My Mac Pro stinks

Question

Level 1

4 points

My Mac Pro stinks

Hi there.
I got my mac pro about 2-3 months ago. At first it had the "new" smell, but now it really stinks. It makes the whole room smell disgusting and i usually have to leave both windows open all the time.

I dont have a heater in the room and i dont have a dusty carpet or anything. There is about 1ft clearence behind it. It is not on the floor - but on my desk.

I opened it up yesterday and cleaned it thoroughly with an air duster. But it seems to have only made the smell worse! I was suprised at how little dust was inside it, as i thought it could be the dust burning or something.

It smells like melting plastic or some other toxic substance!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Feb 11, 2007 6:52 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,719 points

Feb 11, 2007 8:09 AM in response to jcorbo

We can't help you with this problem. Take it to an Apple service center and have them check it out for you.

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Answer 2

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 11, 2007 8:15 AM in response to Kappy

ok thanks

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Answer 3

Feb 11, 2007 9:23 AM in response to jcorbo

By the way, what does it "stink" of? Also, have you opened it to see if you can find the possible source of the stink?

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Answer 4

landrefl

Level 1

80 points

Feb 11, 2007 9:32 AM in response to jcorbo

Does this happen when you are "heavily" using the MP? or is all the time?

Did you really put you nose to it? is it really that or maybe the monitor? Like Ned asked, what does it smell? Like a dead cat or something burning?

I have found (not in an MP but a PC) that one of the fans was dead and cat hair was burning up on the video card...

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Answer 5

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 11, 2007 10:26 AM in response to landrefl

thanks for the replies.
It's really hard to describe the smell. but it really smells a bit like burning plastic or other such material. And i doubt its dust as i've really thoroughly cleaned it with the air duster.

When the mp is off and i sniff around it for the source, it is strongest around the back of the case (outside) up at the area around the bottom of the power supply.

I havent really checked to see if all the fans are functioning - i will now.

No, this smell happens all the time, even when the mp is just idle. It is most evedent when i leave the room for about 30mins with the door and windows closed - when i return the whole room stinks!

It is definatly the mp itself and not the monitor, plugs or wires around it. All have been "sniffed"!

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Answer 6

Feb 11, 2007 10:42 AM in response to jcorbo

Hi jcorbo;

If it smells like burning plastic, I would get it into Apple ASAP. I would also highly recommend either not using it until they have a chance to look at it.

Allan

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Answer 7

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 11, 2007 10:57 AM in response to Allan Eckert

thanks
yes im planning on going in to them in the morning.
i think it must be something in the psu...

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Answer 8

Feb 22, 2007 7:02 AM in response to jcorbo

So what did you find out?

I just got a new machine yesterday and I have a "smell" also that seems like plastic or something. Not burning plastic necessarily, but something like a plastic.

I thought perhaps being a new machine it just had to get aired out and break in a little. I've never experienced this in previous machines.

let us know what you find out...

MACPRO 3.O, g5 dual 1.8, iMac 2.1, iBook g4, MACBOOK PRO 2.0 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 9

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 24, 2007 3:30 PM in response to roy ritchie 1

Sorry about the delay in replying.

I took the mac pro into my local apple service centre and they said that they would look at it. An hour later they rang back to say that yes, it did smell really bad. They looked into it and it seemed to be a problem with the PSU.

They didn't have any PSUs in stock and placed an order for one with Apple. Altough Apple say they don't have them in stock either and can't even give an estimate as to when they will be available.

It's been 2 weeks now, and im still just waiting! Hopefully it will solve the issue anyway.

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Answer 10

Feb 26, 2007 8:35 AM in response to jcorbo

Thanks for the update...

After a couple of days using the machine, the smell has dissipated somewhat.
Would you say that the smell stayed bad or did it diminish a little over time?

I'm really not liking the smell of it that much...

MACPRO 3.0, G5 1.8DP, MACBOOK PRO 2.0, IMAC G5 2.1 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 11

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 26, 2007 9:51 AM in response to roy ritchie 1

The smell got much worse over time. At the start, the Mac Pro just smelled new. The repair guy said it was a burnt/burning out transformer. Hopefully they will get the part soon!

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Answer 12

Feb 26, 2007 10:29 AM in response to jcorbo

Hello,

I just got a Mac Pro too. The booklet that comes with the Mac Pro says "Before you begin, remove any protective film from the outside of your computer and from the inside of the side panel". Before I turned on the Mac Pro I removed the side panel and sure enough there was a piece of plastic on the inside of the panel so I removed it. Perhaps this could be the cause of the burning plastic smell. This piece of film could be easely overlooked. I thought I would mention it.

JLM
🙂

Mac Pro, iMac G5, 30GB iPod Video, LaCie d2 FW400, Mac OS X (10.4)

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Answer 13

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 26, 2007 1:41 PM in response to Jose Montanez

Thanks for that! I did however remove that.

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Answer 14

Feb 27, 2007 6:04 AM in response to Jose Montanez

Good point - worth a look...

I checked this out, but there was no protective film inside. I opened my machine before I plugged everything in, just to have a look at the guts and install some extra hard drives and everything looked ok.

I'll give it another week and see if it gets worse or better before I decide what I'm going to do.

It is a bit unpleasant.

MACPRO 3.0, G5 1.8DP, MACBOOK PRO 2.0, IMAC G5 2.1 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 15

jcorbo Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2007 10:17 AM in response to roy ritchie 1

Hey i just got my Mac Pro back from the service guys and it smells lovely! Well not lovely, but as it did the day i got it. New!

No more of this horrible burning plastic like smell.

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