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xcodeaddict

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 2, 2013
602
0
Hi there. I have a 2003 ATI Graphics eMac (the one that could be, and was, upgraded from 800Mhz to 1.33Ghz with a simple jumper mod). I originally bought this around 2008, used, and it was working fine. I gave it to my brother in 2008, but late 2011 to early/mid 2012 (can't remember), he complained that "the audio is going funny and crackling".

I now have said eMac, and as an electronics engineer, and when you first plug in the mains lead BEFORE powering it on, there is a distinct but quiet, high-pitched whining noise, as if the internal switched mode PSU is not regulating as it should. Being well versed in eMac disassembley, I took it apart to change the HDD (which needed his data taking OUT, to keep safe) and to put a new one in, and at the same time I inspected the mains input side of the high voltage board, and sure enough, the capacitor "C910" seems to be bulging at the top.

Any comments would be appreciated - do Apple still service these, or do I buy the caps myself, and replace them? The symptoms are:

#1 Crackling/sporadic volume of boot chime and audio (sometimes OS audio)

#2 It has frozen twice tonight, using the new drive (long press on power off to escape this)

#3 The other day, it had a kernel panic (long press on power off to escape this)

#4 At the VERY edges of the raster scan on the CRT, it is a tiny bit wobbly (very fine waves) - it wasn't doing this before, which makes me suspect that aforementioned bulging cap is a reservoir capacitor (which would smooth the PSU, the lack of this smoothing seems to point to these issues).

Is this symptomatic of the other bulging capacitor issues of years past?

Many thanks, God bless you :)
 
Hi there. I have a 2003 ATI Graphics eMac (the one that could be, and was, upgraded from 800Mhz to 1.33Ghz with a simple jumper mod). I originally bought this around 2008, used, and it was working fine. I gave it to my brother in 2008, but late 2011 to early/mid 2012 (can't remember), he complained that "the audio is going funny and crackling".

I now have said eMac, and as an electronics engineer, and when you first plug in the mains lead BEFORE powering it on, there is a distinct but quiet, high-pitched whining noise, as if the internal switched mode PSU is not regulating as it should. Being well versed in eMac disassembley, I took it apart to change the HDD (which needed his data taking OUT, to keep safe) and to put a new one in, and at the same time I inspected the mains input side of the high voltage board, and sure enough, the capacitor "C910" seems to be bulging at the top.

Any comments would be appreciated - do Apple still service these, or do I buy the caps myself, and replace them? The symptoms are:

#1 Crackling/sporadic volume of boot chime and audio (sometimes OS audio)

#2 It has frozen twice tonight, using the new drive (long press on power off to escape this)

#3 The other day, it had a kernel panic (long press on power off to escape this)

#4 At the VERY edges of the raster scan on the CRT, it is a tiny bit wobbly (very fine waves) - it wasn't doing this before, which makes me suspect that aforementioned bulging cap is a reservoir capacitor (which would smooth the PSU, the lack of this smoothing seems to point to these issues).

Is this symptomatic of the other bulging capacitor issues of years past?

Many thanks, God bless you :)

Apple don't service them any more. You may be able to find the board (maybe from another dead one with a different problem) - or if you're sure it's that cap, there's nothing stopping you soldering a new one on.
 
Apple don't service them any more. You may be able to find the board (maybe from another dead one with a different problem) - or if you're sure it's that cap, there's nothing stopping you soldering a new one on.

Thanks. As I suspected.

Take care :)
 
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