Difficulty

Easy

Steps

17

Time Required

                          30 minutes - 1 hour

Sections

4

  • Glass Panel
  • 2 steps
  • Display
  • 7 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 4 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 4 steps

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  • BackiMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2428

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Glass Panel
  • Before beginning, unplug your iMac and lay it on a soft surface as shown.
  • Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.
  • To attach the suction cups we sell, first position the suction cup with the movable handle parallel to the face of the glass panel. While lightly holding the suction cup against the glass, raise the movable handle until it is parallel with the other handle.
  • If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.

Before beginning, unplug your iMac and lay it on a soft surface as shown.

Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.

To attach the suction cups we sell, first position the suction cup with the movable handle parallel to the face of the glass panel. While lightly holding the suction cup against the glass, raise the movable handle until it is parallel with the other handle.

If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.

1024

Step 2

  • Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.
  • Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.
  • During reinstallation, be sure to meticulously clean the inside of the glass panel and the face of the LCD as any dust or fingerprints trapped inside will be annoyingly visible when the machine is turned on.

Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.

Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.

During reinstallation, be sure to meticulously clean the inside of the glass panel and the face of the LCD as any dust or fingerprints trapped inside will be annoyingly visible when the machine is turned on.

Step 3

              Display
  • Remove the eight 8 mm T10 Torx screws securing the display to the outer case.
  • The last two pictures are detail shots of each side of the display.

Remove the eight 8 mm T10 Torx screws securing the display to the outer case.

The last two pictures are detail shots of each side of the display.

Step 4

  • Slightly lift the top edge of the display out of the outer case.
  • Do not lift it too much. There are several cables attaching the display to the logic board. Twisting or pulling the display assembly with the cables attached will damage your iMac.

Slightly lift the top edge of the display out of the outer case.

Do not lift it too much. There are several cables attaching the display to the logic board. Twisting or pulling the display assembly with the cables attached will damage your iMac.

Step 5

  • Pull the vertical sync cable connector out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.

Pull the vertical sync cable connector out of its socket on the LED driver board near the top left corner of your iMac.

Step 6

  • Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.
  • Disconnect the LED backlight power cable by depressing the locking mechanism while pulling the connector away from its socket (toward the bottom edge of the iMac).

Rotate the display out of the outer case enough to disconnect the LED backlight power cable from the LED driver board.

Disconnect the LED backlight power cable by depressing the locking mechanism while pulling the connector away from its socket (toward the bottom edge of the iMac).

Step 7

  • Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it towards upwards.
  • Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.
  • Do not lift up on the display data cable, as its socket is very fragile. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it towards upwards.

Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.

Do not lift up on the display data cable, as its socket is very fragile. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

Step 8

  • Disconnect the LCD thermal sensor cable connector from its socket on the logic board.

Disconnect the LCD thermal sensor cable connector from its socket on the logic board.

Step 9

  • Carefully pull the display toward the top edge of your iMac and lift it out of the outer case, minding any cables that may get caught.

Carefully pull the display toward the top edge of your iMac and lift it out of the outer case, minding any cables that may get caught.

Step 10

              Optical Drive
  • From here, the repair will be easier if you flip the computer around so the base is facing you.
  • Remove the following four screws:
  • One 9.3 mm T10 Torx screw with a large head
  • Three 9.3 mm T10 Torx screws with a normal sized head

From here, the repair will be easier if you flip the computer around so the base is facing you.

Remove the following four screws:

One 9.3 mm T10 Torx screw with a large head

Three 9.3 mm T10 Torx screws with a normal sized head

Step 11

  • Pull the optical drive thermal sensor connector straight up from its socket on the logic board. Pull parallel to the board.

Pull the optical drive thermal sensor connector straight up from its socket on the logic board. Pull parallel to the board.

Step 12

  • Lift the inner edge of the optical drive and maneuver its connector past the GPU frame attached to the logic board.
  • Carefully pull the optical drive off its mounting pins on the right side of the outer case to gain clearance for disconnecting the optical drive cable.
  • Allow the optical drive to hang down as you de-route the optical drive thermal sensor connector from behind the GPU heat sink.

Lift the inner edge of the optical drive and maneuver its connector past the GPU frame attached to the logic board.

Carefully pull the optical drive off its mounting pins on the right side of the outer case to gain clearance for disconnecting the optical drive cable.

Allow the optical drive to hang down as you de-route the optical drive thermal sensor connector from behind the GPU heat sink.

Step 13

  • Disconnect the optical drive cable by pulling its connector away from the optical drive.
  • Remove the optical drive from the iMac.

Disconnect the optical drive cable by pulling its connector away from the optical drive.

Remove the optical drive from the iMac.

Step 14

              Optical Drive
  • It is not necessary to peel all of the EMI tape off the optical drive bracket. Only peel up the portion highlighted in red that is attached to the body of the optical drive.
  • Peel back the portion of aluminum tape highlighted in red, leaving the rest attached to the black plastic optical drive bracket.

It is not necessary to peel all of the EMI tape off the optical drive bracket. Only peel up the portion highlighted in red that is attached to the body of the optical drive.

Peel back the portion of aluminum tape highlighted in red, leaving the rest attached to the black plastic optical drive bracket.

Step 15

  • Remove the two T10 Torx screws from both sides of the optical drive (four screws total).

Remove the two T10 Torx screws from both sides of the optical drive (four screws total).

Step 16

  • If necessary, use the tip of a spudger to press each of the optical drive bracket tabs out of their slots on the bottom of the optical drive.
  • Rotate the optical drive bracket slightly away from the optical drive.
  • Pull the optical drive bracket away from the open end of the optical drive, minding any tabs that may get caught.

If necessary, use the tip of a spudger to press each of the optical drive bracket tabs out of their slots on the bottom of the optical drive.

Rotate the optical drive bracket slightly away from the optical drive.

Pull the optical drive bracket away from the open end of the optical drive, minding any tabs that may get caught.

Step 17

  • Use the tip of a spudger to peel back the piece of foam tape covering the optical drive thermal sensor.
  • Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry the thermal sensor up off the adhesive securing it to the optical drive.
  • If you have a disk or anything else stuck inside your optical drive, we have a guide to fix it.

Use the tip of a spudger to peel back the piece of foam tape covering the optical drive thermal sensor.

Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry the thermal sensor up off the adhesive securing it to the optical drive.

If you have a disk or anything else stuck inside your optical drive, we have a guide to fix it.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Walter Galan

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swav1971 - Mar 19, 2016

Reply

Great How-to, except the how to find the replacement Optical Drive… Can’t find the 2428 online anywhere. Any help with the part number before cracking the iMac apart would be greatly appreciated!

Emilio Imparato - Oct 12, 2017

Reply

Great tutorial. Now if I wish to replace the Superdrive by an SSD (the Superdrive is dead), since the SATA port of the Superdrive is 3Gb/s only, can I keep the Superdrive cable for the SSD but swap it plug to the free SATA III port on the motherboard? Or do I need a new cable?

Thanks

Stefan Monnier - Jul 10, 2022

Reply

What kind of caddy do I need if I want to put an SSD in there? Is it 9.5mm or 12.7mm? Is any of it non-standard?

glecyo medeiros - Jul 26, 2022

Hi! 12mm for imacs and 9 to macbooks… but 9 fits too cuz the place in imac is bigger (also 12 on macbooks not fit)