My 1st generation Apple Time Capsule failed last night, specifically the power supply unit overheated for the final time. Frustrating, as the device does a lot of work, between handling the dsl connection, routing wired and wireless traffic, and backups. After reading over my options here, here, and here, I ended up hacking in an external power supply after finding a nice dual voltage unit at Goodwill, of all places.
Not the prettiest work but work it does…
The joints were trimmed and taped before trying to seal the case, which proved to be a challenge. The SATA connector collides with the power connection to the board, so it’s a tight fit. So tight, it just shut down. Perhaps I’ll run it without the cover for now…
I have found a spare unit, without a drive, that I will swap in for this one after I replace the PSU with a future-proofed one from Chris Fackrell.
Looks like this one lasted two years longer than it should have/was expected to. I attribute that to a drive swap I did years ago, replacing the “server quality” 500 gb drive with a Green drive — slower and quieter — double the size. The stock drive was noisy and ran too hot, shutting the unit down more than once. Swapping the drive was a big win. I just wish I had realized how ineffective the fan was, based on the design.