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Model A1312 / Mid 2011 / 2.7 & 3.1 GHz Core i5 or 3.4 GHz Core i7 Processor, ID iMac12,2

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Chip loose inside. Bad Video card?

I took my iMac to the Apple Store. They ran diagnostics to test my system and the video card failed.

It was too expensive to fix there, so I took it apart to take the video card out, and there was a loose chip at the bottom of the iMac! Not attached to anything.

Does anyone know if this would be from the video card or possibly the logic board?

Chip says 182D

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Did they mention the recall program on it?

Does your serial number end in one of these?

DHJQ, DHJW, DL8Q, DNGH, DNJ9, or DMW8

DPM1, DPM2, DPNV, DNY0, DRVP, DY6F, F610

https://9to5mac.com/2013/08/16/apple-ope...

I see Apple has now pulled their link to that program to hide that it existed.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203787

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@mayer - Apple appears to be purging docs these days Vs just marking them as expired or stating the program has ended as the system is no longer serviced by Apple.

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After checking this, my serial number is one of the ones on recall, but since the mac is 3 years old, they will not replace it for free. They should have mailed out a notice to everyone who purchased this years imac informing them about this problem. There is a company out in Cali that will rebuild them for 100.00.

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Did you buy this system used in this state? Or was the system working and stop?

Why I ask is if the SMD part (likely a capacitor or inductor) was either pulled off or the system encountered a failure so it was blown off somehow.

The best thing you can do here is to remove the logic board and do a careful inspection (both sides). If you look on the back of the component you should see the solder tabs, look on the logic board for this fingerprint to locate when it came off. See if the area has any burn marks on the logic board where the SMD was mounted. (take a good picture of the area and post it here for us to see as well).

Your image of the SMD device leads me to believe it was more likely snagged by someone in the process of servicing the system as I don't see any burnt areas or other signs of damage to it.

If there is signs of damage (burnt board or chips) you might have a more expensive repair as you'll likely need a new logic board.

If you don't see any clues on the main logic board or what you can see on the graphics card. The next step is to remove the graphics card. Hopefully this is where it came from where you can't see without first removing.

Here is the IFIXIT guide to follow: Graphics Card replacement This guide is for older 2010 model but is very close to the same process and we don't have a guide for the 2011 model.

Here is the possible graphics cards your system can support:

  • AMD Radeon HD 6770, 512 MB VRAM - Apple P/N 661-5967
  • AMD Radeon HD 6970, 1 GB VRAM - Apple P/N 661-5968
  • AMD Radeon HD 6970, 2 GB VRAM - Apple P/N 661-5969

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Thanks. I will look into this more. It does not look burnt on any side of that cap. I will look closely at the board. When apple tested the computer, the only thing that failed was the video card. Maybe worth 200 to get it fixed.

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Tony - It's likely to be more if you need a new graphics card.

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Tony will be eternally grateful.
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