[comp.sys.att] 3b1 getting HOT help

crassi@kodak.kodak.com (Charlie Crassi) (01/13/91)

Path: ureka!orion!mikie
From: mikie\@orion.UUCP (Michael G. Shea)
Newsgroups: unix-pc.general
Subject: New Machine problem
Keywords: Hot Box
Message-ID: <115\@orion.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jan 91 17:17:23 GMT
Organization: orion, Rochester, NY
Lines: 25

Posting for a friend who just bought a new in the box 3b1.

After loading the software for the first time, about four and a half
hour after turning the machine on for the first time,  he reports that
his machine just "shutdown".. that is his screen went blank and the
keyboard was unresponsive.  Then about every five seconds or so it made
"a wierd clicking sound".  Finally he noticed it getting hot back at the
power supply and shut it off when he noticed that the grating over the
area began to warp.  Smart man.  

About ten minutes later he powered back up!  Ran it for about six hours
in a problem free manner.

Please note that this is a new... brand new in the box and shrink wrapped
3b1.  Has sat in a storeroom for about 4 years.

What do you all think?  Should any action be taken?  Would you trust
this machine?

Please reply by posting if at all possible... uucp feeds have been unreliable
for quite a while.  Thanks
-- 

UUCP: uunet!atexnet!kodak!brandy!ureka!orion!mikie
BITNET: soon, so I'm told...

yarvin-norman@cs.yale.edu (Norman Yarvin) (01/14/91)

crassi@kodak.kodak.com (Charlie Crassi) writes:
>After loading the software for the first time, about four and a half
>hour after turning the machine on for the first time,  he reports that
>his machine just "shutdown".. that is his screen went blank and the
>keyboard was unresponsive.  Then about every five seconds or so it made
>"a wierd clicking sound".  Finally he noticed it getting hot back at the
>power supply and shut it off when he noticed that the grating over the
>area began to warp.  Smart man.  

You don't mention whether or not the fan was working.  As the owner of a 3b1
with a warped grating over the power supply, I'd bet it wasn't.  In my case,
I started a large overnight download; when I woke up I found the machine
wasn't working, and shut it off.  I don't know whether this was the result
of a fan failure, but I suspect it was.  Before the AT&T repairperson (the
machine was under warranty) arrived, my roommate tried turning the fan
through the fan grating, using a screwdriver.  He reported that he had to
force it a bit before it started turning, i.e. it had been stuck.  The AT&T
person replaced the power supply, but not the fan; it was working when she
tested it.

Eventually I replaced the fan with an AC fan.  This is a reasonable
precaution even for a machine that is working well, since the standard fans
are quite unreliable.

--
Norman Yarvin					yarvin-norman@cs.yale.edu
 "Praise the humanities, my boy.  That'll make them think you're broadminded!"
	-- Winston Churchill