G4 iBook reassemble, broke power piece off logic board

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well, i screwed up... i was installing a new hard drive in my brothers 12 inch, 1.33 GHz G4 iBook. apparently when i was disassembling the iBook (which was quite the task) i broke a piece that connects the power button to the logic board.

follow this link to http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/Hard-Drive-Replacement/83/14/Page-12/Upper-Case . its the last step on this page. i pulled up on it just slightly, and didnt realize i broke it until the reassembly. so what now? im fairly sure this will probably need to be replaced and resoldered to the logic board. i dont have the means or the knowledge to do this.

there is an apple store in kansas city, but this iBook is no longer covered on any kind of applecare. would they work on it if i brought it down there? if not, would best buy do it or something? if still nothing, is there some genius on the board that knows how these things work and could fix this for me? any help would be great, as id like to get this thing put back together. thanks.
 
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I'm sure it can be fixed, but I honestly wouldn't attempt to do it myself. The apple store should be able to repair it, but they will most likely charge you a fee since your applecare warranty is up. Best Buy tends to over-price on their tech services, so you should call them both up, explain your situation, and ask for the cost of repair.
 
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Hey Ryan! I just asked you for details in another thread. I've done this more times than I'm willing to admit to. It's a relatively easy fix with a soldering iron. Depending on where you broke it off, superglue may also work. If you run out of options, I'd be happy to try a little surgery on it for you.
 
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Yep, done this too !

The actual contacts that are connected by the button are the two contacts in front of the plastic board connector (the vertical piece that plugs into the power button cable.) All you need to do (using a fine tipped soldering iron) is reflow the two contacts using a little extra solder. Took me 5 mins and I didn't take the board out of the case. Just be careful!
 
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where to solder the connector

I just did the same thing when disconnecting the top shield. Is there a diagram of the logic board to show you were to solder the connector to? I see some remnants of solder but the spacing looks different from that of the connector? is there a link someone can share of a video or diagram of the logic board?
 
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I just did the same thing when disconnecting the top shield. Is there a diagram of the logic board to show you were to solder the connector to? I see some remnants of solder but the spacing looks different from that of the connector? is there a link someone can share of a video or diagram of the logic board?

The connector sticks straight upward with two pins that come off at 90 degrees forwards. The two bits that stick forwards are the contacts that actually solder to the board itself. If you look at that point on the actual motherboard you will see two parallel lines and this is where the connector solders. it is a fiddly job but do-able. You can tell you have the right pads by shorting them out with the laptop powered off as the laptop will power up (they run parallel to the sides of the laptop). There should be some sign of the connector having been soldered there though.
 
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I have circled the area in question in this photo. The 2 parallel lines you are talking about on the logic board, are they the 2 closest together at the bottom of the red circle I have drawn here?

logicboard.jpg


and then the connector plug stands straight up and gets soldered just as it looks here:

powerconnector.jpg
 
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Yes, the first picture looks fine. The connector for the power switch sticks straight upwards with two pins coming out of the bottom front of the connector. These pins seem to be running along the top (unless this is just how it looks in the picture. If it is how it looks then there would be no way of soldering it. If it is how I explained then clearly you can because I did. Basically you need to short out those two solder pads and the power switch is just a make momentarily button. You need to attach a connector to the motherboard that can then attach to you button. If you can get the connector re-soldered then this is fine otherwise you could solder two thin wires to these pads and connect them to the wire from the button.
 
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Oh yes, your question was about which solder pads. It is about a year since I last did this as out other iBook (same spec) has not been taken apart that far. From memory I would have guessed the two parallel thin pads at the front but looking at the picture it looks like the pins have been pulled away from the rear fatter pads! I would hook everything together get a thin piece of wire and touch the two pads with either end. If they are the correct two pads it will start up if not then it will not start. You should be able to tell by holding the connector against the pads.
 
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as for the wires that go into the plug; should the blue be on the left and the white on the right? or does this matter?
 
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well, i attempted to solder and made a complete mess. First I thought I could save time and make life easier if I just superglued the connector plug on to the pads -- and I did a great job too -- until I realized that the computer wouldn't start when I pressed the power button.

