What's wrong with my MacBook charger?

My charger for my MB has stopped working, it still kind of works if I plug it in and wiggle it for ages and subsequently hurt my fingers it works for a little while but you can't move it. If I get another charger it will be my 3rd in a year! Are they purposely making them really bad quality so you'll have to pay 89 flipping euro?!

It might be worth calling Apple support and asking them if they will replace it.

_Pixie_ said:

My charger for my MB has stopped working, it still kind of works if I plug it in and wiggle it for ages and subsequently hurt my fingers it works for a little while but you can't move it. If I get another charger it will be my 3rd in a year! Are they purposely making them really bad quality so you'll have to pay 89 flipping euro?!

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I hate to say this...but if you need to purchase a 3rd charger in a year...it's not the charger...it's more likely the user!

The statistical probability that you're getting bad charger's back to back is pretty high!

The fact that you need to "wiggle" it to work, and then can't move it...tells the whole story. This means you're tripping over your cord, or yanking at it in some abusive way...where you're tearing at the cord connections near the charger & causing a electrical short of some sort!

After you pay 89 euros 3 or 4 times...you may get the message, and start taking a little more care.

Take it easy on the chargers!!!;D

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I hate to say this...but if you need to purchase a 3rd charger in a year...it's not the charger...it's more likely the user!

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I'd agree. In particular, I see a lot of people who tug on the cord, rather than grasp the connector, tilt it down and pull by the housing. The cord just won't take a whole lot of abuse. You also have to be careful about kinking the cable when you wind it on the adapter.

Apple Portables: Reducing cable strain on your MagSafe power adapter

cwa107 said:

You also have to be careful about kinking the cable when you wind it on the adapter.

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Yes...very important point...or kinking it when not winding it on the adapter! I wasn't even thinking of that type of abuse in my earlier post.

The interesting thing is the "OP" has a MacBook with the "mag-safe" power adapter...which is supposed to reduce the issues with tripping over the power cord...and I guess reducing possible damage to the computer and/or the power adapter.

Of course...nothing is designed 100% perfect...and if there is a way...consumers will find it! ;D

- Nick

I had problems with my old charger, a good temporary work around is to loose the long cable that goes from the wall to the power supply and just use the direct plug.

-- Bry

if you need to purchase a 3rd charger in a year...it's not the charger...it's more likely the user!.....

i agree completely that the quality of the mag safe power adapters has gone down severely and the price has gone up, but that just means that you have to be more careful. try not to yank with cord, and tripping over it as that may mess up wiring inside. call apple care support and see if you are plugging it in wrong or may be taking it out wrong

macfreak95 said:

if you need to purchase a 3rd charger in a year...it's not the charger...it's more likely the user!.....

i agree completely that the quality of the mag safe power adapters has gone down severely and the price has gone up, but that just means that you have to be more careful. try not to yank with cord, and tripping over it as that may mess up wiring inside. call apple care support and see if you are plugging it in wrong or may be taking it out wrong

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I'd have to disagree there. Apple has very clearly improved the quality of the cord jacket over time. I've owned 3 different MagSafe adapters - one for a first generation MacBook Pro, one for a 4th generation, and one that was purchased as an add-on (spare to use at work). The differences in the quality of the jacket materials from the first generation version to the current version are substantial. The material is more rigid and isn't as easily kinked.

If you find yourself going through that many adaptors, consider buying two, and keeping one at home and the other at work (or wherever else it is you need to you plug in.) That way, you're not always packing up and unpacking the adaptor, which will keep it from wearing out as quickly. If you're not actually traveling to different places (eg. hotels) all the time, that might just save you some money.