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iMac stress marks, weight seems to be an issue

one1

one1

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 17, 2007
1,176
29
Chattanooga, TN
If you have had your iMac for over a year, you may find this issue. I unboxed my iMac a year and a half ago and set it up on my desk. It's been there since.

I usually dust with an extended duster so I don't look back there often, but today I replaced my desk so I broke down everything and moved it across the room so I could set the new desk up.

When I got to the iMac I noticed that right where the large hole is for the power plug to go through were stress points on each side from holding the weight of the iMac. There is a very slight bend in the metal where these stretch marks are leaning the mount over towards the monitor under the weight.

Clearly with the stress marks dead center of the drilled hole, this seems to have been an engineering oversight as with the metal removed for the hole it is too thin there to support the weight of the new aluminum iMac.

You may have this issue if yours has sat for a year or better. I don't think there will be any obvious stress after only a few months so newer owners might not notice this. If I hadn't changed desks I wouldn't have noticed this because really, how often do we look behind these things?


photo.jpg
 
Rather than an "engineering" or design issue, it could also (and more likely) a manufacturing issue involving the metal stock that was used for that particular part.
 
MTI said:
Rather than an "engineering" or design issue, it could also (and more likely) a manufacturing issue involving the metal stock that was used for that particular part.
Click to expand...

The engineers pick the metal that is used. They engineer it. This metal is all cut from the same pile, it's not molded. Blame the metal when the stress points happen somewhere other than where the engineer decided to put the hole.

aprofetto said:
Holy cow, looking at that picture I thought they were reflections.

Thats crazy! Is it a 24" or 20" model?
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It's a 20", which makes it more crazy. I assume the 24" has a thicker mount so wear may be equally the same, or not at all.
 
Not sure if this would be of any concern to 99.999999% of user unless the imac fell off the desk...
 
WChurchill said:
Not sure if this would be of any concern to 99.999999% of user unless the imac fell off the desk...
Click to expand...

If I still have it in 3 or 4 years I'll let you know if it gets to that point. Now that it is stressed it'll likely move at a quicker pace as the angle grows.

Hopefully not!
 
Mine is perfect and it's 1yr 4months old. (excluding shelf time of around 3/4 months)
 
WChurchill said:
Not sure if this would be of any concern to 99.999999% of user unless the imac fell off the desk...
Click to expand...

If my iMac looked like that I would certainly be concerned about it.

You're telling me if you saw that on the back of your iMac, you'd just shrug if off and say, "at least it hasn't fallen off the desk yet?".
 
My 24" Alum iMac was ordered the day they came out in Oct 2007 and been sitting in the same place on my desk ever since. No signs of any such stress at all.
 
I have never seen this before and we have at least 200 or more iMac's at work. :eek: Do you live alone? Are you sure that no one had been leaning heavily on your iMac? Yes, I know my theory sounds really silly.. :eek:
 
That's good to know some off you are not having problems. I hope nobody else ever does.

I hadn't moved the iMac in so long it "cracked" when I moved it (LOL!). You know how something will sit for so long it almost fuses to the desk.......
 
Just checked my 3 year old 17inch iMac, no signs of stress at all...

Very strange, I doubt it's anything to worry about though, literally no-one else has made this complaint before, I'd say you're safe for a good while.
 
one1 said:
The engineers pick the metal that is used. They engineer it. This metal is all cut from the same pile, it's not molded. Blame the metal when the stress points happen somewhere other than where the engineer decided to put the hole.
Click to expand...

Design and engineering is separate and distinct from the state of the raw materials supplied or the QC during manufacturing, no?

If it truly were a "engineering" or design fault, one would expect the failure rates of the assembly to be higher than your apparent single incident.

The limited incidences of failure is more reasonably explained by a defect in the materials suppled or possible workmanship and quality control error when the part was manufactured.
 
MTI said:
If it truly were a "engineering" or design fault, one would expect the failure rates of the assembly to be higher than your apparent single incident.
.
Click to expand...

My apparent single incident? 12 replies on an internet chat forum cover the entire scope of iMac sales? Lol, I'm done taking you seriously. :)
 
Likely the surface structure of this piece shows it visually much better without being forced to acid etch the metal.

However, the one you have definite shouldn't have started to bend.

Which is sort of amazing since this this a chunk of aluminum should be more than enough for the 24" machine.

Though if the desk does allow some bounce, it may add years to the aging of the metal.
 
one1 said:
My apparent single incident? 12 replies on an internet chat forum cover the entire scope of iMac sales? Lol, I'm done taking you seriously. :)
Click to expand...

With all due respect, its more than just 12 replies in this thread. I've been reading diligently here for almost 2 years, and on other Mac forums for 6-7, and I have never seen anything before like what you posted. Is there anything similar in the Apple discussion threads?
 
There is no question, those are definitely stress marks. And that's no wonder - the stand is visibly bent at this point. But is this a design fault?

I checked on my 24" iMac, and at the weakest point of the stand, there is still a 60 x 8 mm cross section of solid aluminium. Now I didn't do the calculations, but I am pretty sure that you need much more than the 11 kg of an iMac (and this is for the 24") to bend the stand permanently.

That basically leaves only one possibility - your iMac was handled roughly at one point in the past (did something fall on it?), or your stand was bent like that from the beginning. Whatever the reason, there is no reason to be afraid that the stand might break, unless something even heavier is dropped on the iMac.
 
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