Burning smell from iMac

[eAi]

My iMac, one of the swivvelly ones has just started making a burning smell, I'm a bit worried, does anyone know what might cause this? Running OSX 10.2 if that matters.

Thanks,

eAi

 

[sjpetry]

Shut it off. If you are comfortable, take off the bottom and see if their are any burn marks.

 

[pdpfilms]

nooooooot good in any way, shape or form. A burning smell from a computer is never justified.

 

[mpw]

There's a great line in one Simpsons episode where Homer is trying to get credit on an enormous RV and a police car style red flashing light and alarm sound from the computer during the credit check and on noting the alarms Homer asks whether they're a good thing and the salesman in a great southern accent says "Mr Simpson an alarm is never a good thing."

Burning smells from any electrical equipment short of an arc-welder are never a good thing.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This happened to my Windows PC. In that case, the cause was a blown power supply. I suspect your iMac's main power may have failed.

 

[redeye be]

Maybe it's just some ants that found their way to a nice, happy warm spot.

Serious, don't turn it on again until you know what it is. Open it yourself or let a tech do it for you.
I hope you have guarantee or applecare.

Good luck

 

[sjpetry]

Maybe it's just some ants that found their way to a nice, happy warm spot.

Serious, don't turn it on again until you know what it is. Open it yourself or let a tech do it for you.
I hope you have guarantee or applecare.

Good luck

NOT ANTS!

 

[Mechcozmo]

If you have another Mac, start the iMac up in FireWire Target Disk mode (hold T on startup) and grab everything important as fast as you can off of it. Then shut the iMac down again.

Call AppleCare, too...

 

[eAi]

Just want to clarify. Its not a burning smell, its a kinda plastic-too-hot smell (a bit like disinfectant). I took it appart about half way and cleaned out all the dust which appears to have helped (there was tonnes of it, I was wondering where it had all got to!). Everything is backed up, so I'll wait and see...

 

[sjpetry]

Just want to clarify. Its not a burning smell, its a kinda plastic-too-hot smell (a bit like disinfectant). I took it appart about half way and cleaned out all the dust which appears to have helped (there was tonnes of it, I was wondering where it had all got to!). Everything is backed up, so I'll wait and see...

Be sure to backup.

 

[Sutekidane]

If you suspect any issue with your power supply, do not hesitate to call Apple to get it replaced. After talking to my friend, which is an apple technician at a local COMPUSA, he said that nearly every iMac repair he gets it a blown power supply NOT fan issues. He said that on all of them, the power supply damages everything around it, and makes quite a mess. He also stated, that when it's really bad, which he's had quite a few, the HD, Midplane Assembly, and casing all had to be replaced.