eMac freezes randomly, open window turns into broken up jibber

didi_4010, did you have to pay for all that assistance, or do you have applecare?

If they charged you, I'd certainly call back and say that they should have been aware of this problem, and had you look at the caps before going to all that effort, and expense.

Usually it takes about a week to get a reply from Apple Exec (after emailing Steve).

i would like to add myself and my emac to this list...over the past 2 weeks i have had the same trouble...

its now getting worse, hope i can get through this text before it crashes..

well taken machine to apple paid my fee to get it looked at, was told that they had the machine turned on for the whole day and nothing has happened.

i asked if they had used the machine and was told "no" so they don't use them but just make sure they run all day...???

asked if they could do anything and was told, "well, i guess we could run a diagnostic on it"....

why isn't this the first thing they do...especially for $100 AUS dollars what a f * rip off....

"nothing wrong with it", they tell me....get it home start it up...crashes...

sort it bloody out apple will you...

okeefeinabq,

Regarding any Mac/Windows issues and this topic: Dell, HP, and other computer companies have also be affected by this exact same problem. There are only a few companies that make capacitors. One of those companies dumped a bad batch on the market (Apple, Dell, HP...). Search the web for "bad capacitors."

"they had the machine turned on for the whole day and nothing has happened."

If they simply left it on and didn't use it, it isn't surprising that the eMac didn't crash. The bad caps problem rarely locked my unattended eMac. The crash is most likely to occur when a graphics-intensive procedure takes place -- even making the Dock appear can trigger a crash.


'"well, i guess we could run a diagnostic on it"....'

Waste of time. But you can't blame the repair folks for this -- it's a logical step when you're trying to figure out what's wrong. It's just that their tests aren't going to find this problem.

Have them take off the bottom cover (where they would normally access the RAM) and look at the two capacitors. For that matter, you can do this yourself. I did. If either of those capacitors is bulging or has brown crud on it, you've found the problem. It's possible that those two capacitors could be okay and others that are not so easily viewable are bad, so if you don't see a problem, the bad caps dilema still cannot be ruled out.


"sort it bloody out apple will you..."

Write a cordial, detailed email to s_jobs@apple.com. That's led to a solution for lots of people who have posted above.

Hey everyone,

I have the same problem and have tried emailing s_jobs but without any luck. Then I called up customer relations and had a nice talk but the best I was offered was a $100.00 discount on any purchase over $300.00. This is not very good since I already get an education discount and the hundred dollar credit could not be used with an other discount.
I said I needed time to decide what to do and was told that I would have 30 days to decide after which the $100.00 offer would be up.
As I mentioned the person I talked to was very nice but realistically the offer was nothing that Apple does not routinely offer on their website.

Rick

Rick,

If it has been more than five business days since you sent the email, I'd send another one. Be sure to include your phone number. Be nice, but let them know you didn't receive a response to your first message. And tell them you know about this thread, which states that Apple has provided parts and labor at no cost to many eMac owner.

If you have removed the eMac's bottom cover (where you add RAM) and can see a bad capacitor, take a photo. It's a difficult shot -- dark without flash, but a camera's flash will reflect off lots of stuff inside the compartment. Try to get a good one. (I got my best result by holding a flashlight in one hand and my camera in the other.) Save it as a small jpeg and attach it to the email.

Hi Patrick,

I had taken the emac into an Apple reseller and repair shop- not the Genius Bar because in the past they have underwhelmed me, name not withstanding. At the repair shop they showed me the motherboard and pointed out the swollen capicitor.
When I wrote s_jobs@apple.com I included this info along with my phone and was very polite but I received no reply. When I contacted customer relations yesterday by phone the person I talked to was very nice and told me that Apple was aware of the issue. She explained however that the logic board was expensive and was infact the heart of the computer and there would be no discount on the price of the repair. She pointed out that Applecare would have been well worth it's price had I purchased it and she offered me the $100.00 credit.
I think we all feel that if we wanted unreliable computers we could have gotten a Dell, Dude. Apple makes claims of reliability and and I would like to see these claims backed up with either better quality control or swift repairs.

