For Apple 27" LCD LM270WQ1 SD C2 MB270B2U SDA2 SDB1 SDE3 SDE5 SDF1 LGT2781 LGT2795. Or you can solder directly onto the LED strip as shown in this video. These panels are LG. Takes longer to put in the new strips, but you are not cutting the socket and soldering to the LED strip. More work, same result, but not a modified display.
I've worked for Apple for about 14 years. I'm a Senior Advisor. The issue you're describing isn't unheard of. What we usually will do is try to 'Capture' the device. That means, we'd like to send you a box and have the computer sent to our engineers to look at. If they get enough devices with the same issue and it is determined to be our fault (as you seem to be describing), they will issue a repair at no charge to you.They just need to get enough units with the same issue, determine the repair and move forward with it. Obviously, some troubleshooting would be required. BTW, with your permission, I'd like to share this video with our engineers.
+Thomas McKee feel free to share the video, trust me there is a lot of them with the same fault (just see the comments on this video), its a manufacturing issue with the panel, its not Apple's fault as such but its a shame they did not stand by their customers with this. I have another 27" in my garage with the exact same fault (which I really need to get around to fixing one day). There was even at one time a class action against apple for it, not sure what happened in the end.
+Thomas McKee would you like to pick mine up? I sent my Apple store a link to this video months ago and got no reply. I gave up and replaced it with a PC, wiped it this week to sell it but its virtually worthless if it comes with a repair cost. its a 27 inch from 2011.
If only… !!! 🤥🤬😭 I lost 3 machines due to obvious manufacturing failures. Only 1 of them made it into a repair program… unfortunately 5 or 6 years too late. I just heard of it by accident. No official announcement , nor any notification of the customer. At least, that‘s the real world and service situation in Germany. Shame on Apple.
I have the exact problem with my iMac 27, mid 2011. I am sure that I am having the same issue. I removed the glass and when I press on the lower left of the monitor in the front of where you show the bad connection it comes back. Cannot wait to break into it tomorrow. Thank you for the video.
+nicholas harris I have not been able to fix the issue. I took the entire machine and it was pretty exact to this video. I am familiar with how to solder and am pretty comfortable in my skill with larger projects like a stereo or a kids toy, but this was just too small a solder for any tools I own. I put it back together and hope to pickup the fight another day. I am replying to you from a new Macbook, but do plan to try someday in the near future, but have not found the soldering iron small enough at the two stores I stopped at. This really is a very small project. I can see it is doable.....maybe not with my current level of skill.
+nicholas harris PS, I am convinced this is the same issue with mine. The little connector was more stuck to the tape, then the connection it was supposed to have. The connection was definitely broken.
I would have thought the same thing which was to rewire each individual contact but I wouldn't have actually done it because of how complicated that task would be. But you went ahead and did it and went through all the tediousness of it all. And it worked! Wonderful I congratulate you! You sir are a real pro thanks for putting this up.
Hey there Gerry. Thanks for your video. I had this exact problem with my mid 2011 27in. I attempted the fix as you did here but I cocked up the soldering and ended up tearing off a couple of pads on the LED board. I used Cat5 cores as the hook-up wire....no good, to rigid. So I disassembled the panel, rather carelessly as I thought all was lost. Finally got to the LED PCB, everything has to come apart and out to get to it. I scratched myself some new pads and tinned them, cut up a USB cord to get fine stranded wire and soldered on some legs as you did. Re-assembled the panel. I couldn't manage to solder to the legs of the socket so I cut the plug off the feeder and connected each of the 6 cores wire to wire with heat sleeve. All works now except think I left an eye lash between the LCD and backlight layers.
Hi Matt, Glad you got it sorted in the end (apart from the eyelash feature you added)...I wanted to find another one and do a full panel teardown but none of the ones I have access to have so far failed: ( Oh well, I am sure they will at some point. Thanks for the feedback... Gerry
Thank you soo much for posting this video. I took mine apart and realized that the soldering was a bit out of my skill level (such a small little hole!) so I just convinced a local Mac repair man to do it for me for a few bucks and I'm back to good as new. I've been living with that darkened screen for 2 years now.....so glad I found your video. THANKS!
I'm wondering about folk in Australia that have had the problem and what their experiences have been getting this sorted by Apple as I have the same problem and rely heavily on my computer being a teacher. Gerry thanks so much for what you do! I'm sure you don't benefit directly from the vids you do but I and many others appreciate the effort. I may not be able to fix the issue but it's good to be forearmed so that I know something and repairers have less of a chance of ripping me off.
Holy cow! I just pulled my screen out, hoping that it was just the plug-in connector that might have been faulty. No joy. Further searching brought me to your video. Sadly, my soldering skill is not at the level of your own, so I think I'll learn to live with a dim corner of the screen for a little big longer.
Great info even 9 years later. Having already done the "bake the graphics card" trick I just assumed it was that failing again, but no.. It's a new failure to deal with. I'll probably do exactly what you did. Thanks very much.
Gary. Thank you for taking up some of your valuable time to make this very useful video. It was extremely interesting but presents a real concern for me as I have just spent my hard earned cash on a 27" iMac. I have also just bought my junior designer at work an iMac that suddenly showed screen ghosting the other day AND my colleague's new Macbook Pro died recently too with its expensive logic board needing replacement with just four months left of the 1 year warranty! I've been a lifelong Mac user but a PC has never seemed so inviting right now.
Hi Stuart, as far as I am aware the newer 27" macs do not suffer this problem. I am all for Apple having quality issues so long as they sort them, its a great shame with all the recent press about how much money they have in the bank that they are not prepared to sort out customer issues - that will be their downfall if they keep it up. Anyways, for all the problems I have had with my Mac on balance I still prefer it over windows :) Gerry
My 27 iMac had same problem after I put a new hard drive in it but I was able to fix it without going through all of this I just took the screen off again and firmly pushed in that corner and reseated all the cables and thankfully it's back to normal.
Thank you for posting this video Gerry, I just repaired my 27" iMac i7 you saved me $640.00 from a local repair shop as im no longer under warranty! I also have subscribed and sharing your video with my iMac Club!
Thanks Gerry, have saved several iMacs with this useful information. For this planning on doing this repair... It requires experience at soldering precisely, the pads are less than 1mm apart and you have a limited range of movement due to the access. You are going to want to flux things up. Do not attempt if you have not tried soldering before as you will more than likely do more damage than good. Find someone who can solder and buy them a beer.
Thank you so much for the instructions. I tried this fix today and quickly realized that I was not equipped to perform this repair. As you point out the solder points are difficult to access and are very tight together - my shaky hands and lack of proper instruments were creating all kinds of trouble performing there repair - BUT I managed to fix my monitor using a different approach (not being one to give up). Instead of soldering the connecter back to the board, I was able to use a small piece of soft plastic to wedge the connector into place. Essentially putting downward pressure on the connector onto the board was enough to make the connections and run power to the LED array. The difficult part was that I had to conduct the operation with the computer running and facing down with the screen off center so I could access the rear opening - very tricky. With the system running I could then very carefully move the connection until it place (being very careful not to touch the live connecter to the external metal housing - rear or LCD) and align it to the board and secure it with the rubber piece which pushes the connector to the board. Once it was aligned and I could tell the array was lit, I used a glue gun to fill the opening and essentially secure the connector, rubber piece, and cable. Its now back to working condition. Although I could not conduct your prescribed fix, I did want to thank you for providing the details needed for me to fix my monitor.
Gerry Sweeney Gerry - Well it turns our that my solution was rubbish and only last a few days. Instead I got the rights tools and performed the fix and you suggested and now its fixed right. Thanks Gerry!
Well done on the solder, like a surgeon! The other day I got some screen burn on my imac, I'm sure it's fine but it's 2 years old and after searching google it seems it's a common issue. I'd be upset it got worse.
I've got a circa 2012, Korean 27" Crossover 27QLED-P IPS Monitor with an LG LM270WQ1(SD)(E3) LG panel in it, which seems to be the same as the imac panel. Same half-dim problem, and lo and behold when I took her apart this connector had become un-soldered. Unfortunately I only have a wide, flat tip $2 soldering iron so it's time to do some research about what decent iron I ought to buy in that regard. Thanks for the video!
Please get rid of that non compliant plug which is inserted into the twin 13A socket. Your bench sockets are probably already fused down to 13A or less, but the cable on that thing is unlikely to be able to survive a fault.
I was lucky, I had the same issue on the left bottom on the screen, but the connector was still very firmly connected. I simply used some contact cleaner and IPA to clean the contacts and the backlight was bright and even over the entire screen again. HOWEVER…. When turning it on I noticed a “stain” could be seen on the left lower corner which actually made the whites really clear white instead of greyish. I pretty much soon concluded that the fluids had run between the LCD and the backlight panel and caused this stain. I had some hope it would dry up, but soon I realised what probably happened is that the IPA probably cleaned the backlight panel and LCD from existing dust. So….following this I will go on and open the entire screen and clean it. I think if you have this connector issue and are already needing to fix it, it’s best to also go for the full stretch to clean the inside between the backlight and LCD.
