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Heavy-duty Spudger

$4.95

Product code: IF145-013-1

Product Overview

Poke and prod like you mean it.

  • Thicker variant of the official "black stick" that Apple Certified Technicians use to repair Apple computers.
  • 6" long antistatic nylon probe with one flat end and one pointed end.
  • Flat end can be used to disconnect connectors, remove thermal paste from heat sinks, pry off components, or aid in soldering.
  • Pointed tip is handy for unlocking ZIF connectors and poking your siblings.

Product Details

  $4.95

 
 

Condition:

New

Warranty:

One year warranty

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50+ Available

Quantity:

 

Stories

My Problem

My dad was handing hid new iPad 2 to my nephew, something, possibly a green rat ran by, and the exchange was intercepted by the ground. (Also, was facetiously taken out of the will at 9 years old for giving my dad the number for hair club for men...)

My Fix

The removal of the cracked screen was more difficult than I had anticipated, what with the tiny shards flying about. But the iOpener really saved the day! I was able to loosen that industrial strength tape and get the glass off! I had bought spare wifi antennas, so was not devastated when that snapped. I had seen that coming due to the location of the crack(right over the bottom corner where it is glued in place) I was able to get everything hooked up and working (Hurrah!!) but then I noticed a hairline fracture inside the LCD. Sad... But I will have that in on Saturday!

My Advice

Seriously, wear protective glasses! I removed the majority of the glass to get the LCD out so it wouldn't get scratched (oh irony) and then removed the shards still glued down- little tiny sand sized glass kept pinging off my glasses! Also- patience is key and have really really good lighting!

My Problem

The screen on opening would often "lose" blue - everything white would look purple/red.... flapping the lid usually cleared the problem.

But it got worse and worse- sometimes it would lose colors (or gain them) spontaneously in use.

I *hoped* it was just a cable reseat problem - and it was!

My Fix

It went perfectly. Took the bottom off the Macbook with a #0 Phillips, removed the battery with the tri-wing, unplugged the battery connector with the spudger, pulled off the tape pad on the LVDS connector (upper right corner, it's the cable wrapped in black clothlike tape that disappears up into the screen area. ).

Then - and BE GENTLE - use the point on the spudger and then blunt tipped tweezers to flip up the rectangular silver handle around the LVDS video connector and slide the connector horizontally toward the corner of the case, and then reseat. Repeat two or three times to "wipe" the contacts, then flip the silver handle back down, stick the black pad back down on the connector, and reassemble.

Works fine now!

My Advice

The later Macbook Pro case screws are NOT STRAIGHT IN! The screws (and the holes they are threaded into) angle inward, so get a magnifying glass or whatever and look closely at the screwhead so you know what angle to hold the screwdriver at to fully seat the #0 Phillips into the screw head. It's probably 20 degrees or so off from vertical.

I should have tested the screws to see if they fit better with a JIS driver instead of a "standard phillips" but I got through it without damaging any screwheads. The screws may well be JIS, as they have very thin cross-slots.

My Problem

The Ole harddrive was absolutely filled - No place for change of MAC OS X Version

My Fix

The repair went very well - Did not use any Disk Cloning tools Just Disk Utolities and Time Machine

My Advice

Just format your new drive with MAC OS X Disk Utilities as a Bootable Partition - Do a restore from Time Machine to Your New Drive - Test it as You Boot Your new drive from a USB or Firewire atachment - Going Well OK - Swap Your Physical Drives

My Problem

Wanted an SSD added to my 2011 Mac Mini.

My Fix

Went absolutely perfect.

My Advice

The ifixit video isn't very descriptive/detailed and, in some cases, incomplete. Suggest reference to video only for a very basic idea on what to do. Use your own discretion and knowledge to the highest.

My Problem

Ipod battery

Iphone 5 screen

Ipad 2 screen

POV Mobii Battery

and on and on and on......

My Fix

This complete toolset and the Apple repairset are the tools i was searching for. For many years i used screwdrivers and self made plungers, mostly inaffective.

Now with my new toolset it is easy and works nice and fast.

My Advice

YES, only one advice for al the costumers on youre site.

Spend good time searching for the right tools, you find them all on the site of ifixit.com. Search - klik - order. Before you know the packaged will be delivered worldwide.

The best service i ever met is on this website!

My Problem

After following Apples LED diagnostic test and confirming the diagnosis at the "genius" (not) bar I purchased a new logic board for my iMac G5.

My Fix

Following iFixits guide the logic board replacement went smoothly and without incident. Congratulations on a well produced and thorough guide. My only complaint is that the red circles showing screw placement are difficult to see if you happen to have red/green color blindness.

My Advice

After replacing the logic board with a new one and plugging in the power cord-voila! nothing- nada and more nothing. Same LED diagnosis as before! I assumed I had purchased a bad logic board. When I contacted the seller (Niktec) they assured me the board was good and that I probably had a power supply problem-advice totally contrary to the Apple support site and the Geniuses -did I say not, enough? Fortunately I happened to have my girlfriends iMac, which was working, and swapped out the power supply (which I had learned to do with iFixit). Bingo-it's alive, it's alive!!! Moral of the story- tread warily in the Apple cosmos!!

My Problem

various faulty electronics with crazy screws and plastic joints.

My Fix

Fixed them all!

My Advice

BUY the magnetic project mat!

My Problem

I had issues with my thermal paste and decided to replace it on my original Xbox console. The graphics heatsink is difficult to remove.

My Fix

Using iFixit repair guides, I dissassembled the Xbox, removed the CPU heatsink without much trouble, using a heavy duty spudger. The graphics heatsink was a different matter, this required me to insert 4 metal spudgers, (one on each corner of the heatsink, and simultaneously depress all 4 spudgers at once to remove it, using considerable force. None of the spudgers, or the motherboard, or the graphics processor under the heatsink were even slightly damaged!

My Advice

There must be an easier way of removing the graphics processor heatsink to replace the thermal paste with a quality thermal grease to ensure adequate cooling! I was fortunate to be able to rely on my high tensile spudger set and many hours spent improving my digital dexterity and coordination to provide sufficient levering force to crack the thermal paste bonding the heatsink to the graphic processing chip. Unfortunately, I was so engrossed with this chore that I did not remember to photo this. Removing the old paste is simple with Arcticlean!

My Problem

internal hard drive upgrade from stock 320GB to Samsung 256GB SSD

My Fix

Perfect, smooth as butter

My Advice

Do give yourself a complete hour to take your time and have a look around. Also, be sure to have a 2.5" to 3.5" hard drive enclosure attached to the SSD prior to tear-down

My Problem

I read that the random power downs of iMacs were generally attributed to failed power supplies, so I went with conventional wisdom and ordered a new power supply.

My Fix

Unfortunately the new power supply did not fix the problem. The random shutdowns continued. As the capacitors are fine, the tech at iFixit figures its probably something going wrong on the logic board. I am OK with this because the computer is in it's 10th year of near-continuous use.

My Advice

I think iFixit might want to add a warning that some iMacs have a diagnostics micro-socket chip located really close to the edge of the power supply sink, so to exercise extra caution in that case.

Overall A+.

iFixit offered to accept the return with a small restocking fee (I think that's fair since the unit was not defective). Customer support was great.

 

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