PowerMac G4 MDD power supply problems; cause of fan noise

A growing number of users in Apple's discussion threads and in MacFixIt's forums are beginning to report problems stemming from a bad power supply in the Power Macintosh G4 Mirrored Drive Door models, released earlier this year.

Apparently, systems with a power supply manufactured by AcBel are susceptible to the problem, while those with a power supply manufactured by Samsung are immune. AcBel has acknowledged that there is a problem with the part, and claims to be working with Apple on how to fix it.

One user suggests the following workaround, which may void Apple's warranty:

"Take away the two fans of the power-supply : put a 12 cm/1.4w Papst (4212NGL) fan blowing through the power supply : power the fan with one of the 5.24 connector available, just stick it on the top side of the CD-R case.

"Replace the CPU fan with a Papst 12 cm/5w fan (4212NH). After 2 days of intensive work : temperature cooling seems to be fine."

Feedback on this issue? Drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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