iMac G5 20" Mid 2005 (Maybe)

I am sure the CPU is fine. Did something happen when you removed the excess HS grease? To me it looks normal.

Charile, There was one period of time Apple was applying way too much compound on their HS/CPU's but nothing that bad for sure. Some believe the more HS Grease you put the better it works! Grin

chscag said:

Looks like you have quite a few swollen caps to replace. And whoever did that thermal paste job obviously didn't know what they were doing. And no, it didn't come that way from the factory.

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From my account 9 Caps needs replacing (those are the ones that I ordered from my local seller). I sure hope not! These pictures are AFTER I CLEANED IT A BIT! Seriously, there was like 2 gram thermal paste on there! On the backside there was as much on the IBM chip that is placed on the heatsink on the inside of the iMac. Someone emptied a whole tube of Artic Sliver paste on my iMac

dtravis7 said:

I am sure the CPU is fine. Did something happen when you removed the excess HS grease? To me it looks normal.

Charile, There was one period of time Apple was applying way too much compound on their HS/CPU's but nothing that bad for sure. Some believe the more HS Grease you put the better it works! Grin

Click to expand...

First I gentle removed the thermal paste from underneath the plastic shield with my pliers. It was hard, but I was careful. When I saw it was not enough I removed the plastic (I was unsure whether or not I could or should remove it). I don't know if the person before me or the thermal paste maybe removed/damaged the leg a bit? It's very hard to see. Notice the burnt spot above the CPU! I think that is the excessive thermal paste that caused that.

Does anyone know if the leg/pin could pose a problem with booting up the machine? Should I change the Caps and perhaps reflow/reball the GPU before testing if the CPU is OK?

If you think the CPU may be damaged, I would check it first before spending $$$ and time for nothing.

dtravis7 said:

If you think the CPU may be damaged, I would check it first before spending $$$ and time for nothing.

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The thing is I have already bought the things, when I fixed the first one. I don't know if I should try to bridge/repair the leg, if it working. It is really hard to see.

I would recommend not doing anything to it. You don't know if it is bad or not, and trying to "fix" it may make it even worse. I'd say press on, given you have the parts. If it works, it works, if not, then you can try fixing it since at that point you have nothing to lose.

MacInWin said:

I would recommend not doing anything to it. You don't know if it is bad or not, and trying to "fix" it may make it even worse. I'd say press on, given you have the parts. If it works, it works, if not, then you can try fixing it since at that point you have nothing to lose.

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Well said Jake.

UPDATE

Now I've removed the 9 capacitors that needed to be removed. I developed a new technique that only took like 5 seconds to remove each capacitor. First it took me ages, but after I discovered and tried a new approach it was like padding an animal at the zoo

Now I have to decide whether I should try to "repair" the bridge now or wait to see how the machine works, when I have resembled it again. I need to decide whether I should reflow/reball the GPU now or wait to see how it goes after the capacitor replacements. What are your thoughts on the matter?

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MacInWin said:

I would recommend not doing anything to it. You don't know if it is bad or not, and trying to "fix" it may make it even worse. I'd say press on, given you have the parts. If it works, it works, if not, then you can try fixing it since at that point you have nothing to lose.

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I concur. The part is way to small to see properly and I might make it worse. I was thinking in lines of using some sort of conductive glue or something just to bridge it in some way.

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dtravis7 said:

Well said Jake.

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When the man is right, then the man is right I guess

Does anyone know if Heatsink Plaster Stars-922 is conductive as in it would bridge it CPU chip leg/pin? As mentioned in my earlier posts? Item linked below:

https://www.banggood.com/STARS-922-Heatsink-Plaster-CPU-Thermal-Conductive-Glue-With-Strong-Adhesive-For-3D-Printer-p-1297296.html?gmcCountry=DK&currency=DKK&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgs&utm_content=frank&utm_campaign=pla-mix-dk-pc-02&ad_id=336890577290&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIouTp2dia4QIVROR3Ch3MMQJ4EAQYASABEgKjbPD_BwE&cur_warehouse=CNhttp://