Level 1

6 points

Time Capsule Powered Off, Won't Power Back On

My Time Capsule was running just fine, then spontaneously just powered off by itself. All the other devices in the power strip were fine and I tried switching outlets, plugging it directly into the wall, and unplugging the TC and plugging the power cord back in. The network port lights in the back are out and the light on the front is dark. However, when I first plugged the cable back into the TC, the network lights came on for a split second. I'm guessing that there's a power connection fried (because if it were a power supply failure the lights would not have blinked on at all).

Any suggestions? Thanks!

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 27, 2009 8:58 AM

Top-ranking reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,322 points

Posted on Jul 5, 2010 1:14 PM

Basmar wrote:
Well you can add me to the list of ever growing users that are having the PS problems with their TC!!! I'm going to hit up Apple and see what they will do for me... Replacement would be great, but I'm not holding my breath

Unfortunately in Australia, Apple doesn't have the enlightened policies they do in Euro and USA.. here they just put their fingers in their ears and sing ting-a-ling-a loo!! But if you have AppleCare on any current product then they should replace it.. otherwise talk to a repairer.. see the list.

http://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modems /apple-time-capsule-repairers

I have done about 50 all up now.. !!

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1,343 replies

chake2

Level 1

25 points

May 16, 2013 4:24 PM in response to elroySF

Just FWIW, my 1st gen TC died during a power outage in my apartment in Beijing. Everything powered back up when the electricity came back except the TC. I've had it for almost 4 years so I guess I've been lucky until last week. Went to the Apple Store in Beijing and, obviously it was out of warranty but I need the wifi and with the 2T newer capacity, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one. The Genius at the Beijing store was great. He told me to bring back the old one and they would try to get the data off it if they could. Went back yesterday and they took the old TC to the back. I came back an hour later and they had extracted the HD. It still worked and none of the data was lost. They connected it to a spare external HD I had brought along and we got the data transferred over. While I was sitting there wwaiting, I had the bright idea that maybe with no more HD in it, the power needs of the old TC were less so we plugged in the now HD-less old TC and, voila....it powered up and the amber light started flashing. Within a minute, the old TC showed up on my iPhone as an available network! So I took it home, turned it on and again it powered up and showed up in the Airport App. Within a minute, I had set it up to extend the new network on my new TC. There is a blindspot in my apartment, but now I've got full coverage thanks to the old TC wifi function still working. Off to buy an enclosure for my "new" now external TC HDD today. So not a total loss. Still have the functions of the old TC, only in two pieces now.

Normth

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2009 2:48 PM in response to elroySF

Apple just phoned me a few minutes after I called them about this issue. It just came in fromt heir engineers that they are replacing TCs with certain serial numbers. So phone Apple, you may qualify.

Sep 3, 2009 3:53 PM in response to elroySF

My TC also died last month, out of warranty dead power supply. Had it about 18 months.

I opened it up to get the hard drive out and put it into a case from Other World Computing. Saved all the data.

Sep 3, 2009 4:22 PM in response to elroySF

Similar story - my 1TB Time Capsule gave up the ghost two weeks ago. I removed the drive and plugged it into a NewerTech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter from Amazon to rescue the data. The Time Capsule drive now lives in a Drobo and is working fine. Don't put it straight into a Drobo before getting the data off it though. Very disappointed in the Time Capsule. Everyone knows it runs hot but 14-18 months use for a $500 device is ridiculous.

eflyer

Level 1

23 points

Sep 8, 2009 5:23 PM in response to elroySF

I purchased my 500GB TC in 4/4/08. Yesterday I got back from a 10 day vacation to find mine had shut down. I suspect the higher temperatures in Florida with the AC off had something to do with it. I unplugged it an tried again and it blinked yellow for a few seconds and then shut down. I then unplugged everything thinking it was toast but then decided to try again since the room was now cooler and it started up and has been working since... No doubt a thermal issue with the power supply.

jhens76

Level 1

0 points

Sep 12, 2009 4:06 PM in response to roger-roger

Once again it has paid off to have Apple Care!