So then I broke it free, scraped off some glue, and then tried soldering. I tried just heating the pads and heating the bottom of the connector and then pressing it together and um... nothing happened... so then i tried using some solder, i thought i could build up the pads a little and then heat he pads and press down with the plug connector. This went all wrong --the solder was one big pile that spread over both pads and had no control over it. So then I took all the solder off.

Now it looks like wasteland. I can still start it with a screwdriver. I managed to start it with the connector, but it starts on its own without pressing the power button.

I'm thinking tomorrow to cut the wires from the connector and just solder the wires directly to the 2 tabs.
 
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So I've tried my hand at soldering this logic board with disastrous results. I tried twice today to solder just the wires to the nubs on the board and then start with power button and nothing happened. Then before putting everything away, I tried to jump it with a screwdriver to see if it would start and all I saw after fiddling with it for a long time was that fan spun for a couple seconds.

The green light on the adapter was lit. I don't know if that's an indicator that the board is not shorted out. Maybe the area with the power connector nubs is just so badly worn that I can't start it with a screwdriver any more:

logicboard_dead.jpg


How can you tell if the logic board is shorted out or not?
 
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This happened to me as well. I don't have a soldering iron, so hot glue may be my only option. Any pointers?
 
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Read the thread from the beginning you cannot join two pieces of metal permanently with an insulating material. Yes you can hold the metal so that the pins touch and then glue on top and hopefully they will be held touching but this is likely to break again in days and each time you mess it is getting harder to repair it the correct way.

My suggestion - If you cannot repair it using a soldering iron yourself then take it to a TV repair shop or similar who will likely solder the wires on for £10-£20 or th equivalent in dollars if you live there. If the iBook is already disassembled it is a 5-10 minute job AT MOST and they will be happy to.
 
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it's not easy

The power connector sits on top of the board, so you can not see what you are soldering. You have to heat up the 2 very, very tiny points on the board and heat up the rear of the connector plug and then place them together and hope that they bond together!

The 2 points on the board are like an 1/8 of an inch apart! how do you keep from bridging the areas together I don't know.

This is not an easy task!

update: by the way, my board still looks the same, and I have not worked on it since. I was able to plug the adapter
in and see that it was charging. But as you can see, the 2 pins where the power connector are to be soldered to are worn
down really bad and I was not able to jump the board by using a screwdriver. I'm thinking that board is not dead or
shorted out because I doubt it would even take the charge and finish charging like it did.

Maybe I'll bring it to one of these TV repairmen and see what he can do!
 
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Maybe I'll bring it to one of these TV repairmen and see what he can do!

The reason I said take it to someone like that is the cost. If you take it to a laptop specialist you will be looking at silly money! There are ways round this silly cost: are you a student? - does the college have an electronics course? - will the tutor do it for you if you ask nicely?

It is NOT an easy job for someone with little soldering experience but for someone who really knows what they are doing it is not that bad. Apple changed the design of the component half way through the manufacturing process and the later one is actually easier to fix as the metal contacts stick out forwards rather than under the connector.

If you tin the two contacts on the board then hold the connector over the contacts and USING A CLEAN TIP heat the connector the heat will then melt the solder on the newly tinned contacts and make a connection. This is the correct way to do it.

I see from the image that yours is the one with the contacts that go under the connector. Can these be bent forwards giving it an L shape and resembling the newer connectors design? If so this would certainly make the job simpler!

Oh and lastly: once it is fixed and tested and DEFINATELY working surround the connector on the motherboard with a nice big splodge of hot glue to give it more mechanical strength.

Most people on here are from the US so I assume you are. If you had been from the NW of the UK I would have been happy to show you how to fix it. I can imagine how frustrating this is.
 
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Yes you can hold the metal so that the pins touch and then glue on top and hopefully they will be held touching but this is likely to break again in days and each time you mess it is getting harder to repair it the correct way.

He is right! I glued the connector to the pins hoping that that would work and thought I did a great job, and then when I went to start it nothing happened. After removing the glue it made things a mess and harder to work with.
 

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