Seriously! If you bought a PowerMac G5 model that has the infamous LCS (Liquid Cooling System), it *IS* leaking. This is not a maybe, this is almost a guarantee. Between MZ user dofo and myself, we have seen quite a number of PowerMac G5 in the last couple weeks. Every single one of them with LCS is/was leaky. This makes the PowerMac a ticking time bomb that WILL kill your computer. The culprit is apparently faulty o-rings.

The good news, rebuilding the LCS yourself is very straight forward, relatively cheap and easy. dofo has already done this rebuild and I am about to do it myself.

http://xlr8yourmac.com/systems/G5_CoolantLeak_Repair/G5_CoolantLeak_Repair_p1.html

Do yourself a favor and rebuild your LCS ASAP! If you haven't bought your PowerMac G5 yet, be ready to do the rebuild as soon as you buy it. If you don't feel up to the task, get an air cooled model (<2.3Ghz IIRC).

Great article!



[ Edited by takemehomegrandma 13.01.2013 - 11:28 ]

Apparently the later Panasonic Liquid cooled designs are fine, just the earlier Delphi had a problem.

Alas, I think most of the pre-PCI express liquid cooled G5 were Delphi, the dual 2.7 version for example.

(Actually having checked the pictures the LCS in my Quad G5 dosn't look like a Panasonic one, I shall double check... Hmm.. not good)

Edited to add, it's a single pump Delphi


After much searching, I can't work out if that is the improved one or not, my mac was made August 2006 with is good, but according to this:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/faq/powermac-g5-liquid-cooling-info-leaks-issues.html

I've got the first release?

I've checked no leaking, but it's a worry.

[ Edited by stephen_robinson 13.01.2013 - 01:02 ]

Yep... my 2nd 2.7ghz G5 happened to have a Panasonic LCS, and the first one a Delphi. I am still going to rebuild the panasonic since its a good habit to go inside and clean everything up and refill the fluid.

have a 3rd G5, but its a 2.0ghz. No worries, i have two sets of extra CPUs for it if it ever gives out. :)

**A quick way of determining if its a Panasonic LCS or a Delphi is if you go to take off the CPU intake fans, you will see the radiator flush up agasint the plastic piece that surrounds it and not very deep in, maybe 1/8 of an inch... but if it has a panasonic LCS, the plasic is about an inch deep in before the radiator is met up with the plasic that surrounds it.

Heres a picture of the plastic piece thats used in the Panasonic LCS.
Panasonic LCS

[ Edited by Doffo 12.01.2013 - 18:30 ]

I saw some mention of G5 supporint dual cpus. Is this correct? Morph with 2 cpus?

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/faq/powermac-g5-liquid-cooling-info-leaks-issues.html

> I saw some mention of G5 supporint dual cpus. Is this correct? Morph with 2 cpus?

I don't think you really saw such mention. You probably either misread or misremember. What was actually said is quoted and commented over there:

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8934&forum=3&start=8

Little OT: I have possibility to get a Powermac G5 dual 2.3GHz (Early 2005 model without liquid cooling system). Any idea if it is one of the supported models?

> Powermac G5 dual 2.3GHz (Early 2005 model without liquid cooling system).
> Any idea if it is one of the supported models?

This should be M9748LL/A. So far, support has only been announced for M9747LL/A and M9749LL/A.

Is easy to rebuild the coolant system?. I have seen lately a good g5 powermac, but it is the g5 dual with liquid cooled system.
Is possible to replace the cooling system with an air-cooled one?. I'm asking because it would be safer in the long run, as i have heard a lot of horror histories surrounding the g5 liquid models :).

Quote:
I was under the impression any A1047 would work, which includes 9748LL and 9455LL, the model I'm currently using. They're all considered PowerMac7,3 systems.


[ Edited by Oscar 17.06.2013 - 09:47 ]

>> So far, support has only been announced for M9747LL/A and M9749LL/A.

> I was under the impression any A1047 would work, which includes 9748LL and
> 9455LL, the model I'm currently using. They're all considered PowerMac7,3 systems.

My posting you just quoted is from 5 months ago (as is this thread). At that point in time what I wrote was true. It was only later that the entire PowerMac7,3 range was announced as supported.

Its not hard to repair them, but another option is to contact Apple if you have a store near you. These have all been proven to be faulty. If you ask nice you may get it fixed for free. Mine was a few months past the Apple Care I got for it when it suddenly poofed on me one day. When I opened it up I saw that white residue all over the bottom of the case and found a leak when I pulled out the fans. Apple covered it and replaced the entire logic board and CPU boards. I then sold it off because I didnt want to deal with it again down the road.

Hmm, double post..

