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I just have Received my new iMac with some issues

M

mrmarts

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 6, 2009
1,051
1
Melbourne Australia
I just have received a new iMac after nearly a month of waiting and have identified two problems out of the box. The first minor problem I have is two fine scratches on the screens bazel. They are hard to spot unless you know about them, and only can be seen when the screen is moved towards more light from the window.

The second issue is a sparking usb port when i plug a external hdd that is connect to a power source, however when plugging Apples wired keyboard or my Mophie iPhone charger no sparks are present. The sparks are not big and can only be seen inside the port. Are any of these issues to be concerned about? Should i have my iMac replaced.
 
you dont want to keep anything that sparks. shorts are unpredictable and can cause fire. not worth loosing your house to a fire because you didnt want to send it back.
 
mrmarts said:
I just have received a new iMac after nearly a month of waiting and have identified two problems out of the box. The first minor problem I have is two fine scratches on the screens bazel. They are hard to spot unless you know about them, and only can be seen when the screen is moved towards more light from the window.

The second issue is a sparking usb port when i plug a external hdd that is connect to a power source, however when plugging Apples wired keyboard or my Mophie iPhone charger no sparks are present. The sparks are not big and can only be seen inside the port. Are any of these issues to be concerned about? Should i have my iMac replaced.
Click to expand...

When you plug in the external without the power source plugged in, does it still spark?
 
Nismo73 said:
When you plug in the external without the power source plugged in, does it still spark?
Click to expand...

I got two WD External hdd's one with and one without a power source. The one without the power source does not spark. However the one with the power source does.

I however plugged the same drive into my macbook retina 13" and it did not exhibit those symptoms. I was speaking to a senior Apple consultant and he said "seeing the two devices use a different logic board and have a different power source they are likely to differ.

I have also read that it is common for a external hdd with its own power source to spark, if the wire supplied is not properly grounded.

I still do not believe a new should spark no matter how minor the spark is, I will hassle Apple for a change.
 
mrmarts said:
I have also read that it is common for a external hdd with its own power source to spark, if the wire supplied is not properly grounded.

I still do not believe a new should spark no matter how minor the spark is, I will hassle Apple for a change.
Click to expand...

It is common. A "spark" is a voltage differential. Chances are your new iMac will do it too, and I bet many here on the forum don't realise it.
 
Seems like a Whatcha doing? Issue

mrmarts said:
I got two WD External hdd's one with and one without a power source. The one without the power source does not spark. However the one with the power source does.

I however plugged the same drive into my macbook retina 13" and it did not exhibit those symptoms. I was speaking to a senior Apple consultant and he said "seeing the two devices use a different logic board and have a different power source they are likely to differ.

I have also read that it is common for a external hdd with its own power source to spark, if the wire supplied is not properly grounded.

I still do not believe a new should spark no matter how minor the spark is, I will hassle Apple for a change.
Click to expand...

If you plug in the device before powering up you don't have a spark.

If are the Other USB devices work fine and don't spark, well it seems to point to WEstern Digital.
 
:confused: It amazes me why people try to post answers or solutions without knowing anything about the subject at hand. :confused:

The sparking is not from the iMac. the iMac is properly grounded, therefore it will provide a path back to ground from any source with a big potential... ie a device which is powered without a proper ground of its own. Or your hand after shuffling across a carpet, since you suddenly carry a big electrical potential. The spark is the HD's power source finding a way to ground via 1) the air then 2) the iMac's grounded port then 3) the electrical system's ground.

If the iMac wasn't grounded, you likely wouldn't see a spark and stray current would just escape into the motherboard and that will definitely fry something electronic.

You don't have to return the iMac, although you can if you want to fix the scratches. That's up to you.
 
Arfdog said:
:confused: It amazes me why people try to post answers or solutions without knowing anything about the subject at hand. :confused:

The sparking is not from the iMac. the iMac is properly grounded, therefore it will provide a path back to ground from any source with a big potential... ie a device which is powered without a proper ground of its own. Or your hand after shuffling across a carpet, since you suddenly carry a big electrical potential. The spark is the HD's power source finding a way to ground via 1) the air then 2) the iMac's grounded port then 3) the electrical system's ground.

If the iMac wasn't grounded, you likely wouldn't see a spark and stray current would just escape into the motherboard and that will definitely fry something electronic.

You don't have to return the iMac, although you can if you want to fix the scratches. That's up to you.
Click to expand...

So one should plug in their laptop before attaching an external drive to keep from frying the mother board?
 
Thanks for the prompt feedback guys, I am still confused how the same external hdd connected to my macbook does not exhibit this issue whereas the iMac immediately sparks, if it was a issue with hdd it would spark on both computers I assume. I am having the case investigated through Apple and i will keep you guys informed of the outcome.
 
Last edited:
mrmarts said:
Thanks for the prompt feedback guys, I am still confused how the same external hdd connected to my macbook does not exhibit this issue whereas the iMac immediately sparks, if it was a issue with hdd it would spark on both computers I assume. I am having the case investigated through Apple and i will keep you guys informed of the outcome.
Click to expand...

It doesn't work that way. Something can spark with one device and not with another due to the nature of that particular connection. And it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the iMac.
 
mrmarts said:
Does your iMac spark when you plug a external hdd with its own power source?
Click to expand...

I don't want to do any unnecessary unplugging/plugging of cables, but I know that when I noticed a minor spark thing it was with a device with its own power source, either my external HD or my external Blu-ray drive.
 
mrmarts said:
Thanks for the prompt feedback guys, I am still confused how the same external hdd connected to my macbook does not exhibit this issue whereas the iMac immediately sparks, if it was a issue with hdd it would spark on both computers I assume. I am having the case investigated through Apple and i will keep you guys informed of the outcome.
Click to expand...

The answer to this is in this reply, read thru it:

"The sparking is not from the iMac. the iMac is properly grounded, therefore it will provide a path back to ground from any source with a big potential... ie a device which is powered without a proper ground of its own. Or your hand after shuffling across a carpet, since you suddenly carry a big electrical potential. The spark is the HD's power source finding a way to ground via 1) the air then 2) the iMac's grounded port then 3) the electrical system's ground.

If the iMac wasn't grounded, you likely wouldn't see a spark and stray current would just escape into the motherboard and that will definitely fry something electronic."

Probably the MacBook is not properly grounded
 
Slow Programmer said:
So one should plug in their laptop before attaching an external drive to keep from frying the mother board?
Click to expand...

Yes. All electronic equipment should be plugged into a properly grounded outlet or you could fry something, as stray current will have nowhere to go and may jump around to something sensitive.

You may or may not see a spark jump from your current source to the iMac.
 
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