eMac Repair Extension Program Announced

[andrewjnyc]

I work at a magazine where everyone in editorial has an eMac, and mine died two weeks ago as a result of this very problem. Our IT boyz will be very glad to learn about this repair extension!

Having my eMac crash incessantly for several days before IT replaced it was a huge pain, but I'm actually glad it died since they replaced it with one running Tiger and with 1GB RAM in it (before, I had Panther and 512MB). That more than makes the short term hassle worthwhile...

 

[DVNIEL]

New Intel eMacs next Tuesday!

I couldn't resist=)

 

[SeanMcg]

Bad caps seem to be everywhere

At work, I have to support Windows machines, Dells all, and their GX270 model has gotten notorious for bad capacitors on the motherboard. You'll see them bulging and burst and it causes problems similar to what has been reported with the eMacs. It also seems to affect machines that are near the end of a corporate IT rotation (i.e. - 3 years).

Makes me wonder what is going on at these motherboard fabs.

 

[musicus]

has apple ever done something like this before?

Yes, I remember a repair program for the video circuitry on the Performa 5200. This was another all-in-one machine and almost a hernia-inducing two-person-lift. Bit of a dog in other ways too.

 

[emac kinda guy]

Well as the guy who started the "Video artifacts" story, I must say this is good news. My emac has been crashing more and more frequently.

This restores my faith in Apple.

Apple has announced an eMac Repair Extension program for eMacs that were sold between April 2004 and June 2005 and are experiencing scrambled and/or distorted video, no video, or no power. Users who feel that their eMac may be affected by the issue can learn more about the program by visiting the program's site.

This issue was initially brought to light on various discussion boards and was highlighted in a page 2 story. A common issue with the affected Macs were bulging and cracked capacitors on the logic board.

 

[ijimk]

another good move on apple. gld to see the support still there after discontinued...

 

[Dane D.]

How ironic to read this today. My son's eMac wouldn't boot, flashing '?' mark. Ran Disk Utility off Restore DVD, didn't see HD. Ran hardware test off DVD, passed. Shut down and came back to unit about 4 hrs. later, it booted and works fine (crossing fingers). Do you think it qualifies for this program? First problem I have encounter in 1 year and 4 months.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

All I can say is that it's about time Apple releases an update for the poor old eMacs. I set up a lab of 25 of these computers about 18 months ago at a school (a mates rates job) and 3 of them have been effected by the scrambled video, now we can get them fixed (YAY)

But seriously Apple needs to release an Intel eMac because many schools and students would buy them because of the price, ease of use, feature, low operational costs and reliability. I would buy one if they release one.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Yes, I remember a repair program for the video circuitry on the Performa 5200. This was another all-in-one machine and almost a hernia-inducing two-person-lift. Bit of a dog in other ways too.

I was the unfortunate owner of a Performa 5200CD. It was the worst computer ever. I used it when I was in middle school. As a Mac evangelist with Mac-haters for friends I pretty much never mentioned I had the Performa and never showed it to anyone. It was an embarassment to Apple--and me!

I now have an eMac (and also had a bondi iMac before that)--they have both been good to me, save problems related to an overzealous tech who had never worked on a Mac before breaking my eMac. My only complaints are that the screen shivers when you play loud music and that the fan is loud.

 

[Gabedm]

this makes me mad,

I have a 700mhz emacthat i purchased oh 4 years ago, computer was great until about 7 months ago i started to get the tell tale scrambled video followed a few weeks later by total blackout of my video on the crt display,
I figured it was off warranty for 3 years that there was nothing i copuld do, but apple should note that this problem is NOT isolated to computers made after jan of 04'
I wounder if there is anything i can do,
since the only way i could keep using the computer was to buy a separate display

lame..........

 

[dogbone]

...save problems related to an overzealous tech who had never worked on a Mac before breaking my eMac. My only complaints are that the screen shivers when you play loud music and that the fan is loud.

Hey, I remember that post. Wasn't that the one where you gave the case a shower. About the shivering screen, that's just how it is. a pair of cheap externals is good. You can pick up some Behringer MS16 speakers for about US$60, they're cheap and get rid of the screen shivering. They're not as good a a pair of $200 2.1's of course but they are a vast improvement on the built ins for very little cash.

 

[Haenk]

There is no reason to be grateful.