Mr Gerry. You are doing a great job under difficult conditions, so, STOP APOLOGISING for stuff that could be made better. I have worked in much more difficult conditions than this and I am impressed with your efforts. If anyone complains about lighting - Screw Em'!
After attempting this repair I'd like you to know that you are AMAZING with a soldering iron. The magnifying lens is much needed as that hole is very small. I would also advice anyone without soldering experience to seek help. This is not a project for beginners.
+Eddie Parks thanks for the feedback, I have been yielding a soldering iron since I was about 8 years old so i have had plenty of practice. I hope you got yours sorted in the end. Regards, Gerry
just got myself a used 27" iMac with this problem. As I dont know what is going to happend with the seller (i got a 12 month garantuee) i will keep this video as a backup option :)
Excellent video - Like Dirty Harry says, "A man's got to know his limitations" and with my cataracts, lack of tools, and poor soldering skills I will appreciate your accomplishment but will not try to replicate - luckily most of my screen is still pretty well lit and I've lived with it for several months already, so my nine-year-old iMac (still with built-in Superdrive!) will have to suffice until something really bad happens, and probably past time for a new one anyway
Thank you, Gary for this video. The same problem appeared now at my iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010). I will contact Apple Support in Slovenia to see what solutions they will offer and for what cost and if they will change anything I will first try to fix it myself also.
Great work! I have had the same issue with this model and Apple did the same thing to me. Instead of giving Apple another dime, I repaired the screen myself and have never bought another Apple product since then. Apple lost out on thousands more dollars from me because they don't acknowledge problems with their own hardware and only offer replacements as the solution.
You are simply brilliant Gerry! I can't believe the patience you have to perform such tedious feats of "surgery". My brother-in-law has reported exactly the problem you show and called me to see if I knew of a fix. Thanks to the "wonder" of RUclips, you have provided the answer, once again, I might add. Cheers Gerry, keep up the good work for the average grunt who gets shafted by Apple. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac, but the powers to be are less than gracious in admitting problems such as this.
Thanks for sharing. I have the same problem! I use my iMac for illustration and it's really frustrating because I can't see the proper values and shades of color on my paintings. I think I will give this a try this weekend. Thanks!
Would think fix apply to the same iMac where the top half of the screen is dark but the bottom half is bright? Thanks for the great tutorial! When I turn the machine on the top half will be bright for a few seconds and then flicker to dark.
Thank you for the video. This was a great help. I would add the need to use a multimeter to check the connections to ensure that the solder did not bridge the electrical connection between the slots before putting the machine back together.
hi gerry, an absolutely fantastic tutorial and solution to the problem! and i think you are being too humble when you call what you did "not good"... i was amazed and through your video now have the juju to try this myself on my daughters imac... thanks once again! stay healthy!!! regards, colin from berlin, germany
your on to something here brother... I have tried so many things and literally gave up I my 27" iMac.. I'm going to try this tomorrow. if it works I'm going to post and give you credit. either way, great video.
Going to maybe try and do this fix this weekend! The Mac I bought from a friend had this pre-existing condition when I purchased it. Hope this works! Thanks.
Come and live in Australia. We have consumer protection that guards against these sorts of problems. Basically we have a body (ACCC) that provides several consumer protections.It basically says that depending on the price paid for a unit( the higher the price the longer it should be expected to last ) the consumer has a reasonable expectation that it will last a reasonable amount of time. The actual 12 months or so guarantee is partly irrelevant, and the manufacturer can be forced to repair or replace after a reasonable useage period even if out of actual warranty. Google ACCC to check.
Interesting... On the phone I have had AppleCare give me an estimate of up to $400. Not the same screen issue but a different one. Then in the Apple store I have walked in thinking the worst and when the tech came out they said the issue was a production fault and repair was no charge. When I asked why AppleCare didn't mention it, the response was that they are supposed to give the worse case scenario for out of warranty item repairs and they determine if there are any hardware exceptions.
I'm amazed by the level of skill and patience to complete this! Excellent job and I have a funny feeling this is what my old iMac from early 2009 is starting to show so I may have to find someone with your skills to repair it at some point!
Thanks for the feedback, I have been soldering for more than 40 years on and off so it was not too much of a challenge - it was a pain in the ass though. Gerry
Very interesting indeed! I discovered that thanks to you. However: Why make it simple when you can make it complicated... Instead of destroying the plastic contactor, I put a drop of WD4O, for electrical contacts, two small wedges (mini nails) to force the contacts towards the welds. Adhesive, reassemble the screen, test, bingo!
Update to my fix. It failed after awhile. I've tried it again several times with no luck. I guess that soldering is the best fix, but not sure if I can do it.
Thanks for sharing. It's been so long since I've heard of this issue, I had forgotten about it. The technique is certainly applicable in a range of surface mount failures. As I always buy used equipment, seeing this reminder and solution may help me avoid grief someday.
Great video. I have the exact same issue with a faulty DGM 27" monitor I purchased. It's a poor manufacturing fault that they must have remedied since. Anyway fantastic. Got a fix for free thanks to your video. 👍
I have a Shimian monitor with the same panel and that same problem and and i have known how to fix it but have been on the fence for some time. But after watching this video i may give it a go.
Hi. I was just about to di this because of dull screen in right side. But when i got alle the tape off i saw that the cabel wasnt loose as yours. But the other end of the cable that connects to the logic board was not connected right. So i just put i back together and now it works great. I was just a loose cable.
Thank you very much for this great guide, it led me in the right direction. My problem was a bit trickier as my connector was not loose. Only one pad was loose so I had to get to the connector from the front to solder it back in place. It is a lot harder and I was very close to render my screen useless a few times so I dont recommend it unless you are very good with delicate electronics. But I was able to solder it back and now my screen is as good as new again :)
Great vid.Thanks for posting. I have a similar problem with my iMac 27 late 2009 that has been re-occurring for a while that Apple couldn't or wouldn't answer . My screen blanks out completely and even the repair shop over a year ago couldn't work it out until i noticed turning the brightness down seems to delay the screen closing.My tv monitor works fine so i know its not the actual screen on the comp that has issues...more recently it has blanked out on the lower brightness setting and after seeing your vid will attempt to cure it.Thanks again.Very helpful.
No need to solder a simple dry connection will be quite adequate. Simply pack out the gap behind the pin jack until connection to the lcd is forcefully successful. secure with tape, Job done!
Hello...Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Since the soldering process is not clearly visible, I dont know how can I solder each cable to each pin on the board.. How did you solder each one individually in such a narrow space. My iron barely fits in... :(
Greetings Gerry. Great Video, very very helpful indeed. I have a iMac Cinimar Screen 24” Model A1267, which basically started to slowly not light up at all. It started with a flickering screen, so if I pulled the square plug out of the back of my iMac, & plugged in the Cinimar Screen plug immedatly again, the screen would flicker showing the details behind. Started with 4 or 5 pull the plug in and then out and it would light up. Stayed stable until the unit was switched off. Now, 6 months later, it will no longer light up, so it appears to me the whole LCD backlight has failed. Looks like a dry joint to me because with the slightest flicker when pushing in the little square plug, I get a micro second view of the screen saver, so it’s all there, just dark. Your plug repair looks like the problem, but before I attempt this, does this tiny 6 pin plug operate the entire backlight, not just one corner. If so, I’m about to copy your repair. Love to hear your comment before doing this. Maybe thanks and Greeting from Amsterdam.
I am not sure on the 24" MAC to be honest, it may be one connector, on the 27" the connector I repaired was only for half the screen, but its a bigger panel. Good luck with the repair.
Hi Gerry, I've just recently had an issue with the power button on my imac 27, which was a week outside it's warranty. Prior to my warranty expiring I had reported the issue to Apple. They setup a repair ID and I took it along to an Apple store where they replaced the whole housing (incorporating the Power button). On setting up my imac at home, after 4 days the issue reappeared. I took it back to Apple where they then replaced the power board and connecting cable, which is where I am now. On checking out the invoice in my email, which I havent been charged for, Its shows that they have replaced the display panel (661-7169 Display Panel, LCD) I can only assume that what you are describing in your video confirms how fragile the soldered connection is as they have to remove the screen to gain access, but with regards to you fault outside of the warranty, I think you'll find under the sale of goods act, not fit for purpose, you possibly should not have been charged, certain goods that can apply for up to six years, I would have challenged that. Sorry, bit long winded but thought I'd give details of the whole picture, cheers.
