Time Capsule Powered Off, Won't Power Back On

Hello Ray,

I have recently modified a 'refurbished' TC, opening up a vent hole for the fan. I had a peek at the brand new, 'Flextronic' PSU that was fitted - similar to the old units that die like flies, except this one had less grey goo smeared around inside it and the final capacitor that has never died to my knowledge, that would normally sit next to the 2x Samxon 1500uF units, has been changed to two capacitors. One on end and the second on its side. Each presumably the same value as they were the same size. Despite this mod the PCB was still marked up as 'Rev-01' - 2008, although this was obviously recently made and had not been turned on for more than a few hours.

The plot thickens... with no solution in sight.

I'll put some PIX on my FYI page when I'm at home long enough to remember where I live! In the last 30 days I've only been home for 10 - work, work, work and thousands of miles of driving.

Now I'm off to sunny Leicester (O lucky me!).

Regards,
Chris,
YORK,
UK

Hi there!
Does anyone know about TC with the same exact problem but with higher serial numbers? Mine is xx820xxxx, the same symptoms, the same "lasting" period (about 16 months), but now is dead. Went to the Apple store in Zurich, they would exchange it for a new one but I should pay 290$, while a new one would cost me only 252$!

Hello Fedy71 and welcome to apple discussions.

From what you say, it is not a good bargain. I would suggest please spend some time to browse through this thread and there are excellent suggestions.

My advise at this time would be that you call Apple and try to persuade them to replace it for free. You will need patience, perseverance and loads of politeness, but can be done. Best of luck.

Hello Fedy71,

My own first TC was beyond the 'accepted range' and suffered a mysterious failure caused by heat stroke. I initially swapped out the PSU and fitted an external CISCO unit. It then worked just fine. I checked the internal supply, assuming it was the culprit and could find no problem and with the unit on load it worked very well indeed.

I altered the fan modification (turning the fan over so it blows through the PSU), put the PSU back and it has worked fin ever since.

Yours has overheated, almost for sure but as to identifying the actual fault, that is another matter. A very high percentage suggests the power supply unit, followed by the main logic board and then the sub-boards like the WiFi (although the last failure will not kill the main supply rails).

As ever (and I endlessly drone on about this) there is a DESIGN FAULT, which has NOT BEEN FIXED. Cosmetic niceties have got in the way of sound engineering practice.

If it heats up like a *pressure cooker*; if it sounds like a *pressure cooker* and if it rapidly gets to the heart of pieces inside it and cooks them from within... *it's a TC!*

No, no no... wait! DO NOT use the Time Capsule as a *pressure cooker!* That was just me being silly and using a +cruel and crude likening+ to a steam driven domestic cooking device and a Time Capsule.

I can't imagine what came over me... strange that I could think of a "server grade" piece of high-tech storage equipment (that must be *unquestionably reliable* for its back-up task) and +a closed volume container that gets hotter and hotter until things are cooked!+

They are completely unalike, aren't they?

Sorry for creating such confusion... just me imagining things.

Meherally's more sane and measured approach will usually win the day and get you a nice crisp unit and keep you happy.

My use of sarcasm and irony will probably not have the desired effect of getting noticed within the corridors of power at the Apple mother ship... which is a shame... the design flaw persists and so will I until it goes away. Apple customers deserve something better than they are getting... I'm one of them and nothing 'design wise' has happened on the TC yet.

Maybe I'll start putting my 'rants' into a blog?

Kind regards,
Chris Fackrell,
York,
UK.

Meherally, Freddietheone,

thank you for your answers, I will try first the "be really nice" approach and call AppleCare here in Switzerland. Then in case I will use the TC not as a pressure cooker but as a design pan for Swiss rösti with apples (!!) on top!

Keep you posted, thanks a lot!
Fedy

mine also died yesterday....
Apple is really a hard *** company, don't care about rules in The Netherlands. This thing of the power supply is really a matter of a failure of design and build so a 'fabrique failure' is how it called. There fore Apple is forced to replace it but... the files on it... i have my administration on the disk.
Apple is a company with the most arrogancy and the baddest service in the world i think.

Message was edited by: ajschot

This is really disappointing. 19 months and just found my TC is dead as a doornail. That doesn't seem like a fair life expectancy for a $500 purchase, does it?

Correction - ordered in Jan, shipped in April so about 17 mos. old. At least this problem is predictable. On hold now with Apple and because this is a known problem (even though it's technically not in warranty) they're going to replace the unit.

Glad to know that Apple realizes thousands of people with $500 bricks is not a good business plan. 🙂

So yours was purchased in 2009. That seems quite a bit newer than all of those that have failed to date. Mine is a Nov 2008 purchase so I am 22 months in.

Hello mwheelerk,

I suspect the longevity of your TC is because you park it next to the output of your AC unit! 🙂

Kind regards,
Chris F.
YORK, UK

Mine died this morning. March 2008 purchase.

Called Apple and after going through some questions - did you drop it? have tried plugging it in elsewhere? etc they agreed to send me a new one.

I've got to return the old one back to them by UPS otherwise they'll charge me for the new one but seems fair enough. Not looking forward to doing the first back up again but it's no great shakes.

iain.

Well, good news for me despite going through the same issue. My 1 TB TC died suddenly without updating to Snow Leopard. The green light just stopped glowing and nothing worked to bring it back to life. My warranty expired two months prior but I was awarded a new 1 TB TC anyway with the explanation that there is a known issue with the power cord connector. I hope the best for all of you.

Just picked my 'new' TC up from UPS who were unable to deliver when I wasn't at work.

Bit disappointed its another 500GB one as I was hoping to get a 1TB as they don't seem to sell the 500GB model anymore but at least at works ok, for now.

Just need to get the old one back to Apple now, they gave me 10 days from sending the new one out otherwise I get charged for it!

Mine died today, at 18 months (short of a week). Has anyone got Apple to accept responsibility for what is obviously a time-limited self destruct mechanism within their product? So many people with the same problem after the same period has elapsed is beyond the laws of chance.

Update-Applestore genius agreed to exchange for free replacement, and even to transfer the data from the dead Timecapsule to the new one. I take it all back.