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August 29, 2007

troubleshooting

G5s now not only look like a sieve, they leak like one

Posted Aug. 29, ’07, 6:33 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Troubleshooting

G5 liquid cool One of the many reasons we never saw a G5 in a Powerbook was heat. Later generation G5s put out a ton of heat. So much so that a liquid cooling system was employed to keep things under control. I remember a number of Mac fans being concerned about the long term viability of such a system. It turns out those worries were quite justified.

According to one reader of MacFixit and Xlr8yourmac (I saw his report on both sites):

I have a lab of 17 Dual 2.7Ghz G5s that are all now leaking their coolant- all at once. A significant number are dead in the water and the rest are just holding on right now. Symptoms are wide-ranged but will include fans spinning wildly, machines shutting down when they heat up, greenish liquid leaking from the case, and if you are able to look, crystalized liquid forming where the CPU meets the heatsink as well as corrosion of all the metal surrounding the CPU module. Eventually, the machines just stop working altogether necessitating a replacement of CPU, Logic Board, Power Supply, and two smaller parts. In one case the power supply started to shoot off black smoke and then died.

Thus far Apple hasn’t done anything about this issue. Of course many of these G5s are out of warranty coverage, leaving Apple blameless or at least not obligated to do anything about it. It’s a sad fact though, considering the number of G3 and G4 towers that are still cranking away after all these years. It makes me glad my Mac Pro didn’t need such an elaborate cooling system, unlike Capri-Sun, it’s not liquid cool.


3 Comments

Ilgaz Author Profile Page said:

I don't understand, I got a Quad G5, it is never such "hot", never seen anything above 75 Celsius over very heavy encoding work along with full HD load, never leaked anything and this is not really some controlled mainframe environment. :)

I wonder something... While Apple suggests the new Intel macs shouldn't be used on "Laps" because it can damage skin because of heat, why do people _insists_ on calling G5 towers "hot". No, it is not hot. E.g. it is 107.8 F right now.

Also G5 Dual Core or Quad tower is _not_ a portable machine, it is a workstation intended for professional use. Will Intel be to blame if a 8 core Xeon horribly fails because it wasn't handled right?

OK, there could be leakage but it has something to do with manufacturing quality rather than a PowerPC processor or liquid cooling system.

Apple may have manufactured them without the care a liquid cooling system requires. If it is the same thing going on, the "fan" can break up after 2 years of usage on 8 core Xeon too, I am sure I won't be blaming "Intel" for it.

If you buy a professional class workstation, spare some money to yearly service and cleanup. A computer that kind requires it.


August 29, 2007 1:19 PM
Constable Odo said:

What is a common cause of the leak? The fittings (loosening clamps), the hoses (dry rot), or the radiator (fractured solder joints)? I'm willing to bet on dry rot, other than that I still can't imagine what would cause so many machines to leak on schedule. Jeez, most air conditioners and probably all refrigerators can run years and years without a leak, but these G5s are really messed up. Does the coolant pump put out an extreme amount of pressure? Glad I passed on those models. I really thought they would be watertight for years and an excellent way to keep the machine cool and quiet.

August 29, 2007 1:22 PM
Neil Anderson said:

So the cheese grater design is actually drainage holes?

August 30, 2007 12:22 PM

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