+2lomp Yeah that would appear to be true in Europe, I should have tried harder with them, although if you are not prepared to drive to a store and bring the computer with you Apple are not really interested. Anyways, it made a good video so I guess its horses for courses :) Gerry
I am suffering from exact same problem and visually its exact same. My display is HP Z32X It's a 32 inch display worth 1599usd. And panel is from Samsung (PLS) . I want to know whether that connector will be located in the same position as in imac. Any help will be appreciated a lot.
Gerry Sweeney Thank you very much for your video, I'm from Guatemala, I would like to know what kind of cable did you used cause I tried and couldn't weld the cable I was using, besides, the space is really small, so I couldn't do it. Instead I fold the little parts that make contact to give it more pressure and it worked. Now my display is at full brightness. I appreciate, thank you very much for your video.
Thank you very much for the video. I was able to do the fix (it took awhile to gather the courage), but couldn't solder one of the wires, as the contact disintegrated, but everything looks great on the display, so who knows-lucky? It's been lighting up fine for about 8 months. Definitely difficult to see clearly enough to access the contacts in the recess where the connector sat, and such a tiny work area! I ended up just soldering on wire extensions instead of re-using the male part of the connector. Used some fine insulated wire pulled from old electronics for the extensions. Couldn't have done it without your help Gerry : ))
moquiti great news, glad it helped you out and you have it working. Well done, its a tricky job for sure so +1 for your soldering skills. I suspect that the 6 wires might be parallel wired for current handling which would explain why you got away with missing one wire. Luck you :) Gerry
Great video... I had given up hope for my iMac with this exact problem and don't use it any more... I'm not sure I have the skill to pull this off, but may give it a try versus never using my Mac anymore. Thanks for the guide.
Mark Gundersen well if you are not using it at all you have nothing to lose I guess :) There are places that will fix it for you that don't charge anything like what Apple would - where are you based? Gerry
I'm in Stockport, Manchester. I've just been googling fine tip soldering irons, I may have a crack at this! You mentioned you had another video explaining how to get the cover off and get to the Gubbins, I don't suppose you have that link handy? Thanks.
Gerry Sweeney good luck with the repair, and question feel free to ask. If you do end up break it irreversibly or not being able to effect the repair and you want to sell it broken I would be interested in taking it off your hands so I can make another video...if you want to contact me you will find my email address at the bottom of this page gerrrysweeney.com/about/ Gerry
Thanks a lot Gerry.... I'll let you know how I get on either way and I'll keep your offer in mind. I imagine it may be a week or so until I can get the time aside to have a decent crack at this. Cheers.
Great tutorial I have a screen problem with mine the screen was flickering black then it would work fine for a while it did this many times until it stayed black. It still boots up you can hear it firing up just nothing on screen. Do you have any idea how to fix this thanks
Just tried to do it without a magnifier and i screwed it up. So i disassembled the panel and took out the led strip. But some copper paths have fallen of maybe i put some excessive heat. And trying to find a replacement for the led strip
I'm curios to know if just building up the contacts via tinning would have improved the contact enough for the connections to work. Perhaps that would not be any easier than soldering on the jumper wires.
Bill Garnett There is no way to get the soldering iron into the hole with the connector there too, the only way to do it is to solder wires or take the panel apart completely and re-solder the connector onto the board. If I get another broken one I am going to try stripping the panel down to see how hard it is.
Gerry, after replacing inflated capacitors in my iMac 5 the Mac will not power up. Two LEDs on the motherboard indicate the voltages are good, I can se the hard drive trying to boot up, but the screen is dark and the typical bong sound does not come up. Your help will be appreciated. JYoung
I was unfortunate to have the exact same problem happen to me, when I was, get this, two days out of warranty. Went in ad they asked for £500 which I obviously wasn't prepared to pay for an iMac that was a year old. Was gutted, still am, it's been left ever since. I'm competent taking my Mac to bits, but really not very good at soldering at all, would love to find someone in Scotland UK that could help me out with this.
Thanks for this very useful video. My iMac has been like this for so long and mostly taking up space. Even with the iMac being quite old now it still has it's uses because it's such a beautiful screen. I have watched your video a few times and decided to take the plunge. I am halfway through the job and make no mistake it's really tricky but there is no going back!! Even though I had a fine tip, I just haven't managed yet. I have ordered a 0.2mm bent tip for my soldering iron and am waiting on that before I continue. Wish me luck!
Wondering if using hot air to either reflow, or resolder, the connector in place would cause damage to either the connector or surrounding components. If not, I'm tempted to try it. Please let me know what you think.
Heelo, I have the same issue with my lachine from early 2014 and had issues right after warranty period that I extended to 3 years. Even though I have lots of issues with this machine Apple refused to take responsibility of the repair. That's why I stopped buying Apple product even though they have good products and espcially I was a huge fan, I started with Apple with Macintosh. Too bad.
Thanks for the great tutorial. Now I have to fix my iMac... Pitty Apple does not acknowledge that this still is a problem! They told me my iMac is to old and then cannot repair it! Wow how about value for money (Not!)
Gerry, Thanks so much for the video. I'm getting ready to attempt the repair, and i'm trying to figure out what gauge wire you used. I thought I already saw this question on another comment, but I cant find it today. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks again for the great video!
Same problem here. mac replaced the cable but it still is not working. Now the want to replace the backlight.. if that doesn't work a new screen. I don't know that it is worth the $500 for a 2011 imac... uhg!!!
Hi Garry That was a great video ,, Thank you Currently I`m dealing with a backlight problem in iMac late 2013 size 21.5" The screen is totally dark , when I put a light on it I can see it works fine, also, I connected the iMac to my TV lcd screen and everything works just fine. Any ideas or help with this issue will be really appreciated
So I attempted this operation. One of the pads that you solder the wire to came off! I take it I out of luck with getting full LED light working on my auria monitor that uses the same LG panel inside as the macs?
Hi Jerry, just to let you know i've tried your fix and it worked. Thank you for posting your video; it saves me a lot of money and 'Apple Support'-frustrations... A BIG THANKS
Hi I have a mid 2010 27inc, after 2mins the screen goes black, but you can still hear the computer running in the background I thought it was the graphic card but after watching your video I’m now thinking it’s not the graphic card it’s probably the screen if you hit the escape button on the keyboard the screen comes back for about a minute if you press the on button at the rear of the Mac screen comes on for at least a minute or two then cuts out again, i’m like your Macaway half the screen went black my one is completely black.
My 2010 27" IMAC has this problem. Would replacing the LCD screen with a used screen solve this issue? I hope you see this comment as I would appreciate a recommendation. I could never solder the connection like you did in the video. Thank You
2 года назад
Gran trabajo, muchas gracias. Espero poder hacer ese arreglo, solo tengo que aprender a soldar.
Also many thanks for the video Gerry! I tried and sadly failed, cleaned (scratched) the solder that went between two connectors but this makes it all the more harder to see what I am doing now as there is no clear line between the connectors anymore. Need to buy one off those lighted magnifiers you have, I started off on the wrong foot to begin with. But all is not lost...afraid I need to take that screen apart if i am ever properly going to see what i am doing. Trying to find some help with the disassembly online, that one step further that you yourself went and talk about maybe doing some day. By any chance have you come across a video or pics of a disassembly of this or similar model LG screen? Anyways thanks again for the video.
Gerry Sweeney Hey Gerry, thx. But yeah I came across this clip to, there are a couple of clips like that, cleaning the 'clouds'. But I am looking for going beyond the white surface and getting to the other side. I'll keep looking for a bit but am afraid I just need to try and see how far I get...and probably buy a new screen.
9 лет назад+4
First, Congrats for this video tutorial, the camera work is good despite the lens limitations, and repair explanation is fully detailed. I had lived with this dull screen corner you're talking about for some time, since it wasn't too dark, but today my whole screen went all darker. My imac is an intel 27 inch late 2009. Watching this tutorial gives me some hope i can repair this with some help, since i can't pay for a new screen. I'll post here if i can do this little surgery succesfully. Thanks Gerry!
***** Thanks for the comments, good luck with the repair. You may find though if the whole screen is now dark that its the PSU the drives the backlight and not the screen, just be aware of that. Gerry
9 лет назад+1
Hello Gerry, the technician who's helping me with this Imac followed your tutorial and got the screen to light up the darkest corner, though he only could solder 5 pins, The screen still is somewhat dull. I don´t know what is the PSU fail that you mention. Is there any information online about this PSU problem, where to locate it and fix it? Thanks in advance for any hint you could give us!
