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So hot it melted the ethernet Updated with pics

kdawg

kdawg

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 14, 2004
166
17
I talked my coworker into getting a macbook... Guess we should have waited till the next revision. Her computer got so hot yesterday that it melted the ethernet coord and jack it was connected to. Anyone else have this problem?

Nothing was around it, No liquids, explosives, or otherwise bad things. It was plugged in at the desk and connected to the net with the lid closed. The actual coord (white jacket next my thumb was already damaged), but the jack itself melted. When she pulled it out of the port, the plastic actually stringed as it was hot enough to make strands.

Freak act of god? I dont' know.

having her take it to the genius bar tomorrow. No pics of the ehternet port as she turned it off and was afraid to bring it into the office. Sorry the pics are a little blurry... was in a hurry as it's almost 5
Will let you all know what happens at the genius bar on monday as I am rather currious.
http://imagecloset.com/upload/27ce4ad0.jpg
http://imagecloset.com/upload/b60e1844.jpg
http://imagecloset.com/upload/1304fe34.jpg
 
No, this is not a feature of the current MB. "Next revision" doesn't prevent unique accidents. Might need to get that unit looked at, or replaced.
 
sure it wasn't something else that caused it to "melt" it would be pretty hard for a computer to melt a network cable
 
O RLY?!

Pictures please.

If it were hot enough to melt the plastic sleeving surrounding the cable, I can only wonder what damage it would have caused to the MacBook casing?
 
Pressure said:
O RLY?!

Pictures please.

If it were hot enough to melt the plastic sleeving surrounding the cable, I can only wonder what damage it would have caused to the MacBook casing?
Click to expand...

I imagine the plastic sleeve around the network cable would melt at a much lower temperature than the hard casing of the MacBook.
 
Yes, but if it got hot enough that the temperature of the ethernet cord rose to the point of melting the outside cover, the internals, I'd think, would be pretty toasty.

So much so that I'd think it might have fried some other things - like the keyboard.
 
emw said:
Yes, but if it got hot enough that the temperature of the ethernet cord rose to the point of melting the outside cover, the internals, I'd think, would be pretty toasty.

So much so that I'd think it might have fried some other things - like the keyboard.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course. It's pretty scary but it could have just been a steamy download.
 
bousozoku said:
Yes, of course. It's pretty scary but it could have just been a steamy download.
Click to expand...

Damn, I always hate those.

Sounds like there could've been a problem with the cable that caused it to melt, not the MacBook.
 
I still don't understand how the cable could burn just right there, not trying to be rude or say you're lying or anything just don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense. I mean look at it the underlying part isn't melted at all either. Is she sure nothing else was around it? Let us know what the apple store guy says.
 
What? Generik? Huh? This was originally meant as a response to generik who felt the need to attack me for pondering the cause.


Obviously many of us are tyring to understand what happened. It doesn't seem like the macbook could of caused that. Is that supposed to be the end that was plugged into the macbook? Or was the macbook set on top of that end for some reason? If that was the end that was plugged into the macbook then you would think that it would have melted from the wires out or from the part of the connectore closest to the macbook. The burn mark makes no sense.
 
joebells said:
I still don't understand how the cable could burn just right there, not trying to be rude or say you're lying or anything just don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense. I mean look at it the underlying part isn't melted at all either. Is she sure nothing else was around it? Let us know what the apple store guy says.
Click to expand...

It does seem incredibly odd. The only thing that I can imagine is that the cable wire has a higher resistance and was building up heat to melt that part but it seems as though more of the cable would have melted.
 
I doubt that. How am I supposed to tell which end was in the MacBook and which end was in the wall? I would suspect that there is something else here at hand than the MacBook.
 
California said:
Wow. Who would buy a MacBook and then hook it up to the internet with a wire?
Click to expand...

I would. My family is so strapped for cash at the moment we're using dial-up. I'm lucky that I still have my iBook and can go use wireless access in various places.
 
California said:
Wow. Who would buy a MacBook and then hook it up to the internet with a wire?
Click to expand...
Someone who transfers big files through LAN and prefrers the 1000mbps speed provided by a good ethernet router to the 54mbps of 802.11g? Someone who doesn't trust the security of wireless networks?
 
skipsandwichdx said:
I've seen clearer bigfoot photos
Click to expand...

I was thinking of something smart to say about the poor quality of the pictures as well considering the size of the things. Camera doesn't have a macro mode I'm assuming or an anti shake mechanism?

Kudos on the witty comment any way.
 
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