iMac G3 Ram Upgrade Burning Smell

[Appleuser201]

I finally got around to trying to upgrade the ram in my 400mhz iMac G3 with only 256mb of Ram (running tiger + 9.2)
I was given 2 old sticks of PC100 ram, in their package still.
I have the exact specs of the Compaq ram here
https://www.datamemorysystems.com/parts/compaq/323012-001/

I didn’t actually research how much ram it was until after I ran into problems, obviously 64mb won’t do anything to help me.
I am wondering if anyone here has had the same problems as me after correctly installing ram,

- imac would show a green light, no bong, no display.
- electronic burning smell coming from the back of the machine
- heard a high pitched sound coming from near the crt suction cup

I used the correct ram, what could possibly have been the cause of these symptoms? I tried reset.. wouldn’t work. I removed the new ram leaving in just the old stick and the machine booted just as normal with the smell gone.

 

[z970]

I don't necessarily have the answer, but a long time ago, the same thing happened to me with a 128mb or 256mb, probably PC133 RAM stick with either an iMac G3 400, or an eMac 700 (although I lean towards the iMac).

From what I remember, there was also a burning smell, and presumably, one of the chips got so hot, it shriveled and shrunk the sticker on top of it. I never was able to successfully use that stick again...

Structural integrity failure? Surely, not every stick can come off the production line flawlessly...

 

[kittenchan]

The same thing happened with my B&W Power Mac, I'm afraid to put in some RAM and turn it on again.

 

[Appleuser201]

The same thing happened with my B&W Power Mac, I'm afraid to put in some RAM and turn it on again.

I talked to someone who said it was the ram itself that was burning because it was not Mac compatible even though it was pc100

 

[Soba]

I talked to someone who said it was the ram itself that was burning because it was not Mac compatible even though it was pc100

Anything is possible, but for the record, I have never seen RAM get toasted simply by being put into an incompatible machine; I've done that probably hundreds of times over the years and nothing has ever been damaged. There's a first time for everything, I guess.

Question: You said the RAM was still in its package, but was the package sealed? Did you compare the specs on the RAM's labels with the expected specs from the package? It's possible that someone simply put a random pair of old DIMMs into that package for storage, after replacing their own RAM, and thus the RAM would not work in your iMac.

 

[Appleuser201]

Anything is possible, but for the record, I have never seen RAM get toasted simply by being put into an incompatible machine; I've done that probably hundreds of times over the years and nothing has ever been damaged. There's a first time for everything, I guess.

Question: You said the RAM was still in its package, but was the package sealed? Did you compare the specs on the RAM's labels with the expected specs from the package? It's possible that someone simply put a random pair of old DIMMs into that package for storage, after replacing their own RAM, and thus the RAM would not work in your iMac.

The package itself had no label the stick itself had the model on it. The stick smelled really bad making me think it was the stick itself causing the smell and hopefully no component in the iMac.

 

[kittenchan]

The package itself had no label the stick itself had the model on it. The stick smelled really bad making me think it was the stick itself causing the smell and hopefully no component in the iMac.

I'm hoping it didn't damage the logic board as well. It was my favorite Mac too.

 

[Soba]

The package itself had no label the stick itself had the model on it. The stick smelled really bad making me think it was the stick itself causing the smell and hopefully no component in the iMac.

Hopefully the machine is fine, but it sounds like it booted normally after removing the RAM, so perhaps you're good!

I'll point out that Data Memory Systems has new, guaranteed RAM for that system and you can max it out at 1GB for all of $24 USD. Something to think about if you'd still like to upgrade it.