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Anyone here try replacing power supply on a 5,1?

J

Jayson A

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 16, 2014
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So I was away all weekend (3 days) and I came home to see my Mac Pro sleeping soundly as always. So I proceeded to wake it up as always and I was busy unpacking so I walked away for a while.

When I returned, my Mac was off completely... hmmm. So I pressed the power button and Windows 10 started up and immediately said installing updates.

Okay, I thought, maybe the computer had updates to do so it shut down once they were downloaded... no big deal, Windows is weird like that. So the updates finished and I restarted the computer.

After the updates were installed, I walked away again for a while, only to come back and see my Mac Pro was OFF again. What the hell! So I turned it back on and tried putting it to sleep manually a few times and each time it was able to go to sleep and wake up normally again. I seem to remember having a very similar issue with shut-downs during sleep the last time I left my computer sleeping for a long time.

I haven't had any shut downs since which is good, but I also use my computer every night.

Anyway, has anyone here tried replacing the power supply in these things? I read on the iFixit forum that this one guy said you NEED to the original system software disc that came with the computer in order to sync the fans, or else the new power supply is just going to die an early death. Is there really any truth to this? https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/27167/No+Power+on+Mac+Pro If this really is a thing... how in the world am I supposed to get the original disc and even if I did, how do I run the program for the PSU fans?
 
That is just wrong. After you replace the PowerSupply you just reset the SMC and done.

Read the Apple Service Manual for Mac Pro 2010 to know how to replace the PS. That iFixit topic is just plain wrong. Search the manual with Google, you’ll find it easily.
 
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I've replaced the PSU in my MP3,1 (circa 2014?), and it just worked after replacement. I did not do the SMC reset, but it certainly would not hurt to do so (probably recommended, I just was not aware of the recommendation at the time).
 
Jayson A said:
So I was away all weekend (3 days) and I came home to see my Mac Pro sleeping soundly as always. So I proceeded to wake it up as always and I was busy unpacking so I walked away for a while.

When I returned, my Mac was off completely... hmmm. So I pressed the power button and Windows 10 started up and immediately said installing updates.

Okay, I thought, maybe the computer had updates to do so it shut down once they were downloaded... no big deal, Windows is weird like that. So the updates finished and I restarted the computer.

After the updates were installed, I walked away again for a while, only to come back and see my Mac Pro was OFF again. What the hell! So I turned it back on and tried putting it to sleep manually a few times and each time it was able to go to sleep and wake up normally again. I seem to remember having a very similar issue with shut-downs during sleep the last time I left my computer sleeping for a long time.

I haven't had any shut downs since which is good, but I also use my computer every night.

Anyway, has anyone here tried replacing the power supply in these things? I read on the iFixit forum that this one guy said you NEED to the original system software disc that came with the computer in order to sync the fans, or else the new power supply is just going to die an early death. Is there really any truth to this? https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/27167/No+Power+on+Mac+Pro If this really is a thing... how in the world am I supposed to get the original disc and even if I did, how do I run the program for the PSU fans?
Click to expand...

I believe the fan syncing needed to be done on the G5’s. Not needed for MP. I replaced the psu on my 5,1 and didn’t reset anything afterward. Still no problems 2 years later. Got mine from dvwarehouse. Was pricey but comes with a warranty and is not used.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone. If my PSU dies, I'll just order a new one or a refurbished one and pop it in. It doesn't look too hard to swap out.
 
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Jayson A said:
Thanks for your replies everyone. If my PSU dies, I'll just order a new one or a refurbished one and pop it in. It doesn't look too hard to swap out.
Click to expand...

It is very easy. I think you just need a short screw driver to get to the screws under the psu.
 
Can anyone share some ideas on servicing / cleaning a PSU? Can you use compressed air to blow out the/any dust bunnies? Anything you need to be aware/take care of?
 
JedNZ said:
Can anyone share some ideas on servicing / cleaning a PSU? Can you use compressed air to blow out the/any dust bunnies? Anything you need to be aware/take care of?
Click to expand...

I simply pull out the PSU, and then use a duster to blow the dust away. No need to open the PSU, just blow it back and forth a few times should be good enough.
 
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h9826790 said:
I simply pull out the PSU, and then use a duster to blow the dust away. No need to open the PSU, just blow it back and forth a few times should be good enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this was helpful.

Edit: Do you disconnect it, or just slide it out far enough to blow it with some canned air?
 
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I'm waiting for a refurbished PSU to replace it in my Mac Pro that often shutdowns. I'm going to replace also the CR2032 battery on the backplane.
I hope to solve the issue.
 
Two months ago .. I completely removed my 4,1 > 5,1 's PSU .. only partially dismantled it ( being extremely careful not to touch ANYTHING INSIDE ). . . . I de-dusted it back to as-almost-new condition .. then used a natural hair brush to get the " hard to get at " spots .. . de-dusted the fan 99.9% .. that really seemed to help in my diagnosis as to whether my CPU tray had a bad socket as prior to the de-dusting the cMP just would not start at all. - still not sure about that but after my new tray arrived the cMP booted up like a new Mac Pro.

Also, now that I'm booting from M.2 960 EVO and have removed ALL spinner drives and all internal DVD drives the PSU is getting a lot more cooler air throughput.
I really & truly feel that M.2 booting allows us to dramatically increase fan cooling throughput for both the cMP PSU and the GPU/PCIe area.

I was honestly shocked at just how hot to the touch a 2 tb spinner drive can get inside the cMP case.

I now have three internal SSD's occupying about 20% of the space that the internal spinners took up - the whole internal case area is at least 10° C cooler.

My two USB 3,0 and 3.1 ( in slot 2 ) can handle my larger, faster spinner HDD's externally.
 
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