Just got off the phone with an Apple Expert http://www.apple.com/support/expert/

My MacBook pro is under apple care and the out of warranty Time Capsule is covered (purchased at different times).
They are sending me a replacement TC in the mail tomorrow.

Rather than going to the genius bar its probably better just to call and talk to an apple expert.

The only bummer is I don't know that there is a way to get all my data back from the dead TC.

Message was edited by: jason76

Sep 22, 2009 12:51 PM in response to Number 1 Mac

Number 1 Mac wrote:
I was wrong. I bought the thing 1 year ago almost to the date... just past the warranty deadline... stinks... I need instructions on modding with a external power supply

External Power here.
http://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modems /apple-time-capsule-repair

But I have also done an internal power supply repair and another version of the external using a single voltage supply. Just follow the links.

Of course opening it voids any later recall or extension of warranty apple might offer... but replacement IMHO will have the same issue until they redesign the cooling in the box.

CkB_UK

Level 1

0 points

Sep 26, 2009 10:11 AM in response to Russellcalkins

Snap here as per Russell.

I've just spent 15mins on the phone (half of that was the poor lady trying to get me an auth code for a replacement), and yes, they've done good. They've put the replacement capsule through on my Mac Pro which is almost a year old and bought with Aftercare - so that's actually come good.

I'm amazed they've flexed that, although I've seen several people have gotten out of jail using this method. With anyone else (pick PC World, or Comet or something) they'd have laughed me out of Europe, let alone the shop.

As has been said though, it doesn't excuse such a sudden failure in a piece of Apple kit, but at least it's sorted.

My new capsule is due midweek and I just send them the dead one back. Result.

This is an excellent thread btw, thanks for everyone's input to it and all the detail that goes with it.

Cheers

C

bobcosta

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2009 11:20 AM in response to elroySF

I have the same issue: A 500GB Time Capsule, purchased in March 2008, just up and died on me last week.

I went to two different Genius Bars and got the same bad news. Since it's out of warranty and my current Mac is not under AppleCare, there is nothing they can do. It is not repairable, and the out of warranty replacement cost is $289 for the same thing, whereas a new 1TB model (with the latest dual channel 802.11n) is $299.

The first guy thought it as a bad disk, and said that would keep it from powering up. However, the second guy said that if it was a bad disk only, it should still power up and the router function would still work, so he suspects it's a power problem and the disk should be ok.

In addition, the second guy said that since the Time Capsule is not covered under any separate Apple Care agreement, it would be considered under warranty if I had a current Mac under warranty or a future Mac purchase would put it back under warranty.

So, I decided to buy a new AirPort Extreme and will add a USB RAID external disk (or NAS) later. I may keep my Time Capsule in the event I buy a new iMac in the next 6 months, get it replaced under a new warranty and then sell it. Otherwise I'll just rip the drive out and use it in another external enclosure.

Overall - not a good experience from an otherwise happy Apple customer.

Oct 5, 2009 7:39 PM in response to Ryan Samoheyl

Ryan Samoheyl wrote:
Mine died today - purchased 4/29/08

Will schedule an appointment at my Apple store in a few days. What is the best way to go about getting the data on the new drive. Sounds like Apple is not doing this?

Apple sure is not doing it.. nor will they... It is just plain too hard.

Can someone repost any places to get the power supply repaired. Sounds like that may be the better route?

