Recycled Computing

New Feet for Old PowerBooks

- 2010.08.16

Popularity:

Short link: http://bit.ly/aQzD0x

Pismo PowerBook without its feet
Pismo PowerBook with no feet.

Maybe you don't have these issues. Maybe you don't even own an Apple Pismo Powerbook G3. But if you do, you might be missing some or all of the little rubber feet that fit on the bottom and allow air to circulate underneath.

Both of the Pismo's that I have (my working model and my nonfunctional spare parts unit) have lost them. It's no big deal - the Pismo's fan has never cut in, and it has always run cool.

But switching to my 12" Powerbook G4 has made me just a little more concerned about heat. The 90°F weather we have had around here hasn't helped. I gave my wife my Rocket Fish stand and picked up a Targus laptop stand with twin built-in fans. This gave my mind a little serenity, but as the G4 is missing it's feet, I thought that I would replace both its feet and the Pismo's.

What works for one, may not work for the other. The G4's aluminum body did not like the epoxy I used, so the search for replacement feet on my G4 will have to wait. I did buy a new cooling pad for it with USB-powered fans. It does manage to keep the G4's temperature under 48°C, but I'd like to create more air space under the body.

Meanwhile, my plan works great with the Pismo, and it should work with WallStreet and Lombard PowerBooks (and possibly other 'Books as well).

remove adhesive with nail polish remover
Clean the spots with nail polish remover.

replacement feet for Pismo
Cheap new replacement feet.

First, flip over your 'Book and look for four plastic indentations where the feet used to be. You're going to need to clean out these spots to make sure the adhesive sticks to the new pads. I raided my wife's cosmetic supplies and used nail polish remover and a cotton swab.

After cleaning the bottom, I used Krazy Glue to attach a set of replacement pads that I purchased at the hardware store. Cheap, too. You're looking for adhesive tabs in the housewares department. They are meant to fit on the bottom of a small appliance. I recommend bringing your 'Book to the store so you get the right size.

Pismo PowerBook with replacement feet.

Now my Pismo sits above the surface of my desk. If it had a heating problem (it still doesn't), there would be more room under this old Pismo for air circulation.

Join us on Facebook!, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Mountain Lion Obsoletes the MacBook I Just Bought, 2012.02.24. John Hatchett just got his first Intel Mac, a preowned MacBook, in December, and now it looks like it won't be able to run OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
Improving Tablets: Why Not a Slider Keyboard?, 2012.02.20. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the iPad and other tablets is lack of a buil-in physical keyboard. Many phones have slider keyboards....
Which Apple TV Is Right for You?, 2012.02.15. If you own an older TV set, the original Apple TV may be a better choice than Apple's current unit.
More in the Recycled Computing index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Unitron Mac512, introduced 1985. Unauthorized Brazilian clone of the Mac 512K.
May 24 in LEM history: 99: Mac sales up, iMac sales down? - 01: Speeding up digital photography - 02: The Internet, research, and plagiarism - 04: NewerTech TiBook battery - Optical mice from Contour - 06: Power Mac today or Intel tomorrow? - 07: G5: Apple's last fling with PowerPC - G3: From 233 MHz to 1.1 GHz
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Macpokeronline.com will show you how to download and play Poker on a Mac natively on your Mac in just minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay