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G5, LED and a click, but no start

I

ilazria

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2009
6
0
I have a G5 and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth fixing or should I just sell it for parts? When I press the power button there's a click and the LED on the front flashes on, once, then turns off. That's all that happens. No other noise, no flashing of lights, nada. There is the faintest hint of a smell after trying to turn it on.

I've tried resetting the PRAM, PMU, and a trick I saw in another post about taking out the battery, turning it on, then putting the battery back in. The results are all the same.

Any clue as to what is broken? I imagine it's not the power supply, since I do get the click and the light. I could be wrong about that, though. I'd like to at least figure out what is broken so I can get the most out of it if I sell it.

Also, if I do sell it, what is a reasonable price?
 
From my experience, this is a power supply failure. Even though you are getting a small light from the front LED, it just does not have enough power to turn on the rest of the computer. I could be wrong but I've replaced about 20 power supplies in these G5's so far, and my small shop has only been open a year :)
 
I had a single 1.8 (the crappy education model) that would do this. I punched the power supply and it worked fine after that. If you moved it around it would do it again, so I'd punch it again.
 
bizzle said:
I had a single 1.8 (the crappy education model) that would do this. I punched the power supply and it worked fine after that. If you moved it around it would do it again, so I'd punch it again.
Click to expand...

:D Has anyone ever determined the exact failure point in these powersupplies? Like, can they be repaired if a cap is replaced?
 
burnout8488 said:
:D Has anyone ever determined the exact failure point in these powersupplies? Like, can they be repaired if a cap is replaced?
Click to expand...

I am guessing with my particular issue, its probably a bad solder point on the PCB. I'd imaging you could just reflow all the points on the bottom and it would resolve. I didn't bother because that machine is completely useless, working on not. I use it as a foot stool, doesn't need to work for that purpose.
 
I have a 450w acbel power supply I ordered off eBay, it should be arriving today. My old power supply was still working but sounded weird so I ordered the new one. I ended up cleaning out the old one and it works fine now. (Not saying that cleaning a dead power supply will revive it :) mine just sounded weird.) I'd sell it to you for $60 total including shipping if you're interested. I put it back on eBay, so I'll give you the listing if you want to get it through there. I'm trying to pay for a new video card I ordered.
 
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