04-30-2011, 11:21 PM

Hey guys, this is my first post on the mac forums and as the title says, I'm having some adapter troubles. I bought my first product from apple besides an iPod 10 months ago, and that of course is the 13" macbook pro. As of late, probably about 1 or 2 weeks, my adapter has abruptly stopped working on command. I can go to certain spots in my house and strategically charge the thing without using it, but I like to use it while I'm in my room. I'm currently in my house's guestroom and finally found a good spot that the adapter works in. Last night, I used the table in the kitchen.

I'm honestly afraid to move out of this spot, because I think that my charger will stop working again if the macbook moves at all. Sometimes it'll randomly go on by itself without me noticing, and I'll move it and it goes back to inactive, not functional and unrecognizable. If it's of any help to you all, I usually used my adapter with a surge protector in my room that has 5 other outlets on it, all being utilized for something else. Could it be that there is not enough power going to the adapter for it to function? The guestroom I'm in right now only has an outlet being used for a lamp and one on the other side of the room for a tv and a cable box, while my room has an xbox 360 in it with several cables, a tv with several cables and some battery chargers for rechargeable batteries (though these don't interfere with the surge protector I talked about before).

I was just wondering if you bright mac users had any ideas regarding my use of the charger, whether I should get a new one through my applecare warranty or what. Also, my computer is quite warm and the fan is quite loud.
Thanks for any future helpful responses.

04-30-2011, 11:32 PM

It honestly sounds like an issue with your house's wiring.
To rule this out, I would simply take your Mac to a friends house, etc and see if this problems occurs there.

04-30-2011, 11:38 PM

That seems like a good idea, but I find it odd that if I move the macbook even an inch that it just won't work. My house's wiring also couldn't have just changed over a period of time. I find that odd..lol. I'm keeping the wire of the charger stabilized underneath the screen of my macbook and it seems to be working in the spot I'm in.

05-01-2011, 12:12 AM

It sounds like a bad or intermittent MagSafe Adapter. Buy another at your local Apple store and if that doesn't work, return it. Don't buy a cheap knock-off adapter, as they usually will either not work right or only last but a couple of weeks.

05-01-2011, 12:44 AM

If it's only been 10 months since you bought your MacBook, visit an Apple store with your MacBook and charger. They should replace it free of charge for you.

05-04-2011, 11:57 AM

can you borrow your friend's adapter and check if problem happens again? maybe tip don't connect well.

05-04-2011, 02:04 PM

Yeah, that's what I was going to recommend... the pins inside the magsafe adapter are spring loaded, but sometimes a spring breaks and the pin doesn't extend fully. Make sure the pins in the plug are fully extended and press on them gently to make sure they spring back properly. Also, if you're using the stubby plug in the brick, try using the extension cord and see if it becomes more reliable... the plug in the stubby (or duckhead) adapter connects to two terminals and sometimes they don't touch fully, or can even break.