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TFin04

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Aug 21, 2005
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I've seen a few of your posts about you being a Macintosh tech and had a quick question for you.

I have an older iBook (The second generation White 12" ones) which recently started having problems with the screen going blank if it was opened too far. I found online that it is a simple wiring problem, and ordered the replacement wire set from smalldogs.com. The local computer repair wanted $400 to fix it, and the wires cost a measly $27.

Now, I've got almost my whole computer apart (I've done work with some electronics before and am used to working with small parts, I DO feel I can handle this task). and I cant get to the wires I need. I've removed every screw I can see to separate the entire circuit board from the shell, but it still wont come apart. It seems the top middle part of the UPPER shell is still screwed/glued in place, and I dont want to break it. Yes I know my warranty is ka-put, but it expired years ago anyway, and I am NOT investing $400 back into this machine, so I had nothing to lose.

Do you have any tips for me? Sorry for the long post, I hope you could follow it pretty easily. I can get pictures if that would help.

Thanks a lot.
 
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Ahh yes, the infamous "Reed Switch" issue.....

interesting aside, i actually used to work for Smalldog a couple years back, but long story short, they went on a hiring binge, then Apple started being jerks and screwing them over, so they had to downsize the service department, i was one of the "lucky" ones....

it was a business decision, i understand why they did it, and bear them no ill will, heck, if they'd rehire me, i'd go back in a minute, great place to work for...

anyway...

the reed switch is *not* a good first-time repair, as it requires totally dissasembling the entire computer, the lower half of the unit that contains the keyboard/hard drive/optical/etc... i.e. the guts of the machine, and you also need to take apart the display and remove it from the computer, as the cables for the reed switch run through the right hand side of the display hinge

you need a Torx-6 to pull the 4 screws holding the screen cover on, and a non-marring plastic pry-tool to seperate the screen cover from the display frame (start prying down near the display hinge, the cover should simply pop off once you release enough friction catches

with the back of the display off, find the reed switch cabling, follow it to the inverter board in the base of the screen bezel frame (the white plastic frame around the iBook display, the part with the word "iBook" silkscreened on it) and pull the connector out of the inverter board, then unscrew the two phillips screws holding the display hinge cover in place (actually, only unscrew the one that the reed switch cabling goes through, *loosen* the other one, but don't totally unscrew it, be *very careful* at this point, as there are two very small plastic trim pieces in the display hinge, they like to fall out, and they're a royal pain in the arse to re-seat in the hinge...

then follow the reed switch wires up to the board (a green circuit board with a tiny leaf-spring in a glass tube), remove the size 0 jeweler's phillips screw, and remove the old reed switch board, reverse the procedure, before you run the reed switch cabling through the display hinge again, get a short length of electrical tape and tape that wiring bundle together, use a couple of layers, but don't overdo it

once the cable bundle has been taped together, then put the hinge cover back on and screw it down, reseat the reed switch cable wires, and reverse the dissasembly procedure to reassemble....

it takes me about 45 minutes to do a reed switch replacement, so you should take it slow, just to be safe....
 
Well I've got almost all the covering off, I can see the back of the lcd screen, and I've disconnected the small circuit board on the reed switch.

However, the wires travel through the hinge down toward the mother board (are they still called that?) and I cant figure out how to get the hinge apart to get to the wires. I'll take a pic of it this afternoon and post it for you, hopefully you can point me in the right direction then.

Thanks for the help, I really appriciate it.
 
there's a size 1 Jewelers Phillips screw on each side of the hinge cover, simply loosen the left one, and remove the right one, you can then carefully pull the hinge cover apart enough to slip the cables out, try not to lose the little plastic trim panel on the outside of the hinge cover....
 
Thanks a lot, you've been a great help. I'll give it another try tomorrow after work when I have some real time and energy to devote to it.

Out of curiosity, do you do any work on the side? If you may be interested in fixing this for me, send me an email at tfineis-at-stu.wccnet.edu ;) with your pricing and the such.

Thanks again.
 
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