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Thanksgiving special: spilled turkey juice into Mac Pro

B

blackmoses

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2009
33
2
On his way into my apartment, my buddy tripped and almost spilled the turkey on the ground.

The turkey was saved. The juice was not.

Some of it splashed into the bottom of my Mac Pro (the exhaust fan - machine is an Early 2008 2.8 8-core). The machine immediately turned off, and I removed the power cord. Plugging the power cord in only results in the power supply clicking repeatedly.

The amount of liquid that got into the machine is small enough to where we can't even see any more liquid in the machine. What are my possible options for repair, in your guestimation (without seeing the machine, naturally)? How much would it cost to replace the power supply, and will that solve the issue?

Or should I be gathering my coins & dollars to run into some Black Friday sale looking for a used MP or a refurb (I _have_ to have Snow Leopard for FCP7)?
 
LOL, okay...

...I removed all my drives; they should be fine, right?

I have a MB Aluminum I can use as a holdover (with an enclosure) till I replace the Pro.
 
There was a short in the power supply, I don't know much about the PSU's in the Mac Pro, but you either blew a fuse, or popped a mini breaker.

New power supply,
 
Two very exciting things have happened to the mac pro this year. A spilled glass of water and now turkey juice. This is about as good as it gets when there is absolutely nothing going on with the mac pro.:D
 
I'm sorry to hear what happened! But, I'm running fcp 7 on mountain lion, I haven't seen any incompality issues. However, I'm slowly translationing over to FCPX and premiere pro. So my use in fcp on ML has been pretty limited. Just thought I'd give my 2 cents. Hope you manage to get your machine up and running again!
 
I was told certain plug-ins, etc don't work in 10.7 and beyond for FCP 7.

That, and since the newest Mac Pro specs are still pretty far behind (I need it for the extra internal storage space and ability to add RAM), I really didn't feel compelled to be shopping for new.
 
Before starting it up with a new PSU, it might be wise to disassemble everything down to the logic board so you can inspect for liquid/grease residue. Unless your absolutely certain the juice hit only the PSU, you could be in for more surprises.
 
Agreed with rGiskard, check everything you can possibly check, whether it's video cards, hard drives, optical drives, RAM, etc. That will probably sound rather toilsome, and even though a new PSU probably will flip its breaker to defend itself if one of those is messed up, it's still not worth the risk, since one water damaged part CAN potentially take out a whole PSU. It's not likely, bt it's not worth the risk with how expensive the Pro's parts are.

If you're going to get a new(er) Mac Pro, get a used 2009, as low end as you can find one, and upgrade it on your own. You really don't have to worry about getting all the right parts for it, just the order you do certain things in, and 2009's are probably some of the least picky Macs when it comes to upgrades of any kind. You can upgrade a 2009 to 2012 spec for far, far less than what Apple charges for a new one.
 
Librarian580 said:
Agreed with rGiskard, check everything you can possibly check, whether it's video cards, hard drives, optical drives, RAM, etc. That will probably sound rather toilsome, and even though a new PSU probably will flip its breaker to defend itself if one of those is messed up, it's still not worth the risk, since one water damaged part CAN potentially take out a whole PSU. It's not likely, bt it's not worth the risk with how expensive the Pro's parts are.

If you're going to get a new(er) Mac Pro, get a used 2009, as low end as you can find one, and upgrade it on your own. You really don't have to worry about getting all the right parts for it, just the order you do certain things in, and 2009's are probably some of the least picky Macs when it comes to upgrades of any kind. You can upgrade a 2009 to 2012 spec for far, far less than what Apple charges for a new one.
Click to expand...

A used 2009 is what I've had my eye on. I've seen some quad-cores (a lot of them actually) in a price range I can afford, but I was under the impression I should get another 8-core to keep performance the same.

I can follow online tutorials if, for example, I get a quad-core Nehalem and want to add a second processor? Do the single and dual processor models use the same motherboard? I've never done much more than change the RAM and video card in my Pro (I've built PCs before), and I'm slightly intimidated by the prospect.