Apple decided to go with the very cheapest parts available, when all other manufacturers (even Apple itself) already experienced these blown-up capacitors and switched to more reliable manufacturers. I can only assume:
a) Apple engineers were fully unaware of these issues (meaning they ignored the whole PC business for a couple of years)
b) Apple engineers were fully aware of these issues (which I would call fraud)
c) there is no QC at component level
d) Apple marketing decided for the easy dollar and did choose price over quality (considering the price of their machines, I would call this a rip-off)

There is no reason to assume that this is just a batch of "bad parts", as QC should have rejected this batch *and* the iMac G5s show the very same component failure. Anyone remember the AirPort stations - one would assume Apple learned from their mistakes...)

Just wait for the next "big bang" - if you have a 1st gen. iMac G5, now would be a good time to sell it...

 

[dogbone]

Can anyone explain to me exactly what is "scrambled video", does it refer to quicktime or only DVD, or is it anything rendered by your graphic card? How and where egzacategly does it manifest.

 

[hd78]

Apple decided to go with the very cheapest parts available, when all other manufacturers (even Apple itself) already experienced these blown-up capacitors and switched to more reliable manufacturers. I can only assume:
a) Apple engineers were fully unaware of these issues (meaning they ignored the whole PC business for a couple of years)
b) Apple engineers were fully aware of these issues (which I would call fraud)
c) there is no QC at component level
d) Apple marketing decided for the easy dollar and did choose price over quality (considering the price of their machines, I would call this a rip-off)

There is no reason to assume that this is just a batch of "bad parts", as QC should have rejected this batch *and* the iMac G5s show the very same component failure. Anyone remember the AirPort stations - one would assume Apple learned from their mistakes...)

Just wait for the next "big bang" - if you have a 1st gen. iMac G5, now would be a good time to sell it...

My thought exactly. They keep deny that they have a problem the evad cable.

 

[HughJ]

Can anyone explain to me exactly what is "scrambled video", does it refer to quicktime or only DVD, or is it anything rendered by your graphic card? How and where egzacategly does it manifest.

i too would be interested in this, my company bought one of these as a work station (tight arse's) ive been using it extensively for the last 18months or there abouts.

anyway, on outward apprearances there is nothing wrong with my screen BUT i created a thread a while ago, saying my screen was shivering, it moves a fraction of a millimeter but its enough to give me blinding headaches/migranes (not to mention a very expensive pair of glasses...which i only need when im at work) where i now am using screen spanning and have a large piece of vinyl covering the CRT.

I've spoken to a couple of Authroised repairers and both one has mentioned the power supply.

woudl this be covered under the extension? (heck I'm not even sure if the numbers match yet)

hugh

 

[HughJ]

Can anyone explain to me exactly what is "scrambled video", does it refer to quicktime or only DVD, or is it anything rendered by your graphic card? How and where egzacategly does it manifest.

i too would be interested in this, my company bought one of these as a work station (tight arse's) ive been using it extensively for the last 18months or there abouts.

anyway, on outward apprearances there is nothing wrong with my screen BUT i created a thread a while ago, saying my screen was shivering, it moves a fraction of an millimeter but its enough to give me blinding headaches/migranes (not to mention a very expensive pair of glasses...which i only need when im at work) i now use screen spanning with an LCD but have a large piece of vinyl blocking the CRT

I've spoken to a couple of Authroised repairers and both one has mentioned the power supply.

woudl this be covered under the extension? (heck I'm not even sure if the numbers match yet)

hugh

 

[emac kinda guy]

Can anyone explain to me exactly what is "scrambled video", does it refer to quicktime or only DVD, or is it anything rendered by your graphic card? How and where egzacategly does it manifest.

In the Video artifacts thread, someone else posted this link: http://www.swinglight.com/jibber.jpg

That pretty much shows what happens to mine. Its a hard crash requiring the computer to be restarted. Mine started with misplaced pixels in the display.

 

[schatten]

Poor eMac Techs

Yeah,
I remember being an Apple tech working on the eMacs. They've been plagued with problems from Rev A. & down the line!

They're a real pain in the arse to work on too! Gotta be able to heft a ton to lift the thing, but have dainty little hands to access the nooks & crannies. In addition, you can't easily swap out any component without disassembling the whole thing. The screws they use to hold the outer case on are made of the softest possible metal, constantly get stripped... ugh, I could go on & on.

eMacs went against everything Apple stands for as far as ease of service goes. Especially not ideal for school environments.

 

[chatin]

Program expansion!!

I have a dead YM303* serial # eMac. Not covered under the program but the same symptoms.

I'll bug Apple and see if the program can be expanded.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Good luck, Chatin.

I don't think they will budge, though.

