i fixeded it!

This is my iBook. Well, it's a picture of the same model.

Our iBook has served us pretty well over the years. It's always booted up, took the OS X leap pretty well and been quite the little road warrior. It's had 2 problems in it's life. Apple replaced the video board for free after it crapped out, and I had to replace the keyboard after years of heavy, heavy use.



The DC in board though has been slowly breaking for years and I never got it fixed because of money probs. I just KNEW that it would be a costly adventure.

So I just let it go and figured out how to wedge things between the plug and the socket to maintain the power connection. I started with small things like a toothpick but at the end I was using a Dremelled chopstick wedge. At least I did until 2 weeks ago when it finally said "Fuck it" and broke.

Looking around on the INTERNETS I found that the DC In Board when in stock range in cost from $35 to almost $100. That's just for the part, no installation included. The local Mac fixxxxxer said he could turn it around in a day after getting the part overnighted but he wouldn't give me a guestimate on price. That sounded like bad news to me.

The main reason I was being cheap is that we were going to Atlanta later that week so my wife could attend an RWA convention (see if you guys can figure out what RWA is) and I didn't want to . She would need the laptop to stay in touch with her agent and others. We even entertained getting a new Macbook with a free iPod and printer/scanner until the salesguy at the local Apple Store said he didn't have any in stock.

With some advice from Zapski at teh AAF, I decided to try and fix it myself.

I found some instruction online a proceeded to rip the thing apart. The instructions were 14 pages long but chock full of idiot proof pictures and in no time I had parts all over our dining room table. After getting the DC board out I found the 3 solder pads that had come loose and soldered them back on and 15 minutes later the clamshell was together and running again. There is a little gap in the case on the left side but it feels solid, plus it looks kinda cool in a junky way.

I really. really, really wanted a new Macbook and free stuff, but getting new stuff isn't a good way to save moneys. :waah:

So yeah, I can repair computers now.