So, a couple of weeks ago I noticed this stench in my living quarters. A harsh, metallic choking odor, like car exhaust. When it failed to dissipate after a couple of days, I could only conclude that it was coming from one of my Macs.
I'd been there before. My G5 tower briefly played host to a similarly stinktastic video card last year, but reverted to its docile and odorless ways when given back its original card. Strangely, though the stench was pervasive, I could never smell it on or inside the machine itself, even when it was running.
So here we are some time later. The tower has been replaced by a newer iMac, but still pulls server/backup duty and a little WoW dual-boxing.
I was deep into the latter activity, in fact, when the current situation arose.
At first I thought it WAS the iMac, which I promptly trucked over to the nearest Genius Bar. I still don't know if there is, in fact, a problem with it, since Apple's still got it. The Power Mac, however, definitely has a problem. A very, very bad problem.
I wasn't sure for the first couple of days; as with the video card episode, I could detect no odd odors inside the G5 or emanating from it. Somehow, though, it managed to fill my entire dwelling with the aroma of burning catalytic convertors, blasting me gently in the face with choking, eye-watering fumes whose source I could not determine. By the time I realized how bad it was and how sick it was making me, there was not much to do about it but puke a lot and lie in bed and suffer the acrid reek of metal and exhaust everywhere.
I'm feeling much better, thank you, as I finally felt able enough yesterday to haul the stinking hulk out of my quarters. The smell still permeates the corner where it sat, but at least hot death gas is not being actively pumped straight up my nostrils anymore.
Toxic emissions aside, the machine was and is working just fine – no hiccups, surprises, or weirdness for a whole week after this problem developed, nor when I restored it to factory install yesterday. Regardless, there's clearly some bad $#!@ happening somewhere in there. Not just annoying or inconvenient or expensive $#!@, either, but genuinely dangerous $#!@.
So, uhm, now what?
The olde beast is pretty obsolete, I guess, and 5 years of daily use does seem to be my mean interval between computer retirements. I've priced replacement PSUs, and they're pretty darn 'spensive (also a pain in the ass to install, by the looks of it). And who's to say that's even the culprit, besides some dude who'll likely charge me upwards of $70 per hour?
See, that's the other thing; I'm broke right now, and replacing a computer on short notice was not exactly in the budget. Having the iMac (still) in the shop has put me in a double bind, since my fallback machine is now unusable (I'm posting this from my last available Mac, a 5-year-old iBook I like to call "Beachball Bob"). I also have two very big, very full hard drives that are now knocking around loose and need a safe place to live before they get wrecked. The whole situation has to be remedied, pronto.
So, I reach the point of this entirely too-long post: what should I do with this thing? I contacted (seller's name redacted) for a trade-in quote, which came in a good 80% lower than one they gave me for the same machine 16 months ago – and that's for a properly functioning unit, I'd assume. So they're not an option.
Nor do I have any desire to sell it privately when it poses a clear risk to the user. No lie, this Mac literally poisoned me, and I'm only just now shaking it off. I don't want someone's grandma or kid to end up with this thing.
What to do, then? Should I:
- get it repaired and then sell it?
- get it repaired and keep it until something else breaks?
- if I opt for repair, should I have Apple do it or should I shop around?
- if I choose to sell it, then to whom? For how much? Cosmetics are excellent for almost 6 years old, it passes every hardware test I can throw at it, and it works fine [for now], but it belches forth farts from the devil's own bunghole and is thus completely unsuitable for normal use. Who, specifically, might want something like this?
- on that note, should I just resign myself to selling it for parts? And how much should I ask in that case, even?
Congratulations if you've made it all the way through this post. If you have any pertinent advice I'll think even more highly of you. I'm at a loss here, please help me solve this thang!
I'd been there before. My G5 tower briefly played host to a similarly stinktastic video card last year, but reverted to its docile and odorless ways when given back its original card. Strangely, though the stench was pervasive, I could never smell it on or inside the machine itself, even when it was running.
So here we are some time later. The tower has been replaced by a newer iMac, but still pulls server/backup duty and a little WoW dual-boxing.
I was deep into the latter activity, in fact, when the current situation arose.At first I thought it WAS the iMac, which I promptly trucked over to the nearest Genius Bar. I still don't know if there is, in fact, a problem with it, since Apple's still got it. The Power Mac, however, definitely has a problem. A very, very bad problem.
I wasn't sure for the first couple of days; as with the video card episode, I could detect no odd odors inside the G5 or emanating from it. Somehow, though, it managed to fill my entire dwelling with the aroma of burning catalytic convertors, blasting me gently in the face with choking, eye-watering fumes whose source I could not determine. By the time I realized how bad it was and how sick it was making me, there was not much to do about it but puke a lot and lie in bed and suffer the acrid reek of metal and exhaust everywhere.
I'm feeling much better, thank you, as I finally felt able enough yesterday to haul the stinking hulk out of my quarters. The smell still permeates the corner where it sat, but at least hot death gas is not being actively pumped straight up my nostrils anymore.
Toxic emissions aside, the machine was and is working just fine – no hiccups, surprises, or weirdness for a whole week after this problem developed, nor when I restored it to factory install yesterday. Regardless, there's clearly some bad $#!@ happening somewhere in there. Not just annoying or inconvenient or expensive $#!@, either, but genuinely dangerous $#!@.
So, uhm, now what?
The olde beast is pretty obsolete, I guess, and 5 years of daily use does seem to be my mean interval between computer retirements. I've priced replacement PSUs, and they're pretty darn 'spensive (also a pain in the ass to install, by the looks of it). And who's to say that's even the culprit, besides some dude who'll likely charge me upwards of $70 per hour?
See, that's the other thing; I'm broke right now, and replacing a computer on short notice was not exactly in the budget. Having the iMac (still) in the shop has put me in a double bind, since my fallback machine is now unusable (I'm posting this from my last available Mac, a 5-year-old iBook I like to call "Beachball Bob"). I also have two very big, very full hard drives that are now knocking around loose and need a safe place to live before they get wrecked. The whole situation has to be remedied, pronto.
So, I reach the point of this entirely too-long post: what should I do with this thing? I contacted (seller's name redacted) for a trade-in quote, which came in a good 80% lower than one they gave me for the same machine 16 months ago – and that's for a properly functioning unit, I'd assume. So they're not an option.
Nor do I have any desire to sell it privately when it poses a clear risk to the user. No lie, this Mac literally poisoned me, and I'm only just now shaking it off. I don't want someone's grandma or kid to end up with this thing.
What to do, then? Should I:
- get it repaired and then sell it?
- get it repaired and keep it until something else breaks?
- if I opt for repair, should I have Apple do it or should I shop around?
- if I choose to sell it, then to whom? For how much? Cosmetics are excellent for almost 6 years old, it passes every hardware test I can throw at it, and it works fine [for now], but it belches forth farts from the devil's own bunghole and is thus completely unsuitable for normal use. Who, specifically, might want something like this?
- on that note, should I just resign myself to selling it for parts? And how much should I ask in that case, even?
Congratulations if you've made it all the way through this post. If you have any pertinent advice I'll think even more highly of you. I'm at a loss here, please help me solve this thang!