 

[Di9it8]

Recycling eMacs

Heres my suggestion, why dont apple replace the eMacs with their new ieMacs,
refurbish the old eMacs and provide them to the not for profit sector with full support.
This would be a win/win situation at very low cost and maximum marketing benefit.
Both the education sector and the NFP sector would then be satisfied customers

 

[asa_nisi_masa]

Some advice to those with covered eMacs

Hi all. I'm not a regular contributor here but thought I'd mention this -

I'm a dispatch technician for an Apple Authorized Service Provider, which means that I go out and repair Macs for people with AppleCare. We cover a lot of schools, so I've seen this problem over and over and fully anticipated this repair extension program. So here is my advice to you, if you have an eMac that falls within the SN range: Flip your eMac so the front is facing down, and take the panel off the bottom by loosening the single phillips screw. Inside you should see one or two capacitors (depending on model). They look like small cylinders standing at a 90 degree angle off the board. They should be metallic on top and mostly brown elsewhere. If they have a plus on top, and they are bulging or there is reddish-brown stuff leaking out, you can go ahead and call Apple. Tell them what you saw and they will cover it, even if you don't have symptoms yet. If they have a K or Mercedes logo, then your board may or may not be bad, but those capacitors don't fail - so there's no way to know unless you have the symptoms. Only the plus capacitors fail, but the ones you can see here aren't the only ones on the board. However, in my experience, almost all of these eMacs have one or both of these visible capacitors failing.

Even if you aren't experiencing issues yet, it would be a good idea to look. Don't attempt to open your eMac any further than this. They aren't exactly easy to take apart and can contain high voltage even when unplugged.

Hope that helps some people!

 

[dogbone]

...They should be metallic on top and mostly brown elsewhere. If they have a plus on top, and they are bulging or there is reddish-brown stuff leaking out, you can go ahead and call Apple...

Thanks for that info. I had a look and thought I saw some red stuff leaking out but after I enlarged the shot I can see it is printing. This eMac is in the affected range and is 19 months old. The caps look OK. Does this mean if they have survived this long that it is unlikely to cause trouble in the future? Or should I still keep an eye on them every 6 months.

While you're here, can you recommend a good way to clean the dust from an eMac that is safe.

 

[cosmichobo]

It took them a while... maybe too long...

G'day,

My eMac, which presented with the "jibber" and hard-lock ups at the start of this year, was repaired free of charge in March, but only after I emailed Steve Jobs. Apple Australia ('s phone staff) weren't interested at all in the problem despite hundreds of people presenting with the problem.

Although a small amount of eMacs were crashing pre-06, and techs have reported seeing bulging caps on eMac logic boards that were not showing any symptoms in 05, it was in Dec/Jan05 that this problem really became apparent. It's thus taken Apple 6 months to respond, and in that time a great many first time Apple Mac owners have turned away in disgust, as the majority of those affected have simply been told to "save for a new computer" (I kid you not).

If you have an eMac built between Apr04-Feb05, whether it shows signs or not, I'd do as Asa suggested and look for badcaps under the RAM hatch. If you have an eMac pre-04 with these problems, unless the caps are the same batch (black/gold with the + on top), I doubt Apple will be interested.

Let's get this straight - it was a bad batch of caps, not necessarily cheap ones, that caused the problem. The same caps were used in the iMac G5, and for whatever reason in that machine these caps went bad within months, whereas in the eMac they "turn" after 18 months (you can nearly set your watch by it).

Yes, it's great that Apple have started this repair program - it's what a lot of people have been asking for for the past 6 months. But it's a shame they took so long to help "the little people", whilst quietly repairing school based eMacs with the problem, given that so many first timers have now been badly scarred by the experience.

cosmic

 

[asa_nisi_masa]

While you're here, can you recommend a good way to clean the dust from an eMac that is safe.

eMacs generally don't get all that dusty inside actually. Generally, the fan will catch any dust that might get into the machine. If you want, you can use canned air and spray it into the grill in the back of the eMac while its on. This should kick the dust off the fan and then the fan will blow it back out at you in a big cloud, so be careful. But again, eMacs stay pretty clean inside unless they are in an extremely dusty area.

Let's get this straight - it was a bad batch of caps, not necessarily cheap ones, that caused the problem. The same caps were used in the iMac G5, and for whatever reason in that machine these caps went bad within months, whereas in the eMac they "turn" after 18 months (you can nearly set your watch by it).

I've found that time frame to be pretty accurate, although it could take longer.

Also, to address any fears from people who get their eMacs back with plus capacitors still on the board - they are a different batch and should be fine. The new parts should not have this problem at all.