[Ham-Mac] iMac crash

Thu Apr 24 13:29:31 EDT 2008

I'm happy you got it fixed.  I've owned Apple computers since 1988  
and have had two failures in all that time.  One was a Hard drive in  
my old SE and the other was with the iMac caps.  I did buy a very old  
Mac computer at a garage sale once that later developed a problem, I  
wasn't much worried about it because I only had $50 bucks in it.   
However, I found from the Apple web site they had a replacement CPU  
board under extended warranty like your iMac, but for an entirely  
different problem, they replaced it at no charge.  Apple computers  
have treated me fine over the years.  BTW, the cap problem was not an  
exclusive Apple problem, some Dell and other Windows machines had the  
same bad capacitors.  There is/was a web site just for the bad cap  
problem.  For a start here is some good reading:  <http:// 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague>.

There's a ton of information on this problem if you want to read more  
about it.

73
Dale, K9VUJ

On 24, Apr 2008, at 12:00, EZ Rhino wrote:

> Hi guys-
>
> Jut an update on my mysterious crashes.  I took my Mac to an Apple  
> place here, and just got it back.  It had the infamous "bulging  
> caps" problem on the logic (mother) board.  My computer was past  
> their extended warranty.  After calling and talking to several  
> people on the apple help line (and being on hold for an hour), I  
> got them to eat the cost of the $715 (!) board.
>
> Some facts:
>
> This is my 4th logic board.
> I've owned the computer 3.5 years (G5 PPC)
> I've also lost a hard drive and a power supply in that time.
>
> I would call this a lemon, and I wonder how much longer the  
> computer will last.  It's expensive to be hooked on Mac's. :-)
>
> The following is a rant, so if you don't want to read it, stop  
> now. :-)
>
> I really do not like the way Apple handles customer service.   
> Authorized dealers have no autonomy whatsoever.  They cannot make  
> decisions or handle support without approval of the "mother  
> ship".   Dealers do not stock parts either, which means you've got  
> to wait several more days for the parts to arrive.  Also, you  
> cannot buy your own replacement parts.  The dealer has to install  
> it, which they will gladly do for a $89 fee.  Had I not been able  
> to talk the customer service person into the new board, I would  
> have been up a creek.  The computer is certainly not worth $715.   
> It would have been better to replace it entirely.  I am surprised  
> that a known issue such as the bulging caps problem wouldn't be  
> covered under warranty forever.  If Apple orders X number of boards  
> and they have a ration of defective parts, that shouldn't be the  
> customer's responsibility (in my opinion).  Until recently I was  
> really interested in purchasing a powerbook, but I do not want to  
> go through this every time I get a hardware problem.  Maybe I'm up  
> in the night and other PC computer companies work the same way.  I  
> have always bought my PC's from a local place that has free  
> lifetime service and support.  In fact, they are now offering  
> lifetime parts warranty too.  Oh well, at least I didn't have to  
> ship it someplace.
>
> Have any of you had similar Mac hardware problems?
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 20, 2008, at 2:46 , dj wrote:
>
> Some of the iMacs had capacitor problems.  You might want to check  
> the s/n and go to Apple.com to see if it is one of those affected.   
> Apple has extended the warranty for these machines.  I have an iMac  
> that had the bad caps and it wouldn't boot up occasionally and  
> finally went dead.  Apple replaced practically the whole computer,  
> PS, MB. Go here <http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/ 
> imac.html> to see if your iMac is in the range of SN affected.
>
> Good luck
> Dale, K9VUJ
>
>
> On 19, Apr 2008, at 16:23, EZ Rhino wrote:
>
>> Hi Group-
>>
>> I have a Power PC iMac that doesn't like to stay on anymore.  Have  
>> any of you guys ever have your computer crash, and get the black  
>> screen of death?  The screen gets a "tint" on it, and a black box  
>> comes up in the middle of the monitor that says you will have to  
>> restart now in a couple different languages?
>>
>> Also, when my computer sleeps, either by menu or by the automatic  
>> timer (in energy settings), it can't wake up.  It basically  
>> crashes and you have to pull the plug and restart it that way.
>>
>> ???
>>
>> Chris
>> KF7P
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ham-Mac mailing list
>> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ham-Mac mailing list
> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ham-Mac mailing list
> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac