Hooking a 110v imacg5 to a 220v socket...

Juana, Rev A Imacs purchase in Japan or USA have a 110 volt ONLY power supply. Now if you purchased it in Mexico I'm not sure if it would have the US power supply in it. Now on the back of the Imac just below where the power cord is plugged in is a decal with the power supply info on it I would read this and follow that. Every where but USA and Japanese Imacs had 110-220 volt power supplies. DO NOT plug it in unless it says 220 volt on that decal or there could be a smoke show and no warrentee. Bob :~))

Juana,

Don't plug your iMac into 220 VAC. The iMacs do not have any auto sensing capabilities to adjust to voltage and Hz.

If your current converter is getting hot it's probably not designed for the amount of power your iMac is drawing. Do a search on Google for voltage converters. There's a lot of them available.

Hi Juana,

First of all , are you sure your iMac G5 isn't dual voltage. If not then check the power (amp) rating of your step up transformer against the iMac rating.

I wouldn't worry too much about hot smells, transformers do generate a lot of heat and the worst you can do is blow your (cheap) transformer.

Do not plug your iMac G5 directly into 220volts -it will be expensive.

(you could upgrade your iMac to a dual voltage supply for about $95 dollars directly with Apple)

Neil

200 Watts is way too small to support an iMac. Get one that has at least a 1000 Watt output. That'll support your iMac and give you some headroom.

<q>transformers do generate a lot of heat and the worst you can do is blow your (cheap) transformer.</q>

I think he could do worse - like start a fire.

"transformers do generate a lot of heat and the worst you can do is blow your (cheap) transformer.

I think he could do worse - like start a fire."

Or send a spike into the iMac and fry it.

Hi Juana,

Your iMac G5 is one of the "first generation" models (the "second generation" ones came with OSX 10.4 installed).

My guess would be that if it was bought in Mexico it is quite possibly one manufactured for the US market. If this is so, then it only has a "fixed" 100-120V power supply, not the automatic switching one used in other parts of the world (except Japan). If this is so then you MUST NOT plug it dircetly into a 220 volt mains source. If you do you will seriously damage your computer.

You can work out whether you have a US or an "international" model by looking at the power label on the back of the computer below where the power cord plugs in. If it says 100 to 240 V then you have an 'international" model. If it says 100-120V then you have a US model.

If you have a US model then the easist answer would probably be to simply buy a better transformer.

However some people have actually bought a new internal power supply, with autoswitching, to overcome the problem . They are quite easy to fit in the iMac G5. You might want to consider doing this if you are expecting to do further "country hopping" during the lifespan of the computer. With an internal autoswitching power supply you won't have to worry about such things wherever you go in future.

Cheers

Rod

Hi. I unfortunatley plugged a 110v imac G5 into a 220 socket. There was a loud spark and someone said "oh sh*t" Was it me that said that? Anyway, I've hunted around the web to try and find out whether I just blew the power supply or whether there is further damage to the computer. Opinion differs on this - some folks say the power supply burns out but buffers the spike, others say you fry the mother board. I'd welcome any educated responses on this. Barry

Could well be a "luck of the draw" element here, Barry. Some people seem to have got away with simply replacing the power supply. Probably depends on just how fast it goes down in a particular situation.

Can you see any visible signs of damage?

Cheers

Rod

Could well be a "luck of the draw" element here, Barry. Some people seem to have got away with simply replacing the power supply.

Sounds more like "Russian Roulette" than "luck of the draw" here, Rod, but, yes, the damage could be more extensive than simply "frying" the power supply.

Probably depends on just how fast it goes down in a particular situation.

Hmmm, the speed of electricity...

http://www.jimloy.com/physics/electric.htm

Can you see any visible signs of damage?

Perhaps a blackened and smoking iMac, Rod, to tell you that all the internal components have been fried:-). No, but seriously Barry has most likely voided their Apple Warrenty by plugging into the wrong power supply, but it is probably worth having the iMac investigated further to see if it is repair-able.

Hmmm, the speed of electricity...

Actually, Ewen, this doesn't really have anything much to do with the speed of electricity. Rather it depends on the speed at which particular components fail due to the application of excessive power / heat. If component A connects through to component B and both are susceptible to overload, but component A fails before component B does, then component B will probably escape damage. If, however, Component B is less able to sustain the overload briefly than Component A, then both will probably die in a situation like this.

This principle is employed extensively in a device called a "fuse". Fortunately quite often overload on a power supply will result in its own failure, before devastation occurs further down the line. In some cases, of course, protection of this kind may be deliberately built in to the device or circuitary, or its own design may be such that an output overload is simply not possible,.

As far as visible signs of damage are concerned, in my experience playing with electrical devices over a few decades it is very commonly possible to actually be able to see the effects of damage from power overload in all sorts of components. Not always, of course, but in this case pulling out the midplane on an iMac G5 is an easy thing to do, and scanning for signs of damage might well make it easier of Barry to decide whether its worth trying a new power supply, or whether, if he sees signs of component damage beyond the power supply, the whole thing may cost just about as much to repair as to replace.

Cheers

Rod

Actually, Ewen, this doesn't really have anything much to do with the speed of electricity. Rather it depends on the speed at which particular components fail due to the application of excessive power / heat. If component A connects through to component B and both are susceptible to overload, but component A fails before component B does, then component B will probably escape damage. If, however, Component B is less able to sustain the overload briefly than Component A, then both will probably die in a situation like this.

This principle is employed extensively in a device called a "fuse". Fortunately quite often overload on a power supply will result in its own failure, before devastation occurs further down the line. In some cases, of course, protection of this kind may be deliberately built in to the device or circuitry, or its own design may be such that an output overload is simply not possible,."

It tends to be "as fast as lightning" Rod, as with the case with Barry as soon as you plug it in you hear a bang/ pop and a damaged computer, but as I said in my Post he should investigate the extent of the damage, to see if any internal components have been damaged, and this is the work usually best left to a professional. However, if Barry has some experience with this type of thing, and can isolate the problem to the iMac Power Supply ( a little more complicated than a mere fuse I fear, Rod), then it is possible for them to replace it themselves, see .pdf below:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/imacg520inch_PowerSupply.pdf

It tends to be "as fast as lightning" Rod, as with the case with Barry as soon as you plug it in you hear a bang/ pop and a damaged computer

Yes indeed, Ewen, but the fact still remains that if the power supply is killed pretty well instantly and either this (essentially the same process as that involved in a fuse when you think about it), or the design of the device, prevents power passing further down the chain, then it may only be the power supply which suffers. You may not have been cruising the iMac G5 board long enough to remember, but there were various similar cases to this one mentioned here in the early days of the imac G5 where people who experienced this problem after making the same mistake managed to get away with simply replacing the power supply.

I agree that getting the computer checked out by a professional makes good sense in such a situation. If, however, a cursory inspection reveals that the motherboard and other components have been fried as well then you very rapidly get to the point where it simply doesn't make economic sense to repair the computer. (A replacement logic board, even from the cheap places costs around $600, a power supply $200, etc )

Cheers

Rod