***** I would first make sure that all 6 wires are connected, thats probably important. The PSU can fail but I have never tried to repair one, people generally just replace the board so I doubt you will find anything specific on line. Gerry
Hi Gerry, I'm about to attempt this repair...I've gotten the teardown done and found that the the plug had come loose..the same as yours. So far, so good...now I am about to attempt the soldering....I have the tools and wire but the tip on my soldering iron looks too blunt. Are you using a micro-tip on the iron? Right now it does look like its going to be brain surgery but I have nothing to loose,right? Thanks,Richard
The tip is pretty small, pencil type tip. I have another iMac to repair with the same fault, I plan on doing an video and attempting to strip the actual display panel down to fix the connecter problem properly without having to do the micro surgery. Not sure when I will get around to this though so I would not wait for me. The point is thats another option for you. Gerry
Thought so..I'll look for a smaller tip. We killed 2 birds with one stone; when opening the case and taking out the display we were able to get a ton of dust out of the fans and all over the body..LOTS of dust...I suspect this has caused overheating and shutting down the system entirely ( screen goes black).
hi gerry, i saw your video, that was a really good job. i have a question, i have a 27" iMac, same like that video and on my screen, i don't know why, when open google page, on entire color white or blank my screen stars blinking, and sometimes turn into green color, specially on bottom on the screen, what do i have to do about this? can you give me some advise please? thank you.
Hi Jonas, you do not need much heat, I used a variable temp 17w iron with a very fine tip. Use leaded solder and pretty much any fine tipped soldering iron will do the job. Good luck with the repair. Gerry
Thanks Tom, if I ever repair another one I will take the whole screen apart next time to see how easy it is :) This was a quick fix as I needed the computer the next day. Gerry
Thanks a bunch for your video. Right now I am in the middle of doing it myself with the help of a professional soldering technician :) The workspace of the failure is absolutely tiny, though! How did you manage to solder it so well?? Anyway buen trabajo y saludos desde México!
+Alephsus good luck with the repair. I have been soldering stuff on and off for 40 years, so with that comes experience which helps. You are right the opening is 11mm wide so its a pretty small amount of space to work in. Just have patience, a small soldering iron, thind solder and some thin single core wire and you will get there. Gracias y saludos desde Londres
Thank you for the video, however I took the longer road and disassembled the display entirely. It is cumbersome and tedious, but I could not imagine to solder it the way you did. After disassembling the frame and everything I was able to disassemble the and isolate the left part of the backlight LED strip. With this in plain sight I was able to re solder the connector again nice and clean. For those that come her and look for solutions.
Hello Gerry, I just finished fixing my iMac 27" using your technique. It was not an easy task but I persevered and was rewarded with a beautiful bright screen all the way across. Although I did hold my breath when I powered up the iMac for first time after the repair. This was a fair challenge for me and I am not inexperienced in computer repairs. This is definitely not for a novice or faint of heart but if your daring enough, go for it! Thank you for making this video and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Gerry: Many thanks from Colorado for this incredible tutorial. I was able to do most of it myself and then call in the experts to do the solder work. My screen is as bright as new on the left side.
With that said, for those of you thinking about doing this yourself; the solder work on this is pretty difficult. I work in a building with about 30 electric engineers and only one of them was brave enough to give it a go. It took him about an hour to do the solder. He had to use a high temperature attachment with a very thin tip. It's best to access it by tilting the iMac screen up (so the contacts are facing more horizontal) and positioning a magnifier or microscope over top (and a good light). If you don't have all of these pieces, and pretty decent solder experience, you're probably going to have a bad time.
Thanks again!
Just did this fix to my neighbor's iMac. About 2 hours in we experienced the "what have we gotten into" feeling, as lands 3 and 4 decided to have an affinity for solder bridges, but perseverance and extreme magnification saved the day. This machine was so far gone that simply jamming the connector wouldn't work, or I would've tried that first just to see if he could limp along for another year. I agree with the other commenters...a good iron, good working conditions, extreme magnification, all requirements. A digital microscope helps. But this is very doable with modest skills, as long as you are deliberate, methodical, and cautious. Plan for 4-6 hours, and if it only takes 2-3, use the extra time to toast your success!
Glad you found it useful, congrats on the fix, it does require some decent soldering skills.
Thank you for posting this video Gerry, today I fixed my father's 27" imac, it took me about 6 hours as I'm not really experienced with computers, but this make my dad happy again as he is 89 years old and was planning to get rid of his Imac.
Absolutly usefull tutorial!!!
Hi Ricardo Villanueva thanks for the feedback, I am delighted it has been useful for you. Well done for applying the fix. Gerry
@@gerrysweeney how much expensive is to buy the piece itself intsead of soldering it? what would be the name? imacs are so shitty I swear. Thank you for the tutorial
My iMac screen went totally black when I powered it on. I moved the iMac off my desk to the floor and when I plugged it back in the screen came on but with a dark shadow on the left side of the screen exactly like what you are seeing. I followed what you did and it fixed it! thank you.
big thank you! I do the repair like in your video. My mac has exactly the same problem.
Good soldering skills are absolutely necessary and a good brand soldering iron as well.
I used a 16W Ersa soldering needle (1mm). Take 20mins for the complete repair, and safe 500€ ;).
Gerry, Thanks so much for sharing this. I repaired my 2011 iMac 27" today, but instead of soldering, I put a piece of thick UHMW tape on the back side of the connector. The problem is definitely that the pocket which the connector goes into is too large, and the tape, which is .012" thick, makes up the difference and now the connector is snug. Scotch tape is .0025" thick, so 5 thicknesses of that tape would work. Use care when replacing the connector so the contacts line up- push it to the right (toward the side of the screen) as you push it in. Also, there is a small ridge at the top of the pocket, part of the retention design. I scraped that away to make it easier to replace the connector.
Great idea, I might try this method also first before having to solder it!
Did this hold up? So just putting enough weight on the connector to reenforce the connection works?
Hi Gerry, thanks for sharing this and your tear down video. Like hundreds of others I have been tolerating this problem with a 2010 model for many many years. I saw your video a few years back but don't have those soldering skills or the right tools for the job. Decided to try the tape option. My connector was quite snug in the socket, left, right, top and bottom, so I couldn't ram any tape between the connector and the socket. Instead I folded some electrical tape over and over into a flat square that I placed on top of the connector. While pressing the connector hard into the socket, I taped it all down. So far, so good! Problem solved! Good chance it will come loose again but not too difficult to re-do. Many thanks!
You are most welcome, thanks for the feedback
10 years later ....its such a shame man! hope your still alive.
I had a similar experience with Apple when my 17" iMac developed the vertical line grid problem when it was only 13 months old. They just sat on their hands and said I should have bought AppleCare. After I replaced the screen myself with a second hand one I got on eBay for £150 I found out that they'd issued a recall and were replacing them even though they were out of warranty. Great products, but an appalling company. Props to you for this repair, it was very adventurous and I'm glad it worked for you.
How is Apple starting a recall that extended beyond the warranty period a sign of an "appalling" company?!? Apple's support isn't perfect, but it's far ahead of what any other computer or phone manufacturer gives.
Antonio Tejada I've been a Mac user for almost 20 years now, and they are not the company they were. My first experience of them was when my s/h iBook went faulty and they fixed it under warranty even though it was a second user machine. I thought this was fantastic so when I bought a wireless mouse from them, and it went faulty, I wasn't expecting a problem; but their first reaction was to tell me that because the computer I was using it with was out of warranty that the mouse wasn't covered by the warranty. I pointed out that the mouse was a separate purchase and had its own warranty and their next move was to try to offload the responsibility onto the manufacturer. Only after a long tussle and threats of legal action did they agree to replace it.
Then I bought my first Intel iMac and after just 13 months the display became unusable. Apple's first response was to say that it wasn't covered and that i should have bought Apple Care. Then I found out that a guy in France had forced Apple to acknowledge responsibility for it. I contacted them again and they said that any ruling in France was not binding upon them in the UK so basically "see you in court, mate". As for the alleged "recall" this may have happened in the US, but I know of no-one in the UK with this problem who's had it fixed by Apple under any global recall. They certainly didn't contact me about it even thought they were aware of the problem, and even though it's a very well documented manufacturing fault, at no time they did acknowledge to me that it was anything other than an isolated case. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a Mac-phobe, but I'm not a fanboy either. The best I can say about their customer services is that it is inconsistent. If you contrast it with, say, Dell, they are not the easiest to contact when things go wrong either. You have to jump through a lot of hoops before you get to actually talk to someone from Apple unless you have an Apple Store nearby or happen to know people who work for them (which, fortunately I do). Dell, on the other hand, seem to have superb customer support. Unfortunately you do need it a lot...
