iMac started smoking grey smoke and shut off. HELP

J

jasfa131

The Lone Deranger
I got back from a 4 week vacation, I turned on my iMac, installed the newest apple updates, and used the computer for iTunes and email. After an hour or so I noticed a small, red, smoking ember fall out from the left side of the computer. At this point I noticed grey smoke emerging from the left side as well, and after about 3 seconds the screen went black and the computer shut-off. I quickly unplugged it and tried plugging it in again after I woke up today. It wont turn on. I bought the computer last October so I should still have Apple's standard 1 year warrenty, right? I took really good care of the computer, and never modified or messed with it.

Any info/help is greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
Smoking embers? Then more smoke from that left side? And it shut itself off?

Doesn't sound too good! There's really nothing more you can do yourself.
Take to an Apple Store or authorized specialist. They will check it out. You should be OK with warranty repairs.
 
Seems as though a capacitor failed which caused the smoke to billow out of the iMac. Take it into the Apple Store and have them check it out. If it's still under warranty, you'll be covered.
 
If it is a capacitor, does the capacitor just have to be replaced, or is the computer actually damaged?
Thanks
 
Apple won't just replace the capacitor - they'll replace the logic board. They may replace the computer if other parts of the Mac have been significantly damaged.

You may want to purchase the 3-year coverage that AppleCare gives you - this repair out of warranty would cost ~ $1000.
 
eric2006 said:
Apple won't just replace the capacitor - they'll replace the logic board. They may replace the computer if other parts of the Mac have been significantly damaged.

You may want to purchase the 3-year coverage that AppleCare gives you - this repair out of warranty would cost ~ $1000.
Click to expand...
Is that a motherboard? Will I be able to get my HDD if it's not damaged?
Thanks for the replies
 
Call AppleCare.
They'll help you. Just explain what happened, and include the words smoke etc while you describe it. They should be made aware that such thing has happened - even if it would be outside warranty, still. What happened could have been dangerous, imagine no one was home...
The data on your hard drive should be safe and not affected by this.
Take care
 
Giaguara said:
Call AppleCare.
They'll help you. Just explain what happened, and include the words smoke etc while you describe it. They should be made aware that such thing has happened - even if it would be outside warranty, still. What happened could have been dangerous, imagine no one was home...
The data on your hard drive should be safe and not affected by this.
Take care
Click to expand...
Thank god! I have a lot of important things on my HDD, all of the songs I've written, really invaluable stuff. I'm taking it in tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top