I haven't heard back in full from Micro Center on the status of the machine (I took it in for a diagnostic) - just hoping they don't stuff cranberry sauce and dressing in it to make a full meal ;)

(I'm trying to keep high spirits about this as you can see, lol)
 
If you buy a used machine you'll have to either choose a single or dual processor model, you cannot upgrade a single processor model to a dual processor, you'd need to swap out the logic board and its far too expensive and impractical. What is more practical with a 2009 is to swap out the single quad core CPU for a hexcore, flash the firmware and turn it into a 2010 model, there are several threads on here about how to do that.
 
The way the 2009/2010 models work is that it's split in to a more modular sort of setup than the previous models and most PC's. You have the main motherboard with the PCIE slots and plugs, then you have a processor board where the processors and RAM plug in to, which in turn slides to plug in to the motherboard. It's a pretty cool system, at least I think.

Anyways, if you get a 2009 Quad Core, and want to change it to an 8-core, you'll only need to get a dual processor CPU-Board. You won't need to change the motherboard itself.

This is the one you will most likely want;
http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Apple-Pr...ac-Pro-Early-2009-661-4998---NEW-p-38517.html
It's expensive, but you can probably sell your Quad core board after you successfully get the multi-CPU board working to get a good amount of your money back.

Bare in mind that there are some other important steps you have to do for the dual-processor ones, since the heatsinks don't usually leave enough clearance for Xeons that have Integrated Heat Spreaders.

Along what Ashman70 said, though, upgrading from Quad core to Hex core is FAR easier, since the Quad core board is far more conventional, you can just put the processor right in without worrying about the integrated heat spreader clearance. Unlike the Dual-CPU board, it also has a more conventional latch for holding the CPU in, instead of relying on the heat sink.
 
Update: I was able to get the machine repaired. Micro Center changed out my PSU and one of the RAM risers. Total cost - just under $400, including labor.

Relief.
 
jbachandouris said:
2008? I would use this as an excuse to buy a new one and sell the old one as is.
Click to expand...

this post is so fail

@OP glad its working well for you now. Not sure why the riser need to be switched out, and 400 bucks seems way overpriced... but in the end i'm sure they looked over the affected parts.


also, i suggest you exact terrible yet glorious vengeance on your friend.
 
This ranks up there with the legend of the woman who called tech support because her pop out cup holder (CD/DVD drive) wasn't working right anymore.
 
Phrygian said:
this post is so fail

@OP glad its working well for you now. Not sure why the riser need to be switched out, and 400 bucks seems way overpriced... but in the end i'm sure they looked over the affected parts.
Click to expand...

The MP had the cover off (I'd been hard drive swapping), so juice flew in from the back and a little on the side as well. That's how it hit the RAM riser (PSA - always close up your MP IMMEDIATELY after doing any internal upgrades/maintenance).

The parts were like $200 for the PSU, $89 for the RAM riser, and the rest was labor and tax. Considering I'd've been paying $99/hr at most places, it was a little less than I expected ($500).

Phrygian said:
also, i suggest you exact terrible yet glorious vengeance on your friend.
Click to expand...

I will not! lol
 
Glad you got it working, but for $400 I would of just bought a used 2009 Mac Pro and sold off your old one! Or you could of bought a used Power supply and swapped it out yourself, it's really easy.

I just bought a 2009 Quad Core off CL for $700. Plan on doing the Hex upgrade to it later on.

But i guess it only cost you $200 and it still works well so that is ok too. Either way I guess.
 
First, I'm happy that the OP got his machine fixed.

I'm not ashamed to admit that the story was entertaining, but I was hoping for more based on the title. I was hoping it would involve small children playing hid 'n seek with a turkey, or a bizarre game of 'catch the turkey'. Your friend tripping isn't nearly as exciting as I had imagined.
 
tjlazer said:
Glad you got it working, but for $400 I would of just bought a used 2009 Mac Pro and sold off your old one! Or you could of bought a used Power supply and swapped it out yourself, it's really easy.

I just bought a 2009 Quad Core off CL for $700. Plan on doing the Hex upgrade to it later on.

But i guess it only cost you $200 and it still works well so that is ok too. Either way I guess.
Click to expand...

a 2009 used is worth more than 400... a lot more. You got a great deal on the 2009 you purchased, even if its only a single quad core.
 
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