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iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 (Late 2009, Core 2 Duo 3.06 or 3.33 GHz) ID iMac10,1, EMC 2374 (Late 2009, Core i5 2.66 GHz or Core i7 2.8 GHz) ID iMac11,1

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Pop followed by freeze and lights dimming

So I've been researching all over the Internet for the past few hours and can't seem to find someone that is experiencing the same exact issue as I'm having with my Late '09 iMac. People have reported buzzing, clicking, or poping sounds with freezing but not their actual lights in their room dimming.

When using my iMac it will intermittently make a loud pop, sounding like a capacitor discharging. The Mac will freeze and become completely unresponsive. Sometimes the LCD will stay on and cycle through different brightness levels. Sometimes the LCD just goes black. The lights have flickered in the room a couple of times when this has happened.

iMac temps normally are 120-130 F on the HDD, CPU, and GPU but the case is normally pretty warm to the touch. Has sufficient space to breath, and usually about 72-75 F in the house. It mine as well be brand new...it has sat in the box most of its life.

I've tried resetting the SMC and PRAM. When I get off work will probably try it again, and still need to run the extended hardware diagnostic. Also tried changing wall outlets and plugging straight into the wall instead of using a surge protector. This issue just began last night. It has been working the past month in the same setup it's been in without any issues.

My question is has anyone experienced this type of behavior before? Power supply crapping out?

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Voltage drops are as hard on a computer as voltage spikes... put that thing on a UPS to protect it and you.

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Well I hate being wrong...but it did end up messing up again. So had the electrician come out and he found that several of the ground wires screws were very loose (about 6 full turns). Guess it may have been static electricity build up from a bad ground? Waiting to see what happens...

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I don't have the computer on-hand right at the moment, but thank you for the quick replies.

Pretty sure this is what I need to get on order: iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309, 2374, 2390 or 2429 Power Supply

Good to know about the voltage drops.

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Replaced the power supply and everything is working fine so far. Haven't had any weird issues pop up again. The old power supply looked kind of rough.

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Xerces, sounds like a power board issue since that would affect your lights etc. For now I would not try anything else but to disassemble your iMac and take a look at the power supply. What are the last three digits of your computers serial number? that would allow us to properly identify your computer.

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Xerces will be eternally grateful.
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