Thanks for the offer. I've decided I can't afford it. My house is devoid of furniture. We figured essentials before toys...

I've been searching around the Internet and find that there are quite a few reports of iMac G4's with identical symptoms as mine:

- Working fine
- Shut down normally
- Will not turn on, even after resetting PMU

It seems like it ought to be something simple, but what?

I've found a shop in Bangkok that seems familiar with the problem. They say that a fix might involve replacing a single power supply component or perhaps the whole power supply, but not the motherboard.

This is the place, anyone know it?

http://www.machomeservice.com/

Wish me luck.

As a point of interest, which shop is that?

Right.

I know that area of Bangkok pretty well, and after scrutinizing the map for 5 minutes, I still can't figure out where it's supposed to be. (Somewhere in the middle I suppose.)

A word of caution: The address points to a single apartment unit.
I'd be hesitant to send my Mac there to be worked on.
If you want, I can take a look this weekend, and see if it looks reputable.

^Thanks ThreeBKK. I would appreciate that very much, but only if you've got the time and it isn't too much trouble.

The iMac is taking a bus to Mac Home Service today. We decided to go with the place since we saw it had been positively reviewed by the Bangkok Post's Graham Rogers in his Extensions column:

Mac Home Repair

I read the "column", and I visited the place today in person.
It's actually a good find! (How did you find it?)

After seeing the poorly designed map, I got the wrong impression of the shop.
It's not in an apartment unit, but on the ground floor next to a beauty salon and a health clinic.
That area of town is a very unlikely location for a shop like this.
I like that they only repair Macs, no PCs in the shop, and they won't even touch iPods.
As the column mentioned, the shop was clean and organized, and appeared to be of a higher grade than most shops at Pantip or IT Mall.
So, let's wait and see what kind of work they do.

It's funny that the guy was going to pick your iMac up at the bus stop.
Was that extra?
Keep us posted on the repair cost & outcome.

The Ms. found the shop while looking for used Macs here: http://www.mac2hand.com/

They have an ad on the left side of the page.

They are charging us 200 baht to pick up the Mac at Mor Chit. They say they have to make the round trip by taxi and that's about what it would cost them. We called yesterday afternoon and the iMac is in their shop.

More to come, I'm sure....

The shop called last night (Friday) at 9:00 PM to let us know that the power supply is bad. They tried to repair the power supply, but couldn't get a needed part. They will order a new power supply (4500 baht or about US$140) from Singapore which will take a week.

So, it will be much less expensive than I feared.

(One wonders what sort of nerds are still working in a Mac repair shop at 9:00 PM on a Friday night....)

I hope the power feed in the new house is up to specification. I mean, it sounds odd that you moved the iMac to a new home, and suddenly the power supply goes bad. Make sure everything is safe before plugging the iMac into the same outlet.

Thai ones?:D

The power in the new house is actually very good. In fact, I made them rip it all out and do it again and supervised the process. I've tested all the circuits. Voltage OK. Polarity correct. And, the ground wire actually goes to an earth ground. (Only house in the whole brand new subdivision that actually has a grounding rod.) And, we have a decent UPS.

So, I have no idea why the power supply would choose to die just then....

Don't forget about LEM Swap. You might be able to find what you need, and pay only the shipping fee.

^Wow. Never saw that before. Thanks.

No problem.

Most of the entries for power supplies are "WTB" (want to buy), but you never know what you might find.

There are some other really good swap websites for computer parts that I've seen in the past, but I can't remember right now what they are.

iMac is Back
 

I finally got my iMac back. Arrived yesterday at the Korat bus station. Total cost of the repair, including transportation, was 5400 baht (about US$170).

glad to hear it all worked out

mnewman:

Thanks again for finding that shop.

Last week I escorted another Mac user there to get his MacBook fixed.
He had a semi-broken Ethernet port which would have required the logic board to be replaced.
(Probably the most expensive part on the MacBook)
The Apple Care Center at Discovery couldn't fix it without replacing the logic board, but Mac Home Repair were able to just repair the port.

They did that, and another tiny repair for 800 baht (or $24), parts and labor included.