Time Machine Dead??

Grrrrr.... Just went to my local John Lewis store and bought another one. Took it back home and it had already been opened, It looks like someone had tried to put it back in the packaging. Sigh Going to get a refund and get another one from a Apple store that hasn't been opened. Given their shelf live Im not sure its worth the risk....

Add one more Time Capsule failure to the list. Returned from vacation August 16th to find 1TB
model, purchased in April 2008 dead. No Apple care, out of warranty. There is another thread on here under somehing to do with Time Capsule Power Source that mentions an internal power supply wiring issue. Does anyone know if this issue has been fixed in more recent builds?

Sadly I must join the parade of dead Time Capsule units. My own is a 1TB purchased shortly after they product was intro'd in Jan '08. I was also using this TC as my primary wireless hub to the internet. Yesterday, without warning, the TC started dropping off the AirPort menu. Recycling power would bring it back on but only for a few minutes. After a while, even a power recycle would not return it's AirPort functionality and the front light would only stay on for a minute or less. I took it to the local Genius bar and was told that, sadly, the unit was out of warranty and repair would cost $419 ⚠. However I remembered reading that Time Capsule is covered if you have an AppleCare contract for a computer (I have 3), and I confirmed this by carefully reading the terms. I went back to the Genius bar and they tried to tell me that it only covers if the TC was bought with the computer, but that not what the contract says. It says any AP Express, Extreme or TC "owned and used" with the covered computer. The Genius tried to say no prob, since the TC didn't ship until more than 1 year after I bought my MBP, they would cover it. But if you get the run around and you have a computer under AppleCare, point them to Section 1a-i of the APP contract. Unfortunately, if you don't have AppleCare coverage on your computer, then you're probably out of luck if the TC is more than a year old.

Mine died this morning too....

Warranty ran out in Jan so not worrying about even trying to do anything about it... Actually probably will buy another one.
So anyway, I pulled it apart to and had a look at the p/s. Two bulging capacitors that had also begun to leak. I replaced the caps and it still didn't work, so oh well.. Stuffed! Reminds me of the bulging caps in the iMac G5s issue from a couple of years ago.

So I would say, inadequate components in the p/s is the cause of this, together with some overheating perhaps.

I would love to be able to buy another power supply for it, but they say the unit is not serviceable. The power module just pops out after disconnecting the hard drive and main board. It's easier than changing the drive itself.
ANyone know where I can get a power supply for it. Seems crazy that even the Apple service agents can't even get them.

Count be in with another dead also. When is Apple going to offer AppleCare for these things that can be nearly as expensive as a Mac Mini?

Message was edited by: satcomer

Message was edited by: satcomer

In the EU we might be covered by this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/may/23/tesco-consumer-guarantee

It appears we have a 2 year warranty on all electrical goods?

Has anyone tried to speak to apple about this?

Disappointed with the product. For something that just sits in a virtually undisturbed environment to just up and die with so many individuals is beyond strange. I Expect a far superior product from Apple. External drive with way more years are lasting much much longer. Hmmm class action.

Mmmm, yeah. I just bought another so I guess I should expect this new one to fail in 18 months too.

Just to give Apple a sense of the size of the problem, I add my dead Time Capsule to the list. It is a 1 TB model purchased in April 2008. Working this morning but dead when I got home from work. After reading the posts here, I tried unplugging for a couple of hours and plugging back in but no help there. I also hit the reset key. Again no help. Finally I tried to connect via ethernet cable but the Airport Utility did not recognize.

Since there is no Apple Store or dealer nearby, I decided to use the online assistant to see what repair options I have (I use the TC with a computer that is under AppleCare). I have an appointment for them to call me tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how well that works.

Mine has gone as well.
Bought it as soon as it came out in '08.
Was hot and vibrated quite a bit, but so seemed many others.
Its a bugger.
Up to now any problem seemed to respond to unplugging and re-plugging, but not this time.
looks terminal. White brick time.
I have the Apple Care warranty, I hope they cover the TC.

Yes that definitely sounds like an overheated power supply. The original AirPort (802.11b) from years back would suffer a similar failure, with bulging capacitors. If you're not getting the TC repaired, the hard drive might still be good. It's SATA, so you could pop it into a Mac Pro if you have one or one the many inexpensive hard drive enclosures available from OWC and others. It might give many more years of service ... just not as a Time Capsule.

At some point I hope Apple comes up with a plan to solve this problem. It seems to me that if a device we all rely on fails, without warning, the company responsible needs to have a solution. It's the informational technology equivalent of a bank that loses all our money.

I have a 1TB time capsule that I purchased over a year ago that suddenly stopped working. I am a huge believer in all things Apple, so when something like this happens I feel a sinking in my stomach.

Furthermore I work for Best Buy and sell a large amount of Apple products. I feel pride when I sell them and my confidence in the quality of their products is the key to my success. Starting tomorrow it looks like my Linksys sales will be on the rise.

Sorry Apple... I hope you understand.

Add me to the list of failing time capsules. I have / had? a 500G time capsule that was purchased soon after launch. I just returned from an extended holiday in Australasia to find the problem. It was working OK on the 10th July when left it and was totally dead - no lights even - when I returned home... changing leads etc made no difference .. I assume it is power supply or some internal connection . Perhaps stupidly (I never learn and should probably be looking for a more robust solution) - I went to buy another one at John Lewis and Interestingly they have none of any capacity in stock and said that they could now not get me one as they no longer have a current order number to use to restock... I might be reading too much into this but it could mean they know they have a problem and / or have a replacement device due. I have to say of all the apple products I have had the time capsule has always seemed the most unpredictable in its behaviour.

My first gen 1TB TC is dead this morning. I currently have it unplugged based on some other experiences. If reconnecting it and or resetting it doesn't work I will contact the Apple Genius Bar.

I don't have Applecare on my TC but do on my MBP.

@ G5Gyrl, was yours covered under your MBP Applecare? What did you have to do or say to make that work?

Thanks to everone for all the posts on this, it appears that it's a sad few weeks for TCs. If I can't get mine replaced or repaired, I will be buying an Airport Extreme and backup my machines to my Intel 4TB NAS that does a lot more and costs $499 fully loaded.

Wow, the list continues to grow, daily!!

You can't buy AppleCare for a TC, it has to be on a computer, and yes, mine was covered under my MBP AppleCare.

At first the Genius said it wasn't covered but I told him that I read that some were replaced under it. If you read the terms it explains things. I asked him to check with someone else and his manager confirmed that it was indeed covered.

If you're worried about it you can call AppleCare and talk to them, maybe they can give you an authorization code of some sort, or the Apple Store employee can call AppleCare.

Good luck!