[ Edited by Acill 18.06.2013 - 20:15 ]

Thanks.
The one reason I haven't started building a G5 was the knowledge that I would have check (and possibly re-build) the cooling system.
And, until now, I had no reference on how to do that.
Great innformation.

Quote:

You can add my new one to the list. I bought a dual 2.7 G5 PCIX (listed as 'working fine until put into storage, now won't boot up'), which got delivered today.

Symptoms:
- Healthy 'click' when power cable is connected; (reassuring that the psu is probably still good)
- Won't boot when power button is pressed; (yes, I checked the front panel connector :) )
- Begins to boot when the monitor lead is unplugged & plugged back in (bizarre, but true), then freezes after a few seconds; (reassuring that the processors & logic board work up to this point at least)
- Undocumented red LED visible through the front of the unit somewhere on the processor board(s) once it freezes.

I did disassemble it before finding evidence of leakage, but as that article states 'white rice' under the processor boards should be visible without disassembly. The photos used in that article could be from my G5 - exactly the same location and amount of crustiness.

Thanks to this early warning, and link to a well documented fix, I'm pretty sure it'll be ok once I get some new o-rings and coolant.

[ Edited by boot_wb 16.04.2014 - 19:39 ]

It was late for my g5. I dismounted the cpus and that was an horror. Now I have to buy a pair of G5. Damn LCS!

A quick update.
I purchased two 2.7 GHz processors for Pampers that came with a Delphi LCS.
There does not appear to be anything inherently wrong with these coolers.
Both the Delphi and Panasonic coolers require some maintenance, after all you are installing a water filled device inside an electronic device (sound like a dumb idea to me - but then I'm about to add that to one of my X86 boxes).

Properly maintained, the Delphi units should work fine.
Except that they are older, I doubt that they have been responsible for a significantly higher failure rate than the Panasonic units.

> you are installing a water filled device inside an electronic device

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=9268&forum=11&start=12 ;-)

> Properly maintained, the Delphi units should work fine. [...] I doubt that they have
> been responsible for a significantly higher failure rate than the Panasonic units.

"The cooling system was made by Delphi [...], but the LCS turned out to be subject to coolant leakage. [...] Later models were equipped with a Panasonic LCS which was much more reliable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G5#Defects

This is the source cited as reference:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/G5_coolant_leaks.html

"...much more reliable." - love those Wikipedia quotes Andreas, because as we all know information that can be edited by anyone has to be accurate.

Actually, anyone that has either LCS would be smart to keep an eye on it. Both can leak. Its pretty much a danger with any such system, and from what I've seen hobbyist installed systems are even more prone to failure.

But if you want to encourage Panasonic LCS owners to think they are safe, by all means go ahead.

In the meanwhile, there are still plenty of Delphi coolers operating correctly after ten years of service. Whether Apple's move to use liquid cooling was "bold" or foolish for machines destined to be used by the general public (read that as not necessarily typical "enthusiasts") is questionable.

Frankly, I think these systems have an appropriate niche market with hardcore hackers.
They just aren't for people who want appliance like reliability from their hardware.

Edit - BTW, after examining a Delphi cooler, I bought an early 2.7 GHz G5 last week.
I examined the cooler and replaced a few parts, but I feel pretty comfortable with the system. I'll let you know if it decides to self destruct.

[ Edited by Jim 19.04.2014 - 08:45 ]

> "...much more reliable." - love those Wikipedia quotes Andreas, because
> as we all know information that can be edited by anyone has to be accurate.

That's why Wikipedia articles must contain references to non-Wikipedia sources. I even linked to the source for the Wikipedia quote about the difference in LCS reliability. Have you read it?
And in contrast to inaccurate information given on conventional websites, everybody is free to correct inaccurate information on Wikipedia.

> if you want to encourage Panasonic LCS owners to think they are safe

If you think that's my intention you must have misread what I wrote. You claimed that there was no "significantly higher failure rate" in Delphi LCS compared to Panasonic ones, and I merely pointed out that there are resources on the WWW (not just Wikipedia, obviously) which claim otherwise. Note that I don't even take any side here as to who is right.

I apologize for that inaccuracy, the statement about no "significantly higher failure rates" is misleading.
With proper maintenance and regular inspection, either system seems to function surprisingly well (especially when compared to coolers marketed to computer hobbyists).
But obviously the Panasonic cooler is the more reliable cooling unit.

My post should have been clearer in stating my primary observation, that there is nothing inherently bad with the Delphi units and that I would not hesitate to continue to use one WITH the qualifier that it requires diligence on the part of the owner (a factor commonly accepted with 3rd party coolers).

In other words, I have no intention of hunting down replacement Panasonic coolers as the Delphi units appear serviceable.