Time Capsule Powered Off, Won't Power Back On

I don't know if this has already been said or not but if you bought your Time Capsule with a credit card, most major credit cards extend the manufacturer warranty by one year for a total of two years. This is a service from Visa, Mastercard, etc. so if you bought it with a credit card it's worth looking into this. There's a lot of paperwork and you need all your receipts so it can take a while to go through but I haven't had a problem with it.

Here are some links with more information:
http://usa.visa.com/personal/visa-signature/benefits/warranty-manager.jsp
http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/cardholderservices/guidetobenefits/
https://www.onlineclaim.americanexpress.com/

IT'S ALIVE!

Umplugged it for a day and it powered back on just now. Trying to retrieve data as I don't trust this sucker reliability and expect it to die any time.

Just thought you all should know and perhaps try the same thing to save your data.

Just arrived home after my visit to the Genius Bar. The Apple "Genius" gathered necessary information and made his diagnosis of the problem which agreed with the Dead Time Capsule problem. He acknowledged the device was purchased in March 2008 and stated the warranty was 12 months. I think he was looking for the right words to say tough luck. I then mentioned that I had Apple Care on my MacBook purchased in January 2007. He immediately smiled and said "no problem".

Apple does not replace the device with one from their showroom. They ship another first generation Time Capsule to the store for pickup. No comments regarding what was different or the possibility of the same problem on a new device.

Last, I expressed deep concern about the backup information on the hard drive. I didn't store anything on the Time Capsule except the backups. He repeatedly reassured me that the returned devices were disassembled, the hard drives erased and then the hard drives were scrapped. I hope this is true.

Overall I'm satisfied with the outcome but I don't think I would have felt the same way without the purchase of Apple Care 15 months earlier on my MacBook.

I had the same problem on mine. I unplugged it to take it to the Apple store and when I arrived hours later after dinner it booted up fine with no problems. It has not failed again since.

Maybe it is worth a try unplugging a "dead" one and letting it set for several hours?

I agree that it should be easy to exchange drives and migrate data from a "dead" time capsule.

Brad Waller wrote:
My TC Died last week so I took the time to take it apart and remove the Power Supply ... took the Power supply yo a local shop & replace a transistor and 2 Capacitors and Im back in Business ... none of the rest of the unit was damaged ...

If you need the parts that faile on mine I can send more details

The two capacitors we all know... this transistor they replaced, that interests me. Tell us more. Did you take the whole TC to the shop or just the power supply?? A blown transistor is so unlikely. If it starts blowing transistors then a lot of other components would be dead, and replacing parts which are surface mounted and covered in silicon goop well that is not just hard.. it is impossible.

What about replacing the capacitors and then relocating the apple power supply outside the TC case? Is it possible to solder longer wires onto the power supply to get it to reach outside the case? Perhaps with a few notches cut out of the case in the right spots?

Rafael Cano wrote:
Answer to Lepastenague

Hi, I changed the capacitors, only one not work.

The new capacitors are bigger into what I have changed his position with an additional cable

regards

Message was edited by: Rafael Cano

I am guessing what you mean,, but it sounds like the 5v supply is simply not able to produce enough current... connecting the capacitor by a cable might have too high resistance... I suggest you replace the internal power supply with an external one... even just test it with a 5v power supply soldered directly the existing power supply... You need to replace all 3 capacitors in the 5v line to be sure it works.

Add me to the LONG and growing list. Purchased my Time Capsule 3/12/08 from the Apple website. It died this morning. Was working fine, then the light blinked off and completely dead. Resetting, powering down, etc don't work at all. Interestingly, when you plug it in while holding down the reset button you get a BRIEF flash of the ethernet status lights on the back of the unit, but the main status light on the front doesn't respond at all.

Thankfully, I have AppleCare on my laptop. Apple didn't hesitate to offer a replacement unit when I called because I had AppleCare. Although the tech wouldn't say it... it was obvious when I mentioned this thread and several others documenting dead Time Capsules that he was aware of the problem.

My advice to others...
1) BUY AppleCare. I'm usually a cynic about extended warranties. But... AppleCare has saved my bacon several times over the last decade or so. It is worth the extra $$$.
2) Apple has always stood by their products in my experience. I'm guessing they will eventually respond to the large number of people with this problem on this forum and the large number of threads on the blogosphere who have had this problem. I hope Apple does a recall or exchange soon.

