iMac won't power up

[pincher]

My old (2007) iMac that now sits in the kitchen for the kids to destroy doesn't seem to want to power up after a few days switched off (been away).

Did the obvious and checked the fuse, which is fine - anything else I can try?

[pincher]

mattley said:

When you say 'won't power up' do you just get nothing or does it at least get to the sad folder icon?

Nothing, nada, not a bean. It's one of the old while polycarbonate ones and there is usually a white light in the lower bottom right hand side when you press the button at the back but I'm not even getting that or the disk spinning or fans whirring

[pincher]

Murph7355 said:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

?

That looks like it is for Macs that are already on and unresponsive, no?

[pincher]

To be honest, it's rarely turned off as it is the family workhorse browser/homework/iTunes machine a it got powered down for the first time in a couple of months last week and now refuses to get going again.

Haven't had any other clues that something was amiss

[pincher]

Just tried that - no joy.

Think it might be borked

[pincher]

Actually, I can hear a very faint clicking if I put my ear to the back of it - probably about 2 or 3 clicks per second.


Edit - clicking starts as soon as I plus the power cord back in - don't have to press the power button to be able to hear it.

Edited by pincher on Thursday 17th April 09:38

[pincher]

Tried resetting the NVRAM as well but still no joy.

This could get expensive........

[pincher]

I'll try from a DVD but have also booked a Genius Bar appointment for Saturday afternoon

[pincher]

Can't even get the install DVD to be accepted

[pincher]

That's as maybe but it either needs to be repaired or replaced - not necessarily with another iMac I grant you but it's an expense I could do without right now.

Unless you are offering to sell me one on the cheap??

[pincher]

We'll, there's an odd thing - I thought I would plug it back in before I packed it all up ready to take to the (not very) local Apple store.

Put my ear to the back expecting to hear the usual ticking but there was none! Tried the power button and immediately got the white light of joy

Have shut down and powered up again a few times to make sure and all looks good, so have cancelled my Genius Bar appointment (is that tempting fate?!?).

No idea why it has started working all of a sudden as it hasn't moved since I last tried it - very bizarre but I guess it has probably saved me a few quid. For now

Thanks to everyone for all their suggestions

[pincher]

league67 said:

It'll stop working again.

You were right

Genius Bar appointment booked for Friday

[pincher]

Took it to Apple and the chap said it wasn't even worth getting it booked in. Once they are more than 5 years old, they are 'vintage' in Apples eyes and part are very hard to come by.

He suggested I try to get a logic board from the net or even another iMac that has a failed hard drive and stick mine in it.

Will have a look around.

[pincher]

Zad said:

Try the battery first.

Do you mean the little CR2032 battery? Tried that before I spent a rather pleasant hour disassembling it all last night by following the step-by-step instructions on fixit.com.

Ordered a new (2nd hand) logic board from the US ebay, so will see if that fixes it when it arrives (and I've gnashed my teeth and sworn a lot trying to put it all back together!).

[pincher]

I'm not even much good at glueing, let alone soldering

[pincher]

New logic board arrived and I fitted it last night. Plugged it into the mains and...........I've still got the I same ticking noise coming from the back and it doesn't power up

I guess I could try a new power supply unit but I'm wondering if I would just be better off buying another (identical) iMac from eBay and swapping the hard drives over? That would work, wouldn't it?

[pincher]

I sort of agree but if I buy a whole unit, the worst case scenario is that it doesn't work but I still have another power supply I could rob from it!

In contact with a seller on ebay who suggested transferring everything from my drive onto the one in the machine he is selling and is even looking at ways it can be done for me :-)

Pics in his ad show the imac working ;-)

[pincher]

Replacement mac purchased from eBay last night - just awaiting delivery now.

I presume it's just a case of swapping out the hard drives?

[pincher]

Good advice - although I might be sending PSU to bikerjohn to replace caps