I also find their "nanny knows best" attitude towards software development irritating and patronising. While their OS and it's interface is probably the best in the world (just my opinion) they seem hell bent on ruining it by over-egging the pudding. Then there's the forced upgrades. Software that doesn't work as intuitively as it should yet they still spin it as being "the best". Numbers is a prime example. I couldn't wait to ditch Excel for Numbers which has some really nice features; only to find out that it lacks a "transpose" command, something which is fundamental to a lot of the things I do with a spreadsheet. Apple's response: "no-one uses the transpose function anyway so we didn't bother with it" despite the fact that it would have been simplicity itself to implement. About four years later they announce, with fanfares, a "great new feature; the transpose function!!" Because, apparently, we all did want it after all... They just couldn't bring themselves to admit that they'd dropped a bollock and forgot to include it, because, in Excel (and in AppleWorks before that) it's tucked away in a weird, counter intuitive "Paste Special" dialogue box.
Until Yosemite came a long (which, despite some bugs in the beta version is the most stable and speedy OS since Snow Leopard) I was seriously considering jumping ship to Linux because you hear a lot from Apple about "controlling the user experience", and I don't want my user experience controlled, thanks. i want to be able to work with my computer the way I want to rather than be forced to use Apple's idea of how I should be working with it.
My big problem with Apple is that they don't really listen to their users and a lot of us long term, power-users are getting pissed off with them. A friend of mine runs a post-production studio and has about two dozen Mac Pros, all rack mounted. He's just ditched Apple in favour of a Hackintosh option because the new mac Pro design (the vacuum cleaner) isn't compatible with his studio any longer.
Sorry if you're a fanboy and my opinion offends you but it is born of experience and not one I have formulated on a whim.
***** For what it's worth, I've been a Mac user since 1992, so I've seen all but the earliest days of Apple's support. It's also possible that their UK support was worse than what I have experienced in USA and Switzerland, the places I've lived. In my experience, Apple's support was its worst in the mid-1990s, with widespread stories of people giving up after waiting on hold for an hour without getting through. Local support was at the whim of the local dealer, who might have been great, or horrid. Ever since about 2000, it's been vastly better, especially in the stores, where store managers have wide latitude to go beyond what's required. (An example: A few years ago, my sister spilled water on her MacBook. She took it to the local Apple Store, hoping to be able to get it back within the week without it costing a fortune, since obviously it's user error. Not only did they fix it under warranty anyway, they quoted a 3-hour turnaround -- and then called her after just 45 minutes and said it was ready.)
Anyhow, all I said was "Apple's support isn't perfect, but it's far ahead of what any other computer or phone manufacturer gives." I'm not sure how that makes me a "fanboy" (a loaded term used by folks who want to distract from the factual basis of a discussion). Saying that a given company merely has the least-bad support isn't necessarily praise, just pointing out that everyone else is much, much worse. The grass is NOT greener on the other side.
And I still don't understand how extending warranty coverage MAKES them appalling, which was the original claim of yours I am disputing.
I had the same issue. I ended up wiggling the wiring around to make a good connection and then glued it in place. It beats soldering the little connections but not quite at secure. So far it's working well. Hopefully it will hold up over time.
Thanks for the comment, you are lucky to be able to get away with that, I would worry that heat up/cool down cycles will eventually cause enough movement to make that fail again, but if its working for you now thats a good fix :) thank you for sharing. Gerry
There are several folks showing the "6 wire" fix. The sockets on each side of the display backside are actually on the LED strips (2 that go across the backside) You can buy new LED strips (the sockets on them) for $15.00 310mm LED Backlight Lamp strip bar 36leds For Apple 27" LCD LM270WQ1 SD C2 MB270B2U SDA2 SDB1 SDE3 SDE5 SDF1 LGT2781 LGT2795. Or you can solder directly onto the LED strip as shown in this video. These panels are LG. Takes longer to put in the new strips, but you are not cutting the socket and soldering to the LED strip. More work, same result, but not a modified display.
I've worked for Apple for about 14 years. I'm a Senior Advisor. The issue you're describing isn't unheard of. What we usually will do is try to 'Capture' the device. That means, we'd like to send you a box and have the computer sent to our engineers to look at. If they get enough devices with the same issue and it is determined to be our fault (as you seem to be describing), they will issue a repair at no charge to you.They just need to get enough units with the same issue, determine the repair and move forward with it. Obviously, some troubleshooting would be required. BTW, with your permission, I'd like to share this video with our engineers.
+Thomas McKee feel free to share the video, trust me there is a lot of them with the same fault (just see the comments on this video), its a manufacturing issue with the panel, its not Apple's fault as such but its a shame they did not stand by their customers with this. I have another 27" in my garage with the exact same fault (which I really need to get around to fixing one day). There was even at one time a class action against apple for it, not sure what happened in the end.
+Thomas McKee would you like to pick mine up? I sent my Apple store a link to this video months ago and got no reply. I gave up and replaced it with a PC, wiped it this week to sell it but its virtually worthless if it comes with a repair cost. its a 27 inch from 2011.
If only… !!! 🤥🤬😭 I lost 3 machines due to obvious manufacturing failures. Only 1 of them made it into a repair program… unfortunately 5 or 6 years too late. I just heard of it by accident. No official announcement , nor any notification of the customer. At least, that‘s the real world and service situation in Germany. Shame on Apple.
I have the exact problem with my iMac 27, mid 2011. I am sure that I am having the same issue. I removed the glass and when I press on the lower left of the monitor in the front of where you show the bad connection it comes back. Cannot wait to break into it tomorrow. Thank you for the video.
+Jon A. Hegreness you are welcome, good luck with it. Gerry
+Jon A. Hegreness Jon, Were you able to fix yours? I have a 2011 now, same problem.
+nicholas harris I have not been able to fix the issue. I took the entire machine and it was pretty exact to this video. I am familiar with how to solder and am pretty comfortable in my skill with larger projects like a stereo or a kids toy, but this was just too small a solder for any tools I own. I put it back together and hope to pickup the fight another day. I am replying to you from a new Macbook, but do plan to try someday in the near future, but have not found the soldering iron small enough at the two stores I stopped at. This really is a very small project. I can see it is doable.....maybe not with my current level of skill.
+nicholas harris PS, I am convinced this is the same issue with mine. The little connector was more stuck to the tape, then the connection it was supposed to have. The connection was definitely broken.
I would have thought the same thing which was to rewire each individual contact but I wouldn't have actually done it because of how complicated that task would be. But you went ahead and did it and went through all the tediousness of it all. And it worked! Wonderful I congratulate you! You sir are a real pro thanks for putting this up.
Omg, this is definitely the fix for my 27” iMac! Now I need to scramble the courage to do this to my Mac 😱
Hey there Gerry. Thanks for your video. I had this exact problem with my mid 2011 27in. I attempted the fix as you did here but I cocked up the soldering and ended up tearing off a couple of pads on the LED board. I used Cat5 cores as the hook-up wire....no good, to rigid.
So I disassembled the panel, rather carelessly as I thought all was lost. Finally got to the LED PCB, everything has to come apart and out to get to it. I scratched myself some new pads and tinned them, cut up a USB cord to get fine stranded wire and soldered on some legs as you did. Re-assembled the panel. I couldn't manage to solder to the legs of the socket so I cut the plug off the feeder and connected each of the 6 cores wire to wire with heat sleeve.
All works now except think I left an eye lash between the LCD and backlight layers.
Hi Matt,
Glad you got it sorted in the end (apart from the eyelash feature you added)...I wanted to find another one and do a full panel teardown but none of the ones I have access to have so far failed: ( Oh well, I am sure they will at some point. Thanks for the feedback...
Gerry
Thank you soo much for posting this video. I took mine apart and realized that the soldering was a bit out of my skill level (such a small little hole!) so I just convinced a local Mac repair man to do it for me for a few bucks and I'm back to good as new. I've been living with that darkened screen for 2 years now.....so glad I found your video. THANKS!
HI ***** thats great to hear, glad it is all sorted and glad the video helped, thank you for watching. Gerry
I'm wondering about folk in Australia that have had the problem and what their experiences have been getting this sorted by Apple as I have the same problem and rely heavily on my computer being a teacher. Gerry thanks so much for what you do! I'm sure you don't benefit directly from the vids you do but I and many others appreciate the effort. I may not be able to fix the issue but it's good to be forearmed so that I know something and repairers have less of a chance of ripping me off.
Holy cow! I just pulled my screen out, hoping that it was just the plug-in connector that might have been faulty. No joy. Further searching brought me to your video. Sadly, my soldering skill is not at the level of your own, so I think I'll learn to live with a dim corner of the screen for a little big longer.
Did you try jacking the connector in tightly with a wedge? A connection held by force may work fine, as it isn't a data link.
Great info even 9 years later. Having already done the "bake the graphics card" trick I just assumed it was that failing again, but no.. It's a new failure to deal with. I'll probably do exactly what you did. Thanks very much.
