DevKitsune 🦊 🏳️🌈
Cursed SiliconFolks at #VCFPNW #vcfpnw2026 fucking love my awful G5 Quad Mac
So I stuck a fitting sticker above its awful liquid cooling system
Jeff@CursedSilicon mmmmm 20 year old factory water cooling with dodgy seals from the get-go. Don't those use GM's dexcool originally?
@overeducatedredneck Oh, even better
Since GM made the cooler. It's Dexcool. And they used nylon for the tubing. Which immediately got eaten through
Apple's response (after being threatened) was to extend the warranty and offer an RMA service
...Wherein they replaced the tubes with TEFLON!
So it's both carcinogenic AND corrosive!
@CursedSilicon I did not realize they contracted GM for cooling loop. No wonder it was, uh, less than perfectly reliable.
There's also a joke in there about dexcool being the clear choice for leaky, unreliable shitboxes.
@overeducatedredneck It's *so bad*
One day I'll air cooler mod them. But it's such a pain in the ass I keep putting it off
@CursedSilicon worth it, IMO. I may be bagging on them a bit, but they were killer machines back in the day and I kinda want one.
@overeducatedredneck One day! Just gotta work up the energy to tackle it
Ruby Tails
Yeah, that's an appropriate sticker. I recall seeing your last post with this machine and thinking "wow, damn, a water cooled G5 Power Mac that actually still works?" Every one I've ever got was a badly corroded unsalvageable brick where the glycol turned into a thick corrosive oil. 
@foxyloon I have FIIIIVE G5 Quads (because I make terrible decisions)
And YUP. The Dexcool has turned into effectively sand. You can actually FEEL it vibrate the entire fucking table as it just...pumps *silt* through
@CursedSilicon And the machine somehow still boots? 
Did you know that GM vehicles that used Dexcool required regular coolant flushes and were only good for five years max? G5 Quads aren't the only thing I've had to completely rebuild a cooling system for.
@foxyloon Apple RMA'd them when the nylon would get eaten through (because dexcool is corrosive)
So Apple's RMA solution was to replace the tubing...with Teflon!
@CursedSilicon Ah, so the recall created the self-producing abrasive medium in the coolant loops that targeted the aluminum and copper instead. Brilliant!
@foxyloon Thaaaat's Apple!
There's a reason I don't own a working G5 Quad
@CursedSilicon If they weren't such a bear to ship, I'd be tempted to grab one from ya, hehe~ Last one I bought was crushed in shipping...
Also, oooo, nice Xserve~
@foxyloon ONE DAY I'll get them all repaired and working
(And then beg VCF PNW for my own 20 amp circuit so I can run them all at once)
@CursedSilicon Now that would be a sight to behold, hehe~ Here's to hoping!
Riley Labrecque🎏@CursedSilicon
Me at vcfpnw: I want to hear more about CGHMN!
Everyone else: but wait, this antifreeze cooled g5 though
Me at vcfpnw: I want to hear more about CGHMN!
Everyone else: but wait, this antifreeze cooled g5 though
@rlabrecque GOD people were in love with the G5 lmao
Here's the LFNW talk version though!
