there are many amazing things in your
iMac but in order to keep them at peak
performance you need a good fan to cool
those hard-working parts down if that
all-important fan stops working you're
in a whole mess of trouble that's why
today I'm going to show you how to
replace the fan in your late 2012 I see
hi I'm Gwendolyn with iFixit and today
we're going to be working on a 27-inch
late 2012 iMac the opening and
disassembly of this machine is almost
the same as a late 2013 and even the
most recent 5k Retina machines but when
you're working on your machine make sure
to follow the guides specific to your
iMac to find out which iMac you have
take a look under the foot of your iMac
to find the EMC number looking up that
number will tell you your IMAX exact
model for this repair you're going to
need an iMac opening tool a set of
plastic cards a spudger a t10 Torx
screwdriver and a set of replacement
adhesive strips I'm also going to be
using this iMac service wedge this foam
block allows you to have easy access to
the internals of your iMac without
worrying about the display moving around
it's not absolutely essential but it
will make it a bit easier to work on
your iMac now to get started we're going
to use our iMac opening tool the iMac
opening tool will keep you from pushing
in too far but if you're using anything
else to do your prying you need to be
careful that you don't insert your tool
more than 3/8 of an inch
there's several cables and connectors
you could damage by inserting your
prying tool too far into your iMac
starting on the bottom left side of the
display near the power button insert the
iMac opening tool into the gap between
the glass panel and the rear case with
your opening tool inserted just roll it
like a pizza cutter up the left side of
the display when you get to the top just
continue around the corner and continue
along the top of the iMac cutting the
foam adhesive as you go you may have to
make multiple passes to cut all the
adhesive and if you find a sticky spot
as you go simply roll the opening tool
back and forth over that spot finish
pushing the opening tool to the bottom
of the right side of the display at this
point you'll want to make another pass
around the display with your opening
tool just to ensure to cut as much
adhesive as possible once you're able to
move your tool freely along the edges
you can move on to the next step
the iMac opening tool should have done
most of the work on that adhesive but
just in case we're going to get our
plastic cards in there to unstick
everything for this part you're going to
want to lay your iMac on the table face
up and use your plastic cards to begin
separating the display from the rear
case it should only take some gentle
prying if you're encountering some
resistance try running your opening tool
back over the section you're working on
and then try the card again but remember
it's very important not to insert your
prying cards more than 3/8 of an inch
into your eye as you're working across
the top make sure you stop before you
get to the iSight camera the prying can
damage it simply leave your card in
place to keep the glue from resetting
and move to the opposite corner working
your way back towards the iSight camera
with both cards in place and the
adhesive cut along the top we're going
to try to lift the glass from the back
panel we're only going to lift the
display a few inches because it's still
attached to the logic board by cables
to disconnect the cables you're going to
hold the display up with one hand and
disconnect the cables with the other
with the cables disconnected you can
lift the front glass up to an almost
vertical position there's still a strip
of adhesive at the bottom if it feels
stuck you can use your card to cut away
the adhesive from the inside be very
careful not to touch any of the solder
joints on the back of the power supply
capacitors may be charged enough to give
you a dangerous shock and now you can
take the display off just be extremely
careful as it's deceptively heavy the
hard part's over the fan is quite easy
to get out and it only takes a few more
steps starting with disconnecting the
cable from the logic board now that the
fan is disconnected you can expose the
joint between the exhaust duct and the
fan that is covered by some black tape
no need to take it off completely you
just need to peel it back from the fan
finally this repair requires the use of
a screwdriver there are three t10 screws
securing the fan to the rear case go to
work on these and then you should be
able to remove the fan completely see I
told you it was easy for reassembly we
recommend you follow the step by step
guide on ifixit.com
in Reverse if you need a little help
reapplying your display make sure you
check out our iMac adhesive strips
repair guide as it will walk you through
getting your display back on you can
find all the parts and tools you need
for this and many other repairs at
ifixit.com and let us know how it goes
you can find me on twitter at Gwendolyn
gay and follow i fix it at iFixit don't
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