iBook G4 with broken hinge

Sad Professor

Last summer I gave my late-2003 iBook G4 1GHz to my mother, who sadly hasn't been as careful with it as I was. First she broke the latch on the lid, and then she let some young relatives of ours use it one night and, of course, they promptly broke the hinge on it. It still works but is making cracking noises every time it is opened, and I reckon it's going to break the display cable and airport antenna before long.

Anyone have experience of getting a hinge fixed? Any idea how much it would cost? Is there any point?

I see the parts on Ebay and I could do it myself, but I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle of dismantling the whole bloody thing only for something else to happen to it a week later - it is old after all. But it's a great machine that still works perfectly otherwise.

Any advice?

ZENER

Hiya Prof. Replacing the hinges on that Powerbook takes about 3 hours if you take your time and care with remembering where everything goes. There is a very strong possibility of damaging the video cable if you leave it as it is !! This happened to the one I did recently and involved getting a replacement cable.

The tricky part is getting the screen dismantled without causing too much damage to the lid. As far as I can see it's impossible to do this without it being obvious that it's been taken apart. It's all held together with adhesive which doesn't want to let go !!

Just set yourself up on a clean table and photograph each stage as you proceed. There are some great take-apart guides around - macfixit is one source. The replacement hinges use a better lube to prevent them going sticky and putting strain on the hinge while opening.

Good luck with the project

Ken

Sad Professor

ZENER wrote: »

Good luck with the project

Thanks, ZEN. I think I'll need it. :eek: