Time Machine arcana

["T.W. Hartnett" <hartnett.t@apple.com>]

A couple of Time Machine tidbits:

¥ If you ever open the thing up, DO NOT unscrew any of the screws on the 
bottom of the unit.  The two on one side are the transformer mounts, and 
the other two support the PCB.  Loosen these, and little spacing nuts and 
stuff start rattling around the inside.  There are LOTS of screws on the 
outside, but you only need to undo the front-panel torque screws and the 
left, right and top panel screws.  You must take off the top--the board 
will not slide straight out the front, and be careful with the power 
supply wire on the back.

¥ I found out that Digitech has online tech support, and I received a 
response within twenty minutes, although they advertise a 48 hour 
turnaround.  According to them, if the Time Machine goes down, they have a 
$55 flat fee for out of warranty repairs (I don't know which products this 
applies to).

¥ I asked about the jack nuts on the back, and this is what they said:

"I know that there were a few years of production on those units when
we did not put nuts on those jacks. The jacks were hard soldered to the
PCB, and the PCB fit flush against the back pannel inside the unit. This
made the engineers feel that it would be strong enough to withstand the
strain from cables being connected."

For my piece of mind, I'm going to thread nuts on the jacks, just to be 
sure.

Kudos to Digitech!

Travis Hartnett