Gary. Thank you for taking up some of your valuable time to make this very useful video. It was extremely interesting but presents a real concern for me as I have just spent my hard earned cash on a 27" iMac. I have also just bought my junior designer at work an iMac that suddenly showed screen ghosting the other day AND my colleague's new Macbook Pro died recently too with its expensive logic board needing replacement with just four months left of the 1 year warranty! I've been a lifelong Mac user but a PC has never seemed so inviting right now.
Hi Stuart, as far as I am aware the newer 27" macs do not suffer this problem. I am all for Apple having quality issues so long as they sort them, its a great shame with all the recent press about how much money they have in the bank that they are not prepared to sort out customer issues - that will be their downfall if they keep it up. Anyways, for all the problems I have had with my Mac on balance I still prefer it over windows :) Gerry
My 27 iMac had same problem after I put a new hard drive in it but I was able to fix it without going through all of this I just took the screen off again and firmly pushed in that corner and reseated all the cables and thankfully it's back to normal.
Thank you for posting this video Gerry, I just repaired my 27" iMac i7 you saved me $640.00 from a local repair shop as im no longer under warranty! I also have subscribed and sharing your video with my iMac Club!
Great news, I am glad the video was useful. Thank you for sharing
Thanks Gerry, have saved several iMacs with this useful information.
For this planning on doing this repair... It requires experience at soldering precisely, the pads are less than 1mm apart and you have a limited range of movement due to the access. You are going to want to flux things up. Do not attempt if you have not tried soldering before as you will more than likely do more damage than good. Find someone who can solder and buy them a beer.
Thank you so much for the instructions. I tried this fix today and quickly realized that I was not equipped to perform this repair. As you point out the solder points are difficult to access and are very tight together - my shaky hands and lack of proper instruments were creating all kinds of trouble performing there repair - BUT I managed to fix my monitor using a different approach (not being one to give up). Instead of soldering the connecter back to the board, I was able to use a small piece of soft plastic to wedge the connector into place. Essentially putting downward pressure on the connector onto the board was enough to make the connections and run power to the LED array. The difficult part was that I had to conduct the operation with the computer running and facing down with the screen off center so I could access the rear opening - very tricky. With the system running I could then very carefully move the connection until it place (being very careful not to touch the live connecter to the external metal housing - rear or LCD) and align it to the board and secure it with the rubber piece which pushes the connector to the board. Once it was aligned and I could tell the array was lit, I used a glue gun to fill the opening and essentially secure the connector, rubber piece, and cable. Its now back to working condition. Although I could not conduct your prescribed fix, I did want to thank you for providing the details needed for me to fix my monitor.
Carlos Lacourt 'thank you for the feedback, its awesome that you have effected a fix, well done. Gerry
Gerry Sweeney Gerry - Well it turns our that my solution was rubbish and only last a few days. Instead I got the rights tools and performed the fix and you suggested and now its fixed right. Thanks Gerry!
Carlos Lacourt Great to hear...Gerry
Well done on the solder, like a surgeon!
The other day I got some screen burn on my imac, I'm sure it's fine but it's 2 years old and after searching google it seems it's a common issue. I'd be upset it got worse.
I've got a circa 2012, Korean 27" Crossover 27QLED-P IPS Monitor with an LG LM270WQ1(SD)(E3) LG panel in it, which seems to be the same as the imac panel. Same half-dim problem, and lo and behold when I took her apart this connector had become un-soldered. Unfortunately I only have a wide, flat tip $2 soldering iron so it's time to do some research about what decent iron I ought to buy in that regard. Thanks for the video!
Please get rid of that non compliant plug which is inserted into the twin 13A socket. Your bench sockets are probably already fused down to 13A or less, but the cable on that thing is unlikely to be able to survive a fault.
Really nice fix, well done getting in there with the soldering iron, did look very tricky!
Thanks for the feedback - it was a bit tricky but not too bad. Gerry
Could you use solder glue I suck at soldering
I was lucky, I had the same issue on the left bottom on the screen, but the connector was still very firmly connected. I simply used some contact cleaner and IPA to clean the contacts and the backlight was bright and even over the entire screen again. HOWEVER…. When turning it on I noticed a “stain” could be seen on the left lower corner which actually made the whites really clear white instead of greyish. I pretty much soon concluded that the fluids had run between the LCD and the backlight panel and caused this stain. I had some hope it would dry up, but soon I realised what probably happened is that the IPA probably cleaned the backlight panel and LCD from existing dust.
So….following this I will go on and open the entire screen and clean it. I think if you have this connector issue and are already needing to fix it, it’s best to also go for the full stretch to clean the inside between the backlight and LCD.
Mr Gerry. You are doing a great job under difficult conditions, so, STOP APOLOGISING for stuff that could be made better. I have worked in much more difficult conditions than this and I am impressed with your efforts. If anyone complains about lighting - Screw Em'!
After attempting this repair I'd like you to know that you are AMAZING with a soldering iron. The magnifying lens is much needed as that hole is very small. I would also advice anyone without soldering experience to seek help. This is not a project for beginners.
+Eddie Parks thanks for the feedback, I have been yielding a soldering iron since I was about 8 years old so i have had plenty of practice. I hope you got yours sorted in the end. Regards, Gerry
just got myself a used 27" iMac with this problem. As I dont know what is going to happend with the seller (i got a 12 month garantuee) i will keep this video as a backup option :)
Excellent video - Like Dirty Harry says, "A man's got to know his limitations" and with my cataracts, lack of tools, and poor soldering skills I will appreciate your accomplishment but will not try to replicate - luckily most of my screen is still pretty well lit and I've lived with it for several months already, so my nine-year-old iMac (still with built-in Superdrive!) will have to suffice until something really bad happens, and probably past time for a new one anyway
This seems to be the exact problem we are having with our 27" iMac, thanks for the video! It's unfortunate Apple isn't taking responsibility for this.
Thank you, Gary for this video. The same problem appeared now at my iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010). I will contact Apple Support in Slovenia to see what solutions they will offer and for what cost and if they will change anything I will first try to fix it myself also.
Great work! I have had the same issue with this model and Apple did the same thing to me. Instead of giving Apple another dime, I repaired the screen myself and have never bought another Apple product since then. Apple lost out on thousands more dollars from me because they don't acknowledge problems with their own hardware and only offer replacements as the solution.
Worked but soldering the pins is quite advanced. You need a really steady hand and solid core or something similar
You are simply brilliant Gerry! I can't believe the patience you have to perform such tedious feats of "surgery". My brother-in-law has reported exactly the problem you show and called me to see if I knew of a fix. Thanks to the "wonder" of RUclips, you have provided the answer, once again, I might add. Cheers Gerry, keep up the good work for the average grunt who gets shafted by Apple. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac, but the powers to be are less than gracious in admitting problems such as this.
Kevin Colson thanks for the feedback Kevin, glad the video has been of some help to you. Gerry
Thanks for sharing. I have the same problem! I use my iMac for illustration and it's really frustrating because I can't see the proper values and shades of color on my paintings. I think I will give this a try this weekend. Thanks!
Would think fix apply to the same iMac where the top half of the screen is dark but the bottom half is bright? Thanks for the great tutorial! When I turn the machine on the top half will be bright for a few seconds and then flicker to dark.
Thank you very much for the tutorial, i've sucessfull repaired my 27" display on imac from 2011.. thank you sir
Thank you for the video. This was a great help. I would add the need to use a multimeter to check the connections to ensure that the solder did not bridge the electrical connection between the slots before putting the machine back together.
109,270 views, but Apple refuses to admit there's a problem. Now, if they can't admit their mistakes, how can they improve on them?
Thanks for this, Gerry. I'll be trying this on a friend's iMac that has this problem.
hi gerry, an absolutely fantastic tutorial and solution to the problem! and i think you are being too humble when you call what you did "not good"... i was amazed and through your video now have the juju to try this myself on my daughters imac... thanks once again! stay healthy!!!
regards, colin from berlin, germany
Hi Colin, thanks for the feedback. Good luck with the repair, I hope it goes well for you. Gerry
your on to something here brother... I have tried so many things and literally gave up I my 27" iMac.. I'm going to try this tomorrow. if it works I'm going to post and give you credit. either way, great video.
Going to maybe try and do this fix this weekend! The Mac I bought from a friend had this pre-existing condition when I purchased it. Hope this works! Thanks.
Come and live in Australia. We have consumer protection that guards against these sorts of problems. Basically we have a body (ACCC) that provides several consumer protections.It basically says that depending on the price paid for a unit( the higher the price the longer it should be expected to last ) the consumer has a reasonable expectation that it will last a reasonable amount of time. The actual 12 months or so guarantee is partly irrelevant, and the manufacturer can be forced to repair or replace after a reasonable useage period even if out of actual warranty. Google ACCC to check.
Interesting... On the phone I have had AppleCare give me an estimate of up to $400. Not the same screen issue but a different one. Then in the Apple store I have walked in thinking the worst and when the tech came out they said the issue was a production fault and repair was no charge. When I asked why AppleCare didn't mention it, the response was that they are supposed to give the worse case scenario for out of warranty item repairs and they determine if there are any hardware exceptions.
