Strike 2

[Dirtyharry50]

Well, 3 months ago I had in-home service under AppleCare done on my iMac to correct discoloration of both the LCD and glass panel caused most probably by excessive heat according to the tech who did the repair.

The problem has recurred and I called AppleCare today about it to schedule another on-site visit to fix it. They were very gracious about this and after asking me various relevant questions, ordered the parts and setup the service call. I'm supposed to hear from the tech when the parts arrive which are being sent overnight. So I guess tomorrow I'll hear from them.

While on the phone I asked about the 3 strikes you're out policy and the Apple advisor laughed but assured me they'd take care of me on this one way or another until it is fixed, including beyond my AppleCare warranty period on a recurring problem like this. So we'll see. I have just under a year of AppleCare to go on my mid-2011 27 iMac and this problem recurred in under three months. I imagine it won't take long for stuff to start melting again if heat is doing it. I do play games a lot and stress the system that way heat-wise.

This time they are also replacing three fans along with the LCD and glass panel. From the sound of things when I am gaming there is plenty of fan action going on and I told they guy so but they want to try that.

I have a funny feeling although of course I could wind up wrong, that Apple is going to be out 2 LCD panels, 2 glass panels and 3 fans and still wind up replacing this because it just runs too hot. Maybe it's the use I give it but it should be able to stand up to it as far as I am concerned.

I'll share how I make out just for anyone that might be interested. They've been very good about fixing this so far. I just want a lasting fix or a new machine if they cannot do that in a reasonable number of tries.

 

[Thermonuclear]

All recent iMacs run hot when the CPU and GPU are fully loaded, a necessary consequence of cramming too much hardware into too little space.

I suggest getting a small, quiet desk fan and place it behind your iMac and have it aimed at the hottest area. I've done this for my 2010 21 inch iMac; it works quite well and I don't have to worry about heat related failures.

I also used the external fan trick on my 1986 Mac Plus after twice losing two analog power boards from heat.

 

[Altemose]

Well, 3 months ago I had in-home service under AppleCare done on my iMac to correct discoloration of both the LCD and glass panel caused most probably by excessive heat according to the tech who did the repair.

The problem has recurred and I called AppleCare today about it to schedule another on-site visit to fix it. They were very gracious about this and after asking me various relevant questions, ordered the parts and setup the service call. I'm supposed to hear from the tech when the parts arrive which are being sent overnight. So I guess tomorrow I'll hear from them.

While on the phone I asked about the 3 strikes you're out policy and the Apple advisor laughed but assured me they'd take care of me on this one way or another until it is fixed, including beyond my AppleCare warranty period on a recurring problem like this. So we'll see. I have just under a year of AppleCare to go on my mid-2011 27 iMac and this problem recurred in under three months. I imagine it won't take long for stuff to start melting again if heat is doing it. I do play games a lot and stress the system that way heat-wise.

This time they are also replacing three fans along with the LCD and glass panel. From the sound of things when I am gaming there is plenty of fan action going on and I told they guy so but they want to try that.

I have a funny feeling although of course I could wind up wrong, that Apple is going to be out 2 LCD panels, 2 glass panels and 3 fans and still wind up replacing this because it just runs too hot. Maybe it's the use I give it but it should be able to stand up to it as far as I am concerned.

I'll share how I make out just for anyone that might be interested. They've been very good about fixing this so far. I just want a lasting fix or a new machine if they cannot do that in a reasonable number of tries.

Since it is three years old I would have them blow any dust out if any inside the machine. Also, if you push this Mac hard meaning consistent high CPU and GPU usage, the thermal paste could be degrading.

 

[joe-h2o]

All recent iMacs run hot when the CPU and GPU are fully loaded, a necessary consequence of cramming too much hardware into too little space.

I suggest getting a small, quiet desk fan and place it behind your iMac and have it aimed at the hottest area. I've done this for my 2010 21 inch iMac; it works quite well and I don't have to worry about heat related failures.

I also used the external fan trick on my 1986 Mac Plus after twice losing two analog power boards from heat.

No, only his model of iMac runs hot.

The Late 2012 era onwards (the thinner redesign) run very cool even under sustained high loads, and these models are even more tightly packed than the earlier era ones.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

No, only his model of iMac runs hot.

The Late 2012 era onwards (the thinner redesign) run very cool even under sustained high loads, and these models are even more tightly packed than the earlier era ones.

That was my understanding, that they have corrected the heat related issues, reducing heat overall in iMacs. I doubt blowing a full size box fan on the back of this computer would save it from melting itself inside. It just gets too hot in there. It's already started "melting down" twice and I have no reason to think it won't do it again. The computer is actually just over two years old despite its model year. Some may recall there was quite a delay until the 2012 refresh and I bought this prior to that rather than waiting. So it was already May 2012 when I bought a 2011 iMac and that was the newest iMac model available at that time. 2012's were not readily available in quantity until early 2013.

That said, 3 months ago when the tech worked on this he did blow out the inside of it and there was next to no dust inside which was good but also ruling that out as an issue.

My gut feeling is that this model simply has a design flaw where if it is pushed hard (such as gaming) for long periods of time it does not adequately handle the heat thus causing damage to the LCD and even the glass panel covering it. I'll know pretty soon because after another replacement of those two parts plus all new fans if it is damaged again in a few months I'll have to figure it is just going to keep happening and thus I'll ask for a replacement iMac.

This has actually been an issue since I got this Mac but I put off dealing with it as silly me hadn't read the AppleCare agreement carefully and realized I was entitled to in-home service. I didn't want to be without my iMac so I lived with a screen that gradually got worse and worse over time. Ultimately, the DVD drive failed and so did the video card so I was forced to deal with it and then learned I never needed to put it off.

On a bright note, the video card is still fine and so is the DVD drive but as soon as I saw the same marks appearing on the LCD and the discoloration of the panel I got on the phone this time. They repair guy called me today but two out of 3 fans didn't arrive in time although the other stuff did. So tomorrow he said he'll call again and be out to see me in the afternoon.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Well, it is all fixed up now. The tech installed 3 fans, one LCD panel and one glass panel. He also blew out the case and cleaned out the vents, many of which were clogged up with dust. Now my iMac is running nice and cool. Even at idle it would get so hot you'd burn your fingers touching the top part of it. Now it is cool to the touch. I haven't really done any gaming on it yet though.

This time around I invested 5 bucks in a great little utility on the Mac App Store for monitoring system temps called "Temperature Gauge" so I can be aware of rising temps before damage occurs hopefully and make sure there is adequate airflow, etc. This utility displays data from every temp sensor in my iMac and makes it easy to see what highest temps have been since last boot, log the data if desired and will alarm if system average temp or any one sensor hits a max you can set.