My situation is I have a failing pram battery in my iMac DV. I have a
spare as a replacement
but when I upgraded my HD last year I must have over-tightened one of
the casing screws and now I can't remove the case to replace the
battery. (It's one of the screws next to the kickstand, now totally
threaded, it's head all mashed due to my trying to get it out).

I know there is a way of replacing the batt via the ram access door
but if I slip up and it falls inside the case....

Anybody got any ideas, apart from the £60 collection/delivery and
labour charge to fix it up I have been quoted? Can I get this screw
out any other way myself?

Thanks

It's easy to replace through the hatch unless you have big fat fingers.
I used a popsicle stick to pop up the bottom end of the battery. I
grabbed it between my index and middle fingers and carefully pulled it
out. Used the same two fingers to insert the new battery, nose in, and
then was able to push it into place with my index finger. As for
dropping it, a friend of mine in her late seventies managed to drop the
old battery while taking it out. She just flipped the iMac back over to
roll the battery to the hatch. Nothing was damaged. Takes more time to
disconnect all the cables and then reconnect them than it does to
change the battery.

In article <f89498a9.0306300924.20cfa7a6[at]posting.google.com>,
Spectreman <spectreman[at]graffiti.net> wrote:

> My situation is I have a failing pram battery in my iMac DV. I have a
> spare as a replacement
> but when I upgraded my HD last year I must have over-tightened one of
> the casing screws and now I can't remove the case to replace the
> battery. (It's one of the screws next to the kickstand, now totally
> threaded, it's head all mashed due to my trying to get it out).
>
> I know there is a way of replacing the batt via the ram access door
> but if I slip up and it falls inside the case....
>
> Anybody got any ideas, apart from the £60 collection/delivery and
> labour charge to fix it up I have been quoted? Can I get this screw
> out any other way myself?

Phyllis Evans <pmevans[at]nospam.mac.com> wrote in message news:<300620031955405439%pmevans[at]nospam.mac.com>...
> It's easy to replace through the hatch unless you have big fat fingers.
> I used a popsicle stick to pop up the bottom end of the battery. I
> grabbed it between my index and middle fingers and carefully pulled it
> out. Used the same two fingers to insert the new battery, nose in, and
> then was able to push it into place with my index finger. As for
> dropping it, a friend of mine in her late seventies managed to drop the
> old battery while taking it out. She just flipped the iMac back over to
> roll the battery to the hatch. Nothing was damaged. Takes more time to
> disconnect all the cables and then reconnect them than it does to
> change the battery.
>
> In article <f89498a9.0306300924.20cfa7a6[at]posting.google.com>,
> Spectreman <spectreman[at]graffiti.net> wrote:
>
> > My situation is I have a failing pram battery in my iMac DV. I have a
> > spare as a replacement
> > but when I upgraded my HD last year I must have over-tightened one of
> > the casing screws and now I can't remove the case to replace the
> > battery. (It's one of the screws next to the kickstand, now totally
> > threaded, it's head all mashed due to my trying to get it out).
> >
> > I know there is a way of replacing the batt via the ram access door
> > but if I slip up and it falls inside the case....
> >
> > Anybody got any ideas, apart from the £60 collection/delivery and
> > labour charge to fix it up I have been quoted? Can I get this screw
> > out any other way myself?


Dear Phyllis

I steeled myself and armed with a chopstick(!), as I had no lolly
sticks, did exactly as you described and now have a nice fresh battery
in the iMac. I in fact had to do it twice as I thought I had placed
the battery the wrong way round, doh.

Many, many thanks to you!

Spectreman <spectreman[at]graffiti.net> wrote:
>[...] I must have over-tightened one of
> the casing screws and now I can't remove the case to replace the
> battery. (It's one of the screws next to the kickstand, now totally
> threaded, it's head all mashed due to my trying to get it out).
>
> [...] Can I get this screw
> out any other way myself?

There's a diamond-tipped tool called a Midas Rex which is will cut
through just about anything. Problem is, it's darned difficult to get.
It's one of those neurosurgical tools useful for cutting through skulls,
etc. (Also useful for removing cemented hip prostheses if you ever need
to!)

Failing being able to get your hands on a Midas Rex, you can try a
regular small diameter drill, preferably with a very new, very sharp &
preferably diamond-tipped bit, which may not be so sharp when you've
finished with it. Then just drill the guts out of the screw & remove it
that way. Have a vacuum cleaner handy to suck the metal fragments as
they get pulverised.

Kwan.


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