[cmoney]

So I've got this PowerBook G3/233 that's probably 5-6 years old now. I hadn't used it in about a year (been sitting around in the original box so it wasn't gathering dust). A few weeks ago, I plugged it in and booted it up just fine, then a few minutes after bootup, I noticed a smoke smell. It was coming from the power adapter port and literally within seconds, it was smoking! I quickly unplugged the AC adapter from the wall (didn't want to touch the actual port that was now burning, no flames but quite hot in the general area) but it didn't seem to stop and so I removed the battery which worked.

I remember this being an issue back with the Wall Streets, does anyone know what Apple was doing to resolve this? I know they tend to take burning PowerBooks as a serious issue, since it's now happened on more than one PowerBook revision! Anyone know if they'll still do anything about this problem? Could I just bring it into an Apple Store and ask a Genius? Or would I get laughed out the store because it's way out of warranty?

[Lateralus]

You'll most likely get laughed out of the store for brining in a 6 year old computer.

And I think you more than missed the boat on the Wallstreet power supply replacement program.

[cmoney]

Originally posted by PowerMacMan:
You'll most likely get laughed out of the store for brining in a 6 year old computer.

And I think you more than missed the boat on the Wallstreet power supply replacement program.

It's not the power supply that's burning, it's the laptop!

This was a serious problem with the Wallstreets, they had a spare wire or something that, when it came in contact with the power supply plug, short circuited the power board, or something like that.

Of course, I could just plug it back in, give myself a second degree burn, and then sue. I think that's why Apple takes these cases so seriously (at least they did in the past) even on out of warranty computers.

[cdhostage]

Wrrg? If you haven't unplugged the power cord from the computer, the cord itself could very well be burning and sending smoke through the plug into the computer where it spills out.

My Pismo had the same problem ON THE CORD - the thinner portion of the cord wasn't built for the constant flexing it endured, and the wires separated within the cord. Sparks jumped the gap, igniting the plastic sheath. This was about half an inch from the plug into the computer - I think your power plug did exactly the same thing. Can you see a discoloration on the cord?

Apple replaced my power cord. i don't know if you can still get yours replaced, as six years is a reasonable amount of time for a power cord to last.

And before you get snippy, it's almost certainly not within the computer. Unless there's burning dog hair in there, there's no way for the power supply portion of the laptop to catch fire. No way.

[cmoney]

Does nobody remember the problem Wallstreet models had with short circuits right in the laptop? Yeah, it is in the laptop, yeah the laptop was smoking out of the SPEAKER port!

The power adapter works fine still on my Lombard. It's the round type power adapter that first came with the iBook.

Originally posted by cdhostage:
Wrrg? If you haven't unplugged the power cord from the computer, the cord itself could very well be burning and sending smoke through the plug into the computer where it spills out.

My Pismo had the same problem ON THE CORD - the thinner portion of the cord wasn't built for the constant flexing it endured, and the wires separated within the cord. Sparks jumped the gap, igniting the plastic sheath. This was about half an inch from the plug into the computer - I think your power plug did exactly the same thing. Can you see a discoloration on the cord?

Apple replaced my power cord. i don't know if you can still get yours replaced, as six years is a reasonable amount of time for a power cord to last.

And before you get snippy, it's almost certainly not within the computer. Unless there's burning dog hair in there, there's no way for the power supply portion of the laptop to catch fire. No way.

[cmoney]

Lest people think I'm crazy, this is what I was talking about:

http://www.lowendmac.com/misc/990507.html

The G3 Series machines were not without some gremlins -- the poorly engineered ribbon connector on the 13.3" displays, some heat sinks that worked loose, some shorted RF shielding, and a suspected batch of faulty capacitors in the power management circuit which resulted in some failures, and in a very few cases (I have heard of less than half a dozen reported or rumored, with possibly some overlap) causing the units to catch fire.


and here:

http://www.pbsource.com/memory/archive/0600.shtml

Bottom of page.

To all Apple Powerbook owners:

On Friday afternoon, May 26, my Powerbook G3(333/Bronze) spontaneously caught fire while I was typing in my home office. It was a very small fire and I put it out in a few seconds, but there was real smoke and it was quickly melting the case on the bottom. Had I not been right there, I'm afraid it may well have spread onto my desk and elsewhere.

I'm reporting this on my own because I've gotten a strong indication from Apple that they will not be reporting it to anyone. Further, they informed me today that whatever triggered the fire is considered strictly "proprietary" and "confidential," and that I am not entitled to any sort of explanation. They did, of course, replace my machine. The damaged machine has been "captured," and is now their property.

I wish I were making this up. This is not a hoax. I have written two books and many articles about technology, and have been a very loyal Apple user for 16 years.

I think this probably was a freak incident, and I am not accusing Apple of making a hazardous product. But unless Apple does decide to make some sort of reassuring public statement about how this happened and how we can be assured it won't happen again, I would urge all Powerbook users to use caution and put their machines to sleep when they leave the room or building.

BTW, I posted about the fire on the Apple support boards and someone personally responded to me to call Apple directly without any further instructions...and then promptly deleted my message from the board!

[NYCFarmboy]

Interesting thread..

I have a white ibook..and its starting to smell of burnt rubber now all the time.

I'm going to the Soho apple store tomorrow..I'll see what the geniuses have to say. (does it cost anything to just ask a quick question like that?)

Also..as to older powerbooks.. they are great..I still see them being used all the time... saw a blueberry clamshell ibook being used to take notes at a meeting here in NYC last week..and you see the black G3 powerbooks all the time still being used.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally posted by cmoney:
REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF APPLE LEGAL.