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Somethings burning, smoke coming out from MP 2008 3,1 What to do?!

hackerwayne

hackerwayne

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 17, 2012
789
13
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hey guys, this morning when i powered my Mac Pro 2008 (3,1) lots of smoke coming out from the DVD drive area, i was in total shock, and quickly unplugged the power cable from the MP. I removed all HDDs, optical drive, GPU and can't find where the problem came from, so i assembled everything back and tried to power it on, then again, turns on and smoke comes out from the drive area, I removed the DVD drive and tried to power it on again but it never shows sign of life anymore. I tested the DVD drive and its in working order. What can be toast here? When i press the Diagnostic LED, it shows STBY on but in yellow color. Nothing else lights up, press power button nothing happens. Possibly power supply?
 
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The power supply is at the top so it would make sense that it is the power supply that is dead. Open it up and have a peak.
 
Warranty is obviously over, don't bother asking Apple Care. Will this be sort of covered under some type of custom warranty? Considering that it obviously smells like something is burning inside.

Most important thing is, I have RAID on it, some 8TB of data in the RAID. Damn Mac Pro T.T, don't tell me the logic board is fried. How to retrieve my RAID now, without the Mac Pro. If its the PSU, i could just buy one off eBay which is fairly cheap now 100+/-

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shoulin333 said:
Might want to check out this older thread on how to test the PSU.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1082046/
Click to expand...

I can't check the voltages without the Mac Pro being powered on right?
 
If there was lots of smoke, I'm sure the PSU (if it really was the PSU) still smells pretty strong. Open the PSU-case, maybe you see some melted cables inside?
 
Remove the optical drive bay with all stuff in it. Then power on and you will see what's going on.
 
Smoking (especially lots of it) often comes from failed capacitors. The largest of which would be in your PSU, so I agree that's the first place to look.

It's also the cheapest and easiest part to replace to start your diagnostic.

Remove your optical drive and HDDs before you continue testing, that way you reduce the risk of any damage to your data in case it wasn't the PSU.

Here is what a smoking capacitor looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03J1yWwM5zg

Does that resemble what you see?
 
Spacedust said:
Remove the optical drive bay with all stuff in it. Then power on and you will see what's going on.
Click to expand...

Tried that, almost NOTHING is inside. All HDD were removed, riser B was removed, optical drive bay & graphics card all removed.

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notjustjay said:
Smoking (especially lots of it) often comes from failed capacitors. The largest of which would be in your PSU, so I agree that's the first place to look.

It's also the cheapest and easiest part to replace to start your diagnostic.

Remove your optical drive and HDDs before you continue testing, that way you reduce the risk of any damage to your data in case it wasn't the PSU.

Here is what a smoking capacitor looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03J1yWwM5zg

Does that resemble what you see?
Click to expand...

OMG.. THATS exactly how the smoke comes out from the optical drive bay, only difference is i don't here any poping sounds.! Im buying a PSU off eBay to test but before that any chance i could some how change the capacitors without replacing the entire PSU? Ill be taking pictures n upload them here.
 
Take a look at all the capacitors on any and all PCB's for evidence of burning, or breaking open.
 
Keep us informed about if the replacement PSU was the culprit.

Have you asked your local Apple Store if they would mind giving the machine a good-will inspection and test after you have replaced the PSU? It sounds like you are a committed user of your Mac Pro and if you impress them with your professionalism, they may agree to give it an inspection to restore your confidence that the machine is now in full working order.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
Take a look at all the capacitors on any and all PCB's for evidence of burning, or breaking open.
Click to expand...

Still trying to pry open the PSU, not as easy as i expect. As for the logic board, no sign of any blown/swollen capacitors. I really hope its not the logic board, i wanted to keep the system until 2013/201x Mac Pro comes out & don't wish to pay too much for the repair cost. Maximum $200 is what i can afford/willing to pay. PSU cost $150 from eBay. Unfortunately, in the country im living, theres no Apple Store, only authorized Apple Service Provider which is charging roughly $30 just for diagnostic. :(

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DanielCoffey said:
Keep us informed about if the replacement PSU was the culprit.

Have you asked your local Apple Store if they would mind giving the machine a good-will inspection and test after you have replaced the PSU? It sounds like you are a committed user of your Mac Pro and if you impress them with your professionalism, they may agree to give it an inspection to restore your confidence that the machine is now in full working order.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the country im living in does not have an Apple Store. Only AASP which is charging $30 just for diagnostic & it takes 1 week to diagnose :( Can't afford to wait that long, data in there is important.. Anyone has any idea how i could possibly extract the data in the RAID without the Mac Pro? I have 3 x 1.5TB drives in RAID 0.
 
Is it possible to power up the PSU on its own?

If so, disconnect PSU from computer, plug it in, see what happens. If you get smoke again, then you know for sure it was the PSU :)
 
notjustjay said:
Is it possible to power up the PSU on its own?

If so, disconnect PSU from computer, plug it in, see what happens. If you get smoke again, then you know for sure it was the PSU :)
Click to expand...

Tried that, don't how how to power on the PSU without the Mac Pro. For a generic PC PSU, i know how to short it to power on. on the Mac Pro PSU, no idea whats the pin out.
 
Might not be your healthiest option, but have you tried using your nose to check if the PSU is smelling oddly ?
 
Five gets you ten that when you finally manage to pry open the power supply, there's some sort of cooked insect in there.
 
ytk said:
Five gets you ten that when you finally manage to pry open the power supply, there's some sort of cooked insect in there.
Click to expand...

Years ago when I was using my Atari ST computer here in the tropics, a huge puff of smoke came up from where the PSU was. Computer was still on. I turned it off fearing the worst. I opened it up and there was a gecko all fried up on top of the PSU. Computer was fine.

Just recently my photocopier (new) failed. No idea what was wrong. After a few days a dead stinky smell started coming out of it and millions of ants pouring in and out of it. A gecko had fried inside to power board but this time it had damaged it.

I love the cute little buggers but hate it when they get into the electronics.
 
TWEO said:
Might not be your healthiest option, but have you tried using your nose to check if the PSU is smelling oddly ?
Click to expand...

Nope. Not at all..

EDIT: Finally manage to crack the PSU open (took so long cuz one of the + screws stripped). From what i can see no caps were blown etc
 
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hackerwayne said:
...

Most important thing is, I have RAID on it, some 8TB of data in the RAID. Damn Mac Pro T.T, don't tell me the logic board is fried. How to retrieve my RAID now, without the Mac Pro. If its the PSU, i could just buy one off eBay which is fairly cheap now 100+/-

...
Click to expand...


If it's a Disk Utility software RAID, you can attach the drives whichever way you want (USB, FireWire, SATA) to any other Mac running the OS you had on your Mac Pro or later. The RAID set will work like on your Mac Pro – provided it hasn't been damaged by the logicboard dying.
 
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