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Power Mac G5 A1047 won't switch on

S

sneakybells

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 4, 2013
5
0
Hi i recently moved offices and when i went to switch on my mac today its just not working, its has sat for about 4 months unused because of the move, but was working fine before.

I have tried unplugging everything, i tried to find the diagnostic led's inside but i think this model is too old to have them.

The power button literally lights up and makes a clicking sound and the fans turn a tiny bit and then it stops.

Any ideas anyone?? I know its old but its been fine up untill now and i'd be gutted to loose it.

Kind regards, Helen
 
sneakybells said:
Hi i recently moved offices and when i went to switch on my mac today its just not working, its has sat for about 4 months unused because of the move, but was working fine before.

I have tried unplugging everything, i tried to find the diagnostic led's inside but i think this model is too old to have them.

The power button literally lights up and makes a clicking sound and the fans turn a tiny bit and then it stops.

Any ideas anyone?? I know its old but its been fine up untill now and i'd be gutted to loose it.

Kind regards, Helen
Click to expand...

Leave it plugged in overnight to recharge the pram battery, and turn it back on in the morning.
 
Suggest Cuda

The button switch by the battery, as the battery is probably dead will basically clear the corrupt pram.

Don't need the battery unless you turn the unit off or unplug it.

Good luck.
 
G5

Strange. I wish I were closer as I have a spare G5 but without being there I can't shoot from the hip very fast. I would still say the power supply is suspect, but I would try the hair dryer trick. Put a hair dryer at the ram, get it good and hot, keep it running and try to start it. Another known issue, bad solder (as they removed good material from solder that made it last). The board heats up and flexes wrecking the joints, the hair dryer flexes the board to allow contact. If it works you can remove the motherboard and use a real heat gun to "reflow" the solder.
 
havokalien said:
...Another known issue, bad solder (as they removed good material from solder that made it last). The board heats up and flexes wrecking the joints...
Click to expand...

And if the move subjected it to vibration, it might have caused a developing problem of this nature to present itself.

I'd probably start with dropping to two sticks of memory and trying them in a couple of different pairs of slots.

Vibration can also cause problems with other electrical connections--Especially if any oxidation or corrosion is already present. But memory does seem like a good place to start here.
 
How was it moved? Was it trusted to movers or was it in your care the whole time? If moved by car, was it in the trunk with the spare tire? Macs generally prefer to travel in the front seat safely snugged in with the seatbelt. And maybe with a nice pillow too. If you have kids, put them in the back seat or the trunk instead.

If this was trusted to movers, let's assume vibration at a minimum and dropped from truck at highway speeds to be closer to the norm.

I once dropped a Dell no more than three inches onto a wooden desk. I was putting it down and lost my grip at the last moment. It wouldn't start again until I reseated the CPU. Honestly, though, I suspect a G5 tower dropped in the same situation would pose far more danger to the desk.
 
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