I sometimes mention here that something went wrong with our 17-inch iMac G5 2GHz (Ambient Light). Many Mac users reported 3 to 4 years ago that the iMac model before this one had a power failure issue due to defective capacitors and/or a bad power supply box. Our iMac started having an odd problem in March and the operating system experienced a frequent kernel panic. Three months later, an internal fan started running fast with a horrible noise. Then it started having a rampant issue with Ethernet and FireWire. Back in July, we started having trouble turning it on. And it eventually died to the extent that it no longer turns on itself whether or not I reset the Power Management Unit (PMU).

We often go to Apple Discussions to see if other iMac users have the same issues. I am aware that several people have reported a dead iMac is back after replacing the internal battery. (See Screenshot 01.) So should we try putting a new battery?

Screenshot 01 – Source: Apple Discussions

Screenshot 02 – Source: MacHouse

Hmm… It has never occurred to us that replacing the internal battery will solve our iMac G5 issues. So we didn’t even want to spend some five bucks buying a new one. I have a very old PowerBook 5300 (See Screenshot 02.). When I was still a graduate teaching assistant, I kept running it in the sleep mode without power supply in my office. Several months later, the green sleep light stop blinking because the battery went out. But I could still turn it on with power supply, which suggested to me that the battery was used to run the internal clock. 

Anyway, if you want to replace the battery on your iMac G5 (Ambient Light with no iSight), it’s located right under the CD/DVD drive. Well… We put a new one. The result? Our iMac G5 2GHz is very much dead. A new battery won’t put it back to life.

Screenshot 03 – Source: MacHouse

So what now? Again, I have checked if there are any swollen capacitors. And I have none found on the motherboard. So I have to accept the fact that this iMac G5 2GHz has passed away. It only lived for 3 years and 3 months. PowerBook 5300 and iMac 330 GHz are 12 years old and 9 years old, respectively. They are both alive. And the 3-year-old iMac is dead, which doesn’t make sense, does it? I suspect that our iMac G5 has a serious issue with either power supply box or the motherboard.

Meanwhile, an iMac G5 motherboard issue has attracted some attention from fellow Mac users at Apple Discussions. A particular post been read at least 1,710 times since May 7, 2008. (See Screenshot 04-5.) For now, we have no intention of contacting Apple. But I hope Apple will put this iMac model to the extended warranty list.

Screenshot 04 – Source: Apple Discussions

Screenshot 05 – Source: Apple Discussions

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