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).
Count me in... TC died four days ago, bought 18 months ago.
Have tried it four and three days ago, where the green light were flicking briefly, today I managed to get it going for 20 seconds before it shut itself down again.
Will try to contact Apple tomorrow and see if my EU warranty will get it replaced...
+1... 19 months, no power, on the flipside let me just say, that
APPLE CUSTOMER CARE IS INCREDIBLE!
i think threads like this are getting through, somebody is aware of the problem
Went to the Apple Store on 14th St in NYC for a walk-in appointment (at 9am...right when they open). They had me fill in the serial number, some contact info, and got me in to the genius bar in about 3 minutes. I put the TC on the counter, and told them that it suddenly lost power, and wouldn't turn on. I also said, there are 2 threads with about 30,000 hits in the support discussions with people with the same problem, and that it's a power supply failure (that appears to be VERY common).
the delightful woman asked if i used this TC with my other apple products. I said yes, i used it with the laptop that happened to be in my bag that had APPLECARE.
She typed for about a minute, asked me to hold on another minute while she went in the back.
She returned with a replacement unit, said she talked to her manager, and he said to just replace it.
I have a new (refurb rox0r!) TC. I signed a sheet of paper, and was out in --not kidding--11 minutes flat.
Interesting tidbit:
she didn't even look at my TC. i put it on the table, told her what was wrong, and she took it as a given. no power tests, no monkey business. as if they're now expecting it. pulled the refurb out of a box, and put mine back into the same box...as tho mine were going straight where that one had come from.
Also, on my way out, i picked up a usb bus powered laptop fan that i plan on running under the TC. Hopefully this will drop the operating temperature 10-20 Degrees so i can get 2-3 times more life out of the power supply. any thoughts?
Russellcalkins wrote:
Also, on my way out, i picked up a usb bus powered laptop fan that i plan on running under the TC. Hopefully this will drop the operating temperature 10-20 Degrees so i can get 2-3 times more life out of the power supply. any thoughts?
I hope you are running the fan from a powered hub plugged into something and not from the TC itself. And yes it can help... to really help though you need to force the air into the vents. The big insulating rubber foot makes cooling the bottom next to useless. I would almost suggest use a heat gun or hair dryer and remove it straight away. If you do it neatly... don't tear the rubber you can glue it back if you need to return it dead in the future.
The other thing is to seal the base so air has to go through the TC. Once you have the rubber foot off the vents around the sides are clear... (rubber foot half covers them... great help that). Make sure the air has only one place to go, through the TC. The gap around the top-side is the exhaust vent. It doesn't look it but that gap is not for aesthetics. It is open to the interior. But again is a path natural ventilation will not easily use. Once you force air through you should feel the air coming out.
It seems to me... that Apple may be devising a solution...
Typically, when masses of people have bad things to say about a specific Apple product, they shut down threads like this... The only reason I can think of that they may be leaving this thread open would be that they intend to make good on the issue...
Only question... will they just replace the broken products, or will they repair them, with an option for keeping your data from your original Time Capsule...
I'm guessing they'll offer an Extended Repair very soon...
Here's the rest of the story. I went to local Apple store and explained the issue. The tech plugged in the Time Capsule and confirmed it was dead. Because I purchased a new 17 MacBook Pro the week before they were nice enough to cover the replacement cost of the Time Capsule under that warranty. Hats off to Apple and their handling of my case. This still doesn't excuse them for creating $500 piece of hardware that dies in 16-18 months. I've always been impressed by Apple's engineering prowess but this device seems to have been rushed out the door. I will be getting a small fan to blow air over the top of the unit. IMHO, the passive cooling on this device does not work so I will introduce my own active cooling. Good luck to everyone. My guess is they will have a "quiet" general recall of this device at sometime in future.
Add my Time Capsule 1TB to the growing list of dead TCs. Mine gave up this morning after no early warnings of impending failure. Totally dead power. I bought mine on 18th March 2008 so I have had just over 18 months of continued use. I'm thinking about buying one of these leads - http://www.newertech.com/products/usb2_adaptv2.php - as an easy way to get my data off the internal TC drive, then deleting my data and await a recall.
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.
Add me to the ever growing list of the obviously defective Time Capsule power failures. My TC went out this morning. I had it for 16 months. It mysteriously powered off never to power on again. I am back up via my 6 year old AirPort Extreme b/g. I await a recall...
The one I purchased in March of 2008 is dead also. A few minutes on the phone confirmed that AppleCare was required for a replacement. I fervently, but politely discussed the hope that Apple would post a recall for these models. I've been with Apple for a long time and have always been very pleased with their products and services. I hope they do not disappoint me now.