Hi all,

Someone earlier had mentioned that Apple has recently noticed a problem with a specific range of serial numbers. Mine has not died, but I do have a time capsule within the problem range. I bought my time capsule May 10, 2008. On Nov. 10th, it will be exactly 18mo's old.

I was also told that only a small fraction of folks within this problem range fail, so not all fail. Nonetheless, if your TC has failed and you fall within that range, warranty or not, you should be able to get a replacement.

Hope this helps.


PS I am getting a new TC 1tb because I do believe it is an indispensable product and it does work very well for me. It would be wise for all of us to have a back-up of our back-up just in case calamity happens.

As I reported 1 October my 500GB TC died after 18 months. I took the offending item into a Genius and yes, it was broken and no, replacement. You are out of your warranty period. The response I had was that it wouldn't be fair to those who purchased Applecare. Needless to say I found that rather irritating. I considered it unfair and unreasonable to have a reasonably expensive back-up solution go kaput after 18 months....

I bought an Airport Extreme to replace it, but kept an eye on this thread. decided to call Apple this morning, gave them my serial number and after a 5 minute consultation with the "senior manager"? they offered to replace it for free as an exception.

So that's great news for everyone who has an issue I would think. It looks like Apple are going to do the right thing and replace units that have prematurely died. Faith restored!

Jay

+In UK several people have been able to retain the old dead TC. They might just want it to be sure you own it...+

Correct.
Mine too.

Got some good news...

TC 1 TB, dead on Sunday, after 18 M and 1/2.

Call apple care (TC is covered by extension of my Apple Care Mac bought in June 09) they are shipping me a brand new TC.
I asked for data recovery, offering to show in an apple point near me that the TC was dead and I didn't open it (so it was clear that the problem is the power, I didn't break it and not void the warranty) and to pick up the Hard Drive, opening the TC in front of them, and do the data recovery by myself.
After a long call, asking the tech, they finally told me that wasn't necessary to return the old TC.

So, I'm waiting for the new, shipped yesteday, and looking for an external enclosure to put the old TC HD and recover my data.

I was a little upset for my TC to be dead after only 18 months, but now I have to say thanks to Apple.
They give me a new TC and I haven't lost all of my data.
They listen to me and the rep at apple care service was able, with a big effort, to satisfy all of my needs and I didn't expect to be able to retain my old TC.

THIS is customer care.

elroySF wrote:
SUCCESS!!!

Apparently there have been enough reports of power failures that Apple Care is now acknowledging the power issue. They have just agreed to send me a replacement unit.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Well done!! Very patient in the face of torment.. although you did relent and buy a second one... Lets see it took from
Time Capsule Powered Off, Won't Power Back On
Posted: Aug 27, 2009 8:58 AM

Until Nov 22, 2009 plus the Time Capsule Memorial register with its >1000 fallen TC's for Apple to figure out they might have a problem...

In the Apple scheme of things, I think you were supposed to just die and wither away, and stop nagging them... !!

Mine died yesterday. I called Apple UK and they're replacing it. No problems (although I don't like the loss of my deleted data, that's why I'd bought a TC).
Apple seems to have recognised a problem and agreed a solution!

DATA RECOVERY OF DEAD TIME CAPSULES

I called AppleCare today to deal with the issue of my dead time capsule. They were polite and straightforward about sending me a replacment after checking if my serial number fell into the appropriate range.

I complained that my TC had sensitive data and important information and that I wanted to remove the drive from my dead TC to ensure this was backed up and destroyed. They advised me (as they have others) that if I do this I will invalidate my warranty and they won't replace it.

However, they then advised me that if I needed recovery I should call On Track Data Recovery who are Apple Authorised who can recover the data for me and replace the TC without invalidating the warranty.

I called up and the cost of this is apparently £50 fee for an initial diagnosis to check that the data can be recovered (!!) and then £64.95 should I decide to go through with it.

I am not willing to pay this company over £100 to do something I am perfectly able to do myself. This appears to be the advice they are giving out in the UK to get around criticism of the warranty policy.

Really frustrated now - may have to write to them and try the Data Protection Act argument suggested elsewhere on the boards.