G'day,

Although I think less than 4 members appear to have been affected...

In June 06 Apple announced an Extended Repair Program for eMacs built between April 04 - April 05 - ie the 1.25Ghz model. Their reasons were due to "Power & Video" problems. Those problems were in fact caused by a bad batch of capacitors, and caused the computer to completely freeze up every 5 minutes.

The fault appeared only after approx 18 months use, unlike the iMac G5, which used the same bad caps, and experienced similar faults almost straight away.

As well as offering a free new logic board, Apple extended the normal warranty period to 3 years.

That 3 year period will thus end this month for the eMacs built first, in April 04.

Anyone who owns an eMac G4 1.25Ghz, I'd strongly suggest opening the RAM hatch, and inspecting the two capacitors (of many) that are visible under the RAM slots. They should not be "bulging", or have any brown substance coming out of them. The bad caps are black & gold in colour, with "HN(M)" written on the side. They have a "+" marking on the top.

The reason I post this is that although I said the problem starts after 18 months, there are still people arriving at Apple Discussions now who are only just starting to experience the fault. So with time running out, best to get in there and make sure your eMac isn't going to become a lemon.

Thanks for the tip cosmic - is yours going fine now with the replacement motherboard?

Have two eMac 700s here, mobos work fine, shame about the CRT - smashed on one, warped on the other

JB

Yes Byrd, my eMac's been running fine since its repair... Though I guess I will double check the caps on my new board before my 3 years expires... I know the tec at infinite systems did show me inside the RAM hatch when I picked the computer up, but I know buying a new computer wont be a reality for me til probably end of 08, so making sure this one keeps running is pretty important...

Should I just check those capacitors, or look for other signs as well?

It's more than likely that if your 1.25Ghz eMac hasn't experienced problems yet, then it's not going to. But the odd couple keep turning up over on Apple Discussions... so it's still possible.

Problems:

Problems can include:

Freezing - often with the beachball-of-death followed by complete seize up - no response from keyboard or mouse, requiring hard shut down (holding the power button for 5-10 seconds)

Screen Disturbances such as horizontal distortion lines, and/or the screen simply becoming partly or completely garbled - often leading to the freeze...


Whether or not you've had these symptoms, I'd recommend opening the inspection hatch and looking at the capacitors. It'll take 15 minutes of your time, and could save you over $600 if it turns out your computer has taken even longer than most to "go bad".

[And I do of course only refer to those affected by the bad caps un-knowingly used by Apple in 04/05. ]

I missed this part. Where does Apple say that it extended the warranty to 3 years?

http://www.apple.com/support/emac/re...ensionprogram/

How long is the eMac Repair Extension Program available?
The program covers affected eMac computers for up to three years from the original date of purchase. Apple will continue to evaluate the repair data and will provide further repair extensions as needed.

---

Originally when they declared the repair program, it was linked on the main Support page.

I'll make a note here that Apple have, in my opinion, "buried" the repair program for the eMac, as it is no longer noted on the Support page like the iMac G5's repair program. You instead have to click on "Program Overview" (in reference simply to "Exchange and Extension Programs", and then click on "eMac", to discover that there is such a program in place for this problem.

Thanks for that. I was just wondering because some friends have one with an optical drive that failed within the original warranty period but they didn't do anything about it. I was hoping they might still be able to claim it but is seems not. At least they got a new logic board.

Well, most of the affected eMacs are now at least 3 years old, and indeed, Apple is now starting to turn people away who are only now "discovering" the fault inherant in their eMac 1.25GHz (and some 1.42GHz).

So again, cos I'm a pedantic malfeasance...

IF YOUR eMAC HAS ANY PROBLEMS, TAKE IT TO AN AUTHORISED REPAIRER ASAP!

Save yourself around $700 by getting Apple to fix it rather than having to pay out yourself...

Love ya Apple.