If you carefully open it and lift out the drive you can copy the files to internal hdd or another external drive. Put it all back together and then pass it back for repair... as long as it is undamaged they cannot tell if you accessed it or not. Main thing is to follow instructions about removing the rubber boot with a hot air gun.
http://www.applefritter.com/node/23907

There is nobody setup to repair them except me... AFAIK... and I am in Australia... but any electronics repair shop can replace the capacitors in the power supply. And if you remove it and pass to them it should not cost that much.

http://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modems /apple-time-capsule-repair/apple-time-capsule-repair-type2

Rudy(CA)

Level 1

10 points

Oct 6, 2009 12:03 PM in response to elroySF

FWIW, When I went to meet with the Apple Genius at my local Apple store, this is what he said:

"It is out of warranty. We can fix it for $499, and Apple will destroy/erase the drive. Or you can buy a new 1 TB Capsule for $299 and keep the old Capsule, then you can remove the drive and put it in a disk enclosure and use it."

It really makes no sense. The out of warranty repair is $499 and it is really a swap and you don't even get your files back or have any certainty that critical information is safeguarded (banking, tax returns, etc.), or buy a new one for $200 less? Well, I certainly won't buy another one and suffer through this again 18 months later.

Apple has not set up a data recovery service for users of failed Time Capsules to retrieve their data (backups and other files you may have stored there). Furthermore they are not owning up to the fact that it is a flawed design and hundreds if not thousands of them are failing prematurely all over the world. Apple could have put the power supply externally and cut down on the temperature rise, or improve the cooling and air flow, or both. It seems to be a case of aesthetics taking priority over robustness creating a highly unreliable product.

I chose to keep my Time Capsule and following the instructions kindly given by LaPastenague, I re-powered my Capsule with an external Cisco router power brick, modified the cooling and now I have my old 1 TB Time Capsule purring like a kitten and it barely feels warm. I figure my cost "out the door" for the re-powering and modifications was around $25 plus my time.

Big Stu

Level 1

75 points

Oct 12, 2009 1:04 PM in response to Rudy(CA)

True, but I'd rather not invalidate a warranty by modding the case. Apple are being good enough in this instance to replace the TC even after explaining it is 18 months old. For them to do that, they must be acknowledging that it is a problem somewhere in the organisation.

Oct 16, 2009 1:23 PM in response to elroySF

Mine also died. I have active AppleCare on my iMac so it would have been warrantied, but say goodbye to all the data. Instead I elected to remove the drive from the unit, plug it into an external drive enclosure. The Hitachi HDD itself was fine, so something else in the unit died. This of course voided the warranty.

So Apple is giving loyal customers two choices:

Lose your data or lose your money.

They won't retrieve data from the device nor repair them.

If you were to buy the identical HDD as a separate unit, it would include a 3 year warranty.

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/67A68C59B27368FC862572570080 FC70/$file/Deskstar7K1000010307final.pdf

Apple can try to spin this however they want, but this is bad product design followed by worse support.

Rudy(CA)

Level 1

10 points

Oct 18, 2009 6:13 PM in response to garyb52

garyb52 wrote:
Wow... I see I'm not alone with TC problems. Came home from vacation and my TC is dead. Everything else is working fine. 20 months of operation and the phhhttt... dead. What a drag. I'm suspecting a power supply problem. Anyone have access to replacement powersupplies?

Only known (and perhaps the best) solution is to re-power it with an external power supply. It will run cooler and last longer. While you are at it, do the fan modifications. All of this is pretty well documented in a web site created by LaPastenague. It is at:
http://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modems

Normth

Level 1

4 points

Oct 23, 2009 3:34 PM in response to tedham

tedham

Hmm, maybe it's just here in Canada for now? Or maybe they just need time to get the word out to everyone.

I may repeat myself a bit but here is my whole story: I phoned again after having been denied earlier this week. This time I was a little irate, explaining that it seems clear from what I've been reading that it is a manufacturing defect, even telling them there is a website dedicated to dead Time Capsules (timecapsuledead.org), that one of their reps said she's heard the TCs have been dying at about 18 months and that I hope Apple steps up and takes care of us. They said no.
To my surprise, about a half hour later they called me back to proceed with an exchange, saying the engineers have okayed it. The transaction is even listed here in my AppleID account.

I'd give it a week and try again, then keep trying.
Good luck.

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Time Capsule Powered Off, Won't Power Back On