subject: The iMac Repair Capacitors [print this page] The iMac G5 computer has at least two different manufacturing problems. The first is the poor quality of the capacitors on the logic board. The second is that is has bad power supplies as a result of the bad capacitors as well. The capacitors that are in the iMac G5 computer will possibly leak and swell in time. The bad part about this is that there's really no way to predict it. Several years back, Apple had released a set of serial numbers that might have been plagued with this problem.
However, as time passed it has become abundantly clear that the problem isn't limited to just those serials numbers and any iMac G5 computer might be affected. This doesn't necessarily mean that you should go out and have all of your iMac G5's capacitors replaced with high quality capacitors but there some things that you might want to look out for.
In the first place, you can remove the back panel and visually inspect the capacitors. In the second place you should watch for symptoms that include unexplainable crashing of applications, trouble when booting, trouble when shutting down, complete system lockup, video freezing, and the display won't change but you can usually connect to the system externally, video distortion, and if anything else in your iMac G5 computer is giving you a problem it's probably the capacitors.
Replacing the iMac G5's capacitors will usually fix most, if not all of these problems. You shouldn't allow a repair shop charge you for a new logic board. It's a very expensive and unnecessary repair. Most reputable repair shops will replace the capacitors for considerably less than it would cost for a new logic board. If you have some technical expertise you can check the capacitors and ensure that they're working alright. To do this place the iMac G5 computer on its front and then loosen the 3 screws which are located on the display's bottom. Then carefully move the display away from the back panel. If there are leaking or swollen capacitors, they need to be replaced and you are going to need the services of an authorized iMac repair shop.
Many repair shops will also accept mail in capacitor repairs. You will be the one who is responsible for shipping it to them, but they will usually cover the cost of return shipping. All you need to do is to enclose a note with your email, phone number, address, name, and the symptoms that you've experienced so far.
