Ways to keep a G5 LCS running properly?

[theMarble]

Hi guys,

Could anyone who has or currently owns a PowerMac G5 with the LCS (2.5 DP, 2.7 DP, 2.5 DPDC) chime in on how they kept it running well, without leakage and loud noises etc. I've bought myself a 2.7 DP today and want to know the best ways to maintain it and it's LCS.

Thank you!
PS: I will do a full post on the G5 soon enough

 

[joevt]

Vacuum out the dust once a decade?

My Quad G5 is running with 3 processors (I had to disable one in Open Firmware for it to work in macOS - luckily the one that gets disabled is not the one that Open Firmware uses to boot).

I looked at videos for replacing the cooling system - it looked way too complicated because the cooling includes the cache which is separate from the CPU. The coolant is some kind of automobile antifreeze type stuff?

 

[theMarble]

Vacuum out the dust once a decade?

My Quad G5 is running with 3 processors (I had to disable one in Open Firmware for it to work in macOS - luckily the one that gets disabled is not the one that Open Firmware uses to boot).

I looked at videos for replacing the cooling system - it looked way too complicated because the cooling includes the cache which is separate from the CPU. The coolant is some kind of automobile antifreeze type stuff?

I cleaned it as soon as I got it home. I'm using it to write this now and it definitely makes some quiet buzz-humming noises but there is no liquid damage yet and temperatures seem fine: CPU A is at 63C and B is at 75C. Is that too much difference between them or it is fine?

I believe the coolant is GM Dexcool, engine coolant. Probably not the best choice for a workstation.

 

[joevt]

What do you use to measure the temperature?

 

[necreation]

I cleaned it as soon as I got it home. I'm using it to write this now and it definitely makes some quiet buzz-humming noises but there is no liquid damage yet and temperatures seem fine: CPU A is at 63C and B is at 75C. Is that too much difference between them or it is fine?

I believe the coolant is GM Dexcool, engine coolant. Probably not the best choice for a workstation.

Yes. There is definitely a quiet buzz-humming noise from my Quad G5 as well.

There's no visible liquid damage so far but I believe I might have to check it more frequently from time to time now. It's running with 36-38c for CPU A and 48-49c for CPU B. Currently running Filezilla, iTunes (radio streaming) and TenFourFox with 3 tabs.

I guess the temperature isn't too bad. I'm in an air conditioned room (26c) in tropical country with about 32c to 34c outdoor temperature.

1 thing I'm sure of is my room isn't soaking in the heat of the Quad G5. Probably it's because I'm not using it for anything serious at the moment.

I've tried to look for proper documentation of how to properly service the Quad G5 LCS but so far I have only manage to find some written blogs with pictures. Not feeling so adventurous to try taking it apart when it's not broken.

I wish someone can share a full video of how to get it done.

 

[Macbookprodude]

Vacuum out the dust once a decade?

My Quad G5 is running with 3 processors (I had to disable one in Open Firmware for it to work in macOS - luckily the one that gets disabled is not the one that Open Firmware uses to boot).

I looked at videos for replacing the cooling system - it looked way too complicated because the cooling includes the cache which is separate from the CPU. The coolant is some kind of automobile antifreeze type stuff?

Why did you have to disable one of the processors ? I use Leopard on my G5 with all 4 and works fine.

 

[joevt]

Why did you have to disable one of the processors ? I use Leopard on my G5 with all 4 and works fine.

I don't know. It hangs in macOS if it is not disabled. Actually it won't even boot - there's some random panic (stack corruption or data access) during boot.
I use setenv boot-args cpus=3 in Open Firmware.
3 out of 4 cores is not too bad.
I used Hardware Monitor.app to view the temperatures. Room temperature is about 24°C.


20 minutes later (mostly idling and RSS Visualizer screen saver):

 

[Macbookprodude]

Sounds like one of the processors is bad or becoming bad. Maybe replacement is needed of that processor card.

 

[barracuda156]

What do you use to measure the temperature?

iStat Menus can do that, for example.