15 January 2007
Powerbook woes
My trusty Powerbook G3 Firewire (aka Pismo aka PBG3FW), that has served me well for 5 years may be on it's last legs.
Two years ago I had a scare with it when suddenly, I smelled something burning and heard an odd sizzle. Then I saw a little smoke coming from the computer. I ripped out the AC cord and pulled the battery out. Turning the laptop over, there was a small hole melted through the plastic case.
This was before the burning-battery scare of '05, and was nowhere near the battery anyway. I opened the laptop (which is very easy to do thanks to Apple's superior engineering, and found that the hard drive cable was the culprit. Somehow, it had shorted out.
I found a replacement online and attempted the repair, but it wouldn't start up. I gave it up for dead and split apart the contents, and sold the parts and the "dead" laptop online.
This would normally be the end of the story, except that the person who bought the laptop was a repair hobbyist. He put in the necessary components, let the PRAM battery charge up again, and, voila!, it worked. He emailed me, sold me back the components I needed (including a larger hard drive) for less than I sold my parts for, and I got my PBG3FW back!
Cut two nearly exactly two years later (now). I've tripped over the powercord too many times and the AC port has come loose. If I wrap the cord up around the LCD screen in just the right way (putting stress on the AC cord so that I'm sure I'll have to replace it in a few months), it still powers the laptop. I look online and find that the AC port is on a separate card that can be replaced, but it costs around $80 or more.
At one point, I thought I read somewhere about someone soldering the port back in place. So I thought, "What heck? Let's try it!" I found a great disassembly/repair guide at ifixit.com, and it seemed pretty easy. Well... the components are pretty tight on that card, and I may have fried one of the chips on the card while I was trying to add the solder. I got everything back together, but it won't start up.
My next steps are as follows: (1) Go through the repair guide again and disassemble and reassemble the computer again to make sure all the cables and cards I disconnected are reconnected correctly. (2) Charge the batteries again and try powering-up computer again. (3) If it's still not working, I've found some components on eBay, so I could maybe get the card for $40 instead of $80. (4) Open the computer again to replace the card with the "new" one, reassembling it carefully. (5) Charge and try to power-up the computer again.
I would really like to get this machine back to work. I can't really afford a new laptop right now, and I've grown accustomed to being able to do some work and recreational computing from anywhere in the house. Plus - I grow attached to these things. This one's named Shadow after the character from Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
If anyone has PBG3FW repair tips, please email me at mitch42(AT)ghostowl.net or leave a comment here.
Two years ago I had a scare with it when suddenly, I smelled something burning and heard an odd sizzle. Then I saw a little smoke coming from the computer. I ripped out the AC cord and pulled the battery out. Turning the laptop over, there was a small hole melted through the plastic case.
This was before the burning-battery scare of '05, and was nowhere near the battery anyway. I opened the laptop (which is very easy to do thanks to Apple's superior engineering, and found that the hard drive cable was the culprit. Somehow, it had shorted out.
I found a replacement online and attempted the repair, but it wouldn't start up. I gave it up for dead and split apart the contents, and sold the parts and the "dead" laptop online.
This would normally be the end of the story, except that the person who bought the laptop was a repair hobbyist. He put in the necessary components, let the PRAM battery charge up again, and, voila!, it worked. He emailed me, sold me back the components I needed (including a larger hard drive) for less than I sold my parts for, and I got my PBG3FW back!
Cut two nearly exactly two years later (now). I've tripped over the powercord too many times and the AC port has come loose. If I wrap the cord up around the LCD screen in just the right way (putting stress on the AC cord so that I'm sure I'll have to replace it in a few months), it still powers the laptop. I look online and find that the AC port is on a separate card that can be replaced, but it costs around $80 or more.
At one point, I thought I read somewhere about someone soldering the port back in place. So I thought, "What heck? Let's try it!" I found a great disassembly/repair guide at ifixit.com, and it seemed pretty easy. Well... the components are pretty tight on that card, and I may have fried one of the chips on the card while I was trying to add the solder. I got everything back together, but it won't start up.
My next steps are as follows: (1) Go through the repair guide again and disassemble and reassemble the computer again to make sure all the cables and cards I disconnected are reconnected correctly. (2) Charge the batteries again and try powering-up computer again. (3) If it's still not working, I've found some components on eBay, so I could maybe get the card for $40 instead of $80. (4) Open the computer again to replace the card with the "new" one, reassembling it carefully. (5) Charge and try to power-up the computer again.
I would really like to get this machine back to work. I can't really afford a new laptop right now, and I've grown accustomed to being able to do some work and recreational computing from anywhere in the house. Plus - I grow attached to these things. This one's named Shadow after the character from Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
If anyone has PBG3FW repair tips, please email me at mitch42(AT)ghostowl.net or leave a comment here.
Labels: computer repair, powerbook