I'm amazed by the level of skill and patience to complete this! Excellent job and I have a funny feeling this is what my old iMac from early 2009 is starting to show so I may have to find someone with your skills to repair it at some point!
Thanks for the feedback, I have been soldering for more than 40 years on and off so it was not too much of a challenge - it was a pain in the ass though. Gerry
Very interesting indeed! I discovered that thanks to you.
However:
Why make it simple when you can make it complicated...
Instead of destroying the plastic contactor, I put a drop of WD4O, for electrical contacts, two small wedges (mini nails) to force the contacts towards the welds. Adhesive, reassemble the screen, test, bingo!
What kind of mini nails did you use? Can you give me the names of the products? I would be forever grateful.
@@kryptonkiller It's not a nails problem, I wanted to push electric contacts together to reconnect them. I hove chosen that way...
Update to my fix. It failed after awhile. I've tried it again several times with no luck. I guess that soldering is the best fix, but not sure if I can do it.
Thanks for sharing. It's been so long since I've heard of this issue, I had forgotten about it. The technique is certainly applicable in a range of surface mount failures. As I always buy used equipment, seeing this reminder and solution may help me avoid grief someday.
Great video. I have the exact same issue with a faulty DGM 27" monitor I purchased. It's a poor manufacturing fault that they must have remedied since. Anyway fantastic. Got a fix for free thanks to your video. 👍
I have a Shimian monitor with the same panel and that same problem and and i have known how to fix it but have been on the fence for some time. But after watching this video i may give it a go.
Hi. I was just about to di this because of dull screen in right side. But when i got alle the tape off i saw that the cabel wasnt loose as yours. But the other end of the cable that connects to the logic board was not connected right. So i just put i back together and now it works great. I was just a loose cable.
Thank you very much for this great guide, it led me in the right direction.
My problem was a bit trickier as my connector was not loose. Only one pad was loose so I had to get to the connector from the front to solder it back in place.
It is a lot harder and I was very close to render my screen useless a few times so I dont recommend it unless you are very good with delicate electronics.
But I was able to solder it back and now my screen is as good as new again :)
Great vid.Thanks for posting. I have a similar problem with my iMac 27 late 2009 that has been re-occurring for a while that Apple couldn't or wouldn't answer . My screen blanks out completely and even the repair shop over a year ago couldn't work it out until i noticed turning the brightness down seems to delay the screen closing.My tv monitor works fine so i know its not the actual screen on the comp that has issues...more recently it has blanked out on the lower brightness setting and after seeing your vid will attempt to cure it.Thanks again.Very helpful.
No need to solder a simple dry connection will be quite adequate. Simply pack out the gap behind the pin jack until connection to the lcd is forcefully successful. secure with tape, Job done!
No, just seems the easiest way to tackle the problem.
Excellent video! I don't think I could do that fix myself but that explained everything. Thank you for the awesome camera angels and everything too.
Hello...Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Since the soldering process is not clearly visible, I dont know how can I solder each cable to each pin on the board.. How did you solder each one individually in such a narrow space. My iron barely fits in... :(
Greetings Gerry. Great Video, very very helpful indeed. I have a iMac Cinimar Screen 24” Model A1267, which basically started to slowly not light up at all. It started with a flickering screen, so if I pulled the square plug out of the back of my iMac, & plugged in the Cinimar Screen plug immedatly again, the screen would flicker showing the details behind. Started with 4 or 5 pull the plug in and then out and it would light up. Stayed stable until the unit was switched off. Now, 6 months later, it will no longer light up, so it appears to me the whole LCD backlight has failed. Looks like a dry joint to me because with the slightest flicker when pushing in the little square plug, I get a micro second view of the screen saver, so it’s all there, just dark. Your plug repair looks like the problem, but before I attempt this, does this tiny 6 pin plug operate the entire backlight, not just one corner. If so, I’m about to copy your repair. Love to hear your comment before doing this. Maybe thanks and Greeting from Amsterdam.
I am not sure on the 24" MAC to be honest, it may be one connector, on the 27" the connector I repaired was only for half the screen, but its a bigger panel. Good luck with the repair.
Hi Gerry, I've just recently had an issue with the power button on my imac 27, which was a week outside it's warranty. Prior to my warranty expiring I had reported the issue to Apple. They setup a repair ID and I took it along to an Apple store where they replaced the whole housing (incorporating the Power button). On setting up my imac at home, after 4 days the issue reappeared. I took it back to Apple where they then replaced the power board and connecting cable, which is where I am now. On checking out the invoice in my email, which I havent been charged for, Its shows that they have replaced the display panel (661-7169 Display Panel, LCD) I can only assume that what you are describing in your video confirms how fragile the soldered connection is as they have to remove the screen to gain access, but with regards to you fault outside of the warranty, I think you'll find under the sale of goods act, not fit for purpose, you possibly should not have been charged, certain goods that can apply for up to six years, I would have challenged that. Sorry, bit long winded but thought I'd give details of the whole picture, cheers.
+2lomp Yeah that would appear to be true in Europe, I should have tried harder with them, although if you are not prepared to drive to a store and bring the computer with you Apple are not really interested. Anyways, it made a good video so I guess its horses for courses :) Gerry
+Gerry Sweeney Forgot to add, congrats on your repair, nice work.
Thanks man, I have the same issues with imac goes black anytime i put power on will try the connector as you did
I am suffering from exact same problem and visually its exact same. My display is HP Z32X
It's a 32 inch display worth 1599usd. And panel is from Samsung (PLS) . I want to know whether that connector will be located in the same position as in imac. Any help will be appreciated a lot.
Gerry Sweeney Thank you very much for your video, I'm from Guatemala, I would like to know what kind of cable did you used cause I tried and couldn't weld the cable I was using, besides, the space is really small, so I couldn't do it. Instead I fold the little parts that make contact to give it more pressure and it worked. Now my display is at full brightness. I appreciate, thank you very much for your video.
Josh De la Cruz I used 30AWG wire wrap wire, I think I posted the details in the comments here or on the related blog page. Gerry
My IMAC 27 inch 2012 with heavy flickering issue and even I can’t see the screen sometimes . Could you please tell me the solution
Thank you very much for the video. I was able to do the fix (it took awhile to gather the courage), but couldn't solder one of the wires, as the contact disintegrated, but everything looks great on the display, so who knows-lucky? It's been lighting up fine for about 8 months. Definitely difficult to see clearly enough to access the contacts in the recess where the connector sat, and such a tiny work area! I ended up just soldering on wire extensions instead of re-using the male part of the connector. Used some fine insulated wire pulled from old electronics for the extensions. Couldn't have done it without your help Gerry : ))
moquiti great news, glad it helped you out and you have it working. Well done, its a tricky job for sure so +1 for your soldering skills. I suspect that the 6 wires might be parallel wired for current handling which would explain why you got away with missing one wire. Luck you :) Gerry
Great video... I had given up hope for my iMac with this exact problem and don't use it any more... I'm not sure I have the skill to pull this off, but may give it a try versus never using my Mac anymore. Thanks for the guide.
Mark Gundersen well if you are not using it at all you have nothing to lose I guess :) There are places that will fix it for you that don't charge anything like what Apple would - where are you based? Gerry
I'm in Stockport, Manchester. I've just been googling fine tip soldering irons, I may have a crack at this! You mentioned you had another video explaining how to get the cover off and get to the Gubbins, I don't suppose you have that link handy? Thanks.
Mark Gundersen Yeah sure, here it is. gerrysweeney.com/apple-27-imac-teardown-ssd-hack-and-2tb-upgrade/
Gerry Sweeney good luck with the repair, and question feel free to ask. If you do end up break it irreversibly or not being able to effect the repair and you want to sell it broken I would be interested in taking it off your hands so I can make another video...if you want to contact me you will find my email address at the bottom of this page gerrrysweeney.com/about/ Gerry
Thanks a lot Gerry.... I'll let you know how I get on either way and I'll keep your offer in mind. I imagine it may be a week or so until I can get the time aside to have a decent crack at this. Cheers.
Great tutorial I have a screen problem with mine the screen was flickering black then it would work fine for a while it did this many times until it stayed black. It still boots up you can hear it firing up just nothing on screen. Do you have any idea how to fix this thanks
Just tried to do it without a magnifier and i screwed it up. So i disassembled the panel and took out the led strip. But some copper paths have fallen of maybe i put some excessive heat. And trying to find a replacement for the led strip
In humid heat the screen gets watermark lines. You think Apple would've tested for that before putting them for sale!
I'm curios to know if just building up the contacts via tinning would have improved the contact enough for the connections to work. Perhaps that would not be any easier than soldering on the jumper wires.