Rick

Since Apple don't seem to take measures to solve our problem properly for now.. does some person tried to change only the capacitors??? Maybe it could be less expensive to buy those @#$#@ capacitors and make them install by a profesionnal? Will it work???

If not, maybe writting in newspapers to show our problems! Imagine every newspaper in the world talking about Apple's computer who crash after only one year and a half!

Sorry Apple, but this is not a small problem on one computer... If you were a car company, it will already have a recall on that, warrenty expired or not!!

eMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

eMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

It's intriguing that Apple is repairing these at no charge for some, but not for all customers. For those in the U.S.A. who have not received a free-of-charge repair, I would think a class action suit would be appropriate. (There have been successful class action suits against tech companies for much less aggravating circumstances than this.) Avanos, since you're in Canada, I don't know what legal recourse you would have, but there may be something similar for Canadian citizens.

As for publicity, there already has been some, but it has focused as much on Dell and HP as it has on Apple. It would be interesting for a reporter to look into the different ways various companies have dealt with this, even comparing Apple's earlier iMac capacitor problem to the eMac situation. I'd love to see Consumer Reports jump on this.

We have something call Customers Protection Office here in Quebec, Canada. We'll see what they can do...

I just wanted to update my post of June 14 and let everybody know what's going on.

I was nervous after the first twenty-four hours passed after I emailed Steve Jobs, but I recieved a call from Executive today and they offered to look at my computer. If they confirm that it's a problem with the capacitors, they will repair my eMac at no cost to me. I didn't buy Apple Care and the warranty on my machine ran out a little over seven months ago.

Don't panic if you don't hear from them in the first twenty-four hours. I'd give them a few days and if you don't hear from them by then, email again.

eMac 1.25 GHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

As it happened I had just upgraded the operating system, which greatly exacerbated the problem. Consequently, all off the tech support was free. Would have been great if it actually was a software issue.

Still waiting for the guy from executive that called me on Friday to return my return call.

didi_94010

I just talked to the technical support in Toronto Canada and they telling me that Apple judging that there is not enough people who experiencing that problem.. so no recall no nothing for me!

For the s_job email adress I received nothing

IF SOMEBODY ELSE FROM CANADA OR/AND QUEBEC EXPERENCING THAT PROBLE E-MAIL ME ASAP VIA THIS SITE!

SI UNE AUTRE PERSONNE DU CANADA ET/OU QUEBEC AVEZ CE PROBLÈME ÉCRIVEZ MOI AU PLUS TÔT VIA CE SITE!

Just wanted to add my recent experience. Bought my eMac at the Apple Store in Sacramento in Nov 2004. I started experiencing the kernel panic freeze problem about 2 months ago. Tried all of the usual fixes for a software problem. Finally stumbled onto this discussion and opened the RAM door to reseat my RAM and saw the orange electrolyte ooze on top of the middle capacitor. Looked just like the pictures. Contacted Apple Tech Support on Saturday went thru 3 Tech reps and was told that Apple was aware of the problem, but there was no Warranty Extension program for eMacs yet.

Followed the advice posted here to e-mail s_jobs@apple.com and sent him a note on Saturday afternoon. Received a nice phone call from a lady with Apple Executive Care this afternoon and was told that they would take care of the problem at no charge to me. Now I just need to schedule my appointment at the Genius Bar.

In spite of the effort to resolve this problem so far, I'm thoroughly impressed with the fact that Mr. Jobs either personally reads all of his e-mail or has some one do it for him for cases like this. And the fact that Apple will take care of an out of warranty repair, even on an issue as widespread as this. It makes me feel better about buying my daughter a MacBook for college. I'll definitely buy the Apple Care this time, though.

Dear M Willian they surrely gave you a case number or something like that? Is it possible to have it on this site. Because for me, they told me that there is No free of charge reparations! And for the s_job email.. nothing by now!
For a graphic artist like me, a Mac is like my left hand!

eMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)