Bill Garnett There is no way to get the soldering iron into the hole with the connector there too, the only way to do it is to solder wires or take the panel apart completely and re-solder the connector onto the board. If I get another broken one I am going to try stripping the panel down to see how hard it is.
Gerry, after replacing inflated capacitors in my iMac 5 the Mac will not power up. Two LEDs on the motherboard indicate the voltages are good, I can se the hard drive trying to boot up, but the screen is dark and the typical bong sound does not come up. Your help will be appreciated. JYoung
I was unfortunate to have the exact same problem happen to me, when I was, get this, two days out of warranty. Went in ad they asked for £500 which I obviously wasn't prepared to pay for an iMac that was a year old. Was gutted, still am, it's been left ever since.
I'm competent taking my Mac to bits, but really not very good at soldering at all, would love to find someone in Scotland UK that could help me out with this.
Thanks for this very useful video. My iMac has been like this for so long and mostly taking up space. Even with the iMac being quite old now it still has it's uses because it's such a beautiful screen. I have watched your video a few times and decided to take the plunge. I am halfway through the job and make no mistake it's really tricky but there is no going back!! Even though I had a fine tip, I just haven't managed yet. I have ordered a 0.2mm bent tip for my soldering iron and am waiting on that before I continue. Wish me luck!
Good luck with the repair. Glad you found the video of some use
Just found your channel Gerry, inspired me to finally fix my iMac screen and also upgrade the drives. Loving your videos, good work!
Wondering if using hot air to either reflow, or resolder, the connector in place would cause damage to either the connector or surrounding components. If not, I'm tempted to try it. Please let me know what you think.
Heelo, I have the same issue with my lachine from early 2014 and had issues right after warranty period that I extended to 3 years. Even though I have lots of issues with this machine Apple refused to take responsibility of the repair. That's why I stopped buying Apple product even though they have good products and espcially I was a huge fan, I started with Apple with Macintosh. Too bad.
Thanks for the great tutorial. Now I have to fix my iMac... Pitty Apple does not acknowledge that this still is a problem! They told me my iMac is to old and then cannot repair it! Wow how about value for money (Not!)
Gerry, Thanks so much for the video. I'm getting ready to attempt the repair, and i'm trying to figure out what gauge wire you used. I thought I already saw this question on another comment, but I cant find it today. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks again for the great video!
+Thomas Hill your welcome, thank you for the feedback.
Great video, I was glad to see you attempt it before I did. Wasn't sure what problems to expect.
Same problem here. mac replaced the cable but it still is not working. Now the want to replace the backlight.. if that doesn't work a new screen. I don't know that it is worth the $500 for a 2011 imac... uhg!!!
Hi Garry
That was a great video ,, Thank you
Currently I`m dealing with a backlight problem in iMac late 2013 size 21.5"
The screen is totally dark , when I put a light on it I can see it works fine,
also, I connected the iMac to my TV lcd screen and everything works just fine.
Any ideas or help with this issue will be really appreciated
So I attempted this operation. One of the pads that you solder the wire to came off! I take it I out of luck with getting full LED light working on my auria monitor that uses the same LG panel inside as the macs?
Hi Jerry, just to let you know i've tried your fix and it worked. Thank you for posting your video; it saves me a lot of money and 'Apple Support'-frustrations... A BIG THANKS
Hi Michael van der Wilden glad it helped, good news on the repair. Thank you for watching. Gerry
Merci beaucoup pour ce tutoriel qui m’a convaincu de tenter la réparation. Elle a été très délicate, mais a parfaitement fonctionné.
Great job men. But I can't see where you attached the cable. Is it on a specific spot or you just place them randomly?
Hi I have a mid 2010 27inc, after 2mins the screen goes black, but you can still hear the computer running in the background I thought it was the graphic card but after watching your video I’m now thinking it’s not the graphic card it’s probably the screen if you hit the escape button on the keyboard the screen comes back for about a minute if you press the on button at the rear of the Mac screen comes on for at least a minute or two then cuts out again, i’m like your Macaway half the screen went black my one is completely black.
My 2010 27" IMAC has this problem. Would replacing the LCD screen with a used screen solve this issue? I hope you see this comment as I would appreciate a recommendation. I could never solder the connection like you did in the video. Thank You
Gran trabajo, muchas gracias. Espero poder hacer ese arreglo, solo tengo que aprender a soldar.
Also many thanks for the video Gerry! I tried and sadly failed, cleaned (scratched) the solder that went between two connectors but this makes it all the more harder to see what I am doing now as there is no clear line between the connectors anymore. Need to buy one off those lighted magnifiers you have, I started off on the wrong foot to begin with. But all is not lost...afraid I need to take that screen apart if i am ever properly going to see what i am doing. Trying to find some help with the disassembly online, that one step further that you yourself went and talk about maybe doing some day. By any chance have you come across a video or pics of a disassembly of this or similar model LG screen? Anyways thanks again for the video.
Hi stefan van de staak I came across this video, shows stripping down the panel to clean the glass... ruclips.net/video/ziN5KhzshcI/видео.html
Gerry Sweeney
Hey Gerry, thx. But yeah I came across this clip to, there are a couple of clips like that, cleaning the 'clouds'. But I am looking for going beyond the white surface and getting to the other side. I'll keep looking for a bit but am afraid I just need to try and see how far I get...and probably buy a new screen.
First, Congrats for this video tutorial, the camera work is good despite the lens limitations, and repair explanation is fully detailed.
I had lived with this dull screen corner you're talking about for some time, since it wasn't too dark, but today my whole screen went all darker. My imac is an intel 27 inch late 2009. Watching this tutorial gives me some hope i can repair this with some help, since i can't pay for a new screen. I'll post here if i can do this little surgery succesfully. Thanks Gerry!
***** Thanks for the comments, good luck with the repair. You may find though if the whole screen is now dark that its the PSU the drives the backlight and not the screen, just be aware of that. Gerry
Hello Gerry, the technician who's helping me with this Imac followed your tutorial and got the screen to light up the darkest corner, though he only could solder 5 pins, The screen still is somewhat dull. I don´t know what is the PSU fail that you mention. Is there any information online about this PSU problem, where to locate it and fix it? Thanks in advance for any hint you could give us!
***** I would first make sure that all 6 wires are connected, thats probably important. The PSU can fail but I have never tried to repair one, people generally just replace the board so I doubt you will find anything specific on line. Gerry
Thanks Gerry, i'll check those pins...
Hi Gerry, I'm about to attempt this repair...I've gotten the teardown done and found that the the plug had come loose..the same as yours. So far, so good...now I am about to attempt the soldering....I have the tools and wire but the tip on my soldering iron looks too blunt. Are you using a micro-tip on the iron? Right now it does look like its going to be brain surgery but I have nothing to loose,right? Thanks,Richard
The tip is pretty small, pencil type tip. I have another iMac to repair with the same fault, I plan on doing an video and attempting to strip the actual display panel down to fix the connecter problem properly without having to do the micro surgery. Not sure when I will get around to this though so I would not wait for me. The point is thats another option for you. Gerry
Thought so..I'll look for a smaller tip. We killed 2 birds with one stone; when opening the case and taking out the display we were able to get a ton of dust out of the fans and all over the body..LOTS of dust...I suspect this has caused overheating and shutting down the system entirely ( screen goes black).
hi gerry, i saw your video, that was a really good job. i have a question, i have a 27" iMac, same like that video and on my screen, i don't know why, when open google page, on entire color white or blank my screen stars blinking, and sometimes turn into green color, specially on bottom on the screen, what do i have to do about this? can you give me some advise please? thank you.
I've got the same problem and will try your fix later this week! Any tips? Do you remember how many watts you used? Great vid, thanks!
Hi Jonas, you do not need much heat, I used a variable temp 17w iron with a very fine tip. Use leaded solder and pretty much any fine tipped soldering iron will do the job. Good luck with the repair. Gerry
Well bravo how the hell i am going to do that, is there any simpler way, like put more pressure on the cable??
Great repair ! I would have taken the whole screen apart, you've got some soldering skills ! Great video, really enjoyed that one.
Thanks Tom, if I ever repair another one I will take the whole screen apart next time to see how easy it is :) This was a quick fix as I needed the computer the next day. Gerry
Thanks a bunch for your video. Right now I am in the middle of doing it myself with the help of a professional soldering technician :)
The workspace of the failure is absolutely tiny, though! How did you manage to solder it so well?? Anyway buen trabajo y saludos desde México!
+Alephsus good luck with the repair. I have been soldering stuff on and off for 40 years, so with that comes experience which helps. You are right the opening is 11mm wide so its a pretty small amount of space to work in. Just have patience, a small soldering iron, thind solder and some thin single core wire and you will get there. Gracias y saludos desde Londres