I already posted over at apple's discussion forums, but i'm desperate!
please forgive me if I'm misusing these forums- I'm new! I'll start by saying that I am a (notorious among friends) non-complainer. I am also a huge apple lover. I have the phone, the pad and the computer. My father's industry is very reliant on apple (he's a record producer), and we're definitely loyalists! I always get great customer service. My problem is this: I've had my white 2008 MacBook since November of that year. a few months ago, the head of my charger (the part that meets at the computer) melted. I became concerned when the fan got really loud. My computer got really hot and I went to turn it off. My hand grazed the charger and was burned. I still have a fairly noticeable scar. after the computer was off, I waited for it to cool and then unplugged it from the wall. Later, the cord would no longer charge my computer and was completely warped looking. I went to the apple store, and the guy was impressed with the warping, made note, and replaced the cord, no questions asked. I was pleased. He said they'd recently re-designed the charger heads with metal instead of plastic.
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Everything was fine until a week ago, when I woke up and found my charger no longer would power my computer, or my family's macs, either. the end was extremely hot. I took my computer in again when I finally got some time to escape work. My hard drive has also been acting up.. According to the initial diagnostics they ran, my hard drive is fine. My friend who is also an apple genius said that it seems like what's connecting the hard drive isn't working. (he said this all technically. I don't remember his exact words.) he wasn't there when took the computer in. anyway. The problem I had been having was that when I would start up my computer, I'd get a really loud clicking and the folder with a question mark on the screen. This happened about once a week and also occasionally happened while I was using the computer. The screen would go black an then the noise would start.
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I told the guy about the charger and the hard drive. He said since the hard drive was ok, it had to be software related. (how would that make the clicking noise happen?) since I also had concerns about the charger, he is keeping it over night to do hardware diagnostics.
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my concern is that If everything seems ok with diagnostics, and I just get another charger, what if it does this again? I know it sounds stupid, but I'm almost afraid of it now! I don't want it to burn me again, and I'm a little afraid of it starting a fire! Of course, after they check it out, they could be like, "hey. We found something wrong that's causing the charger to melt. We're gonna fix it." but.. what if nothing comes up? my warranty runs out in November. Am I out of line for praying I get a full unit replacement?
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other details, if it helps:
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I'm very careful about making sure the charger is plugged in correctly, not twisted, in a ventilated area, and never "yanked" out.
my computer is always on a flat hard surface. In the even I use it while I'm sitting on my bed, I always use one of those lap table top things.
The computer has never been dropped, and is always in a protective sleeve when I put it in my bag.
It's not a faulty power supply. Other people frequent the outlet, and have had no problems.
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the reason it took me so long to get to the apple store after the second charger died is because I work insane hours and never have a day off. in the mean time, I was mostly using just my iPad for everything, and on the rare occasion I'd have to use my computer, I use a family member's charger, while constantly checking the temperature. (they were scared of my computer killing their chargers, too.) the computer did the clicking thing again when I tried to use my computer this morning.
*
help!
please forgive me if I'm misusing these forums- I'm new! I'll start by saying that I am a (notorious among friends) non-complainer. I am also a huge apple lover. I have the phone, the pad and the computer. My father's industry is very reliant on apple (he's a record producer), and we're definitely loyalists! I always get great customer service. My problem is this: I've had my white 2008 MacBook since November of that year. a few months ago, the head of my charger (the part that meets at the computer) melted. I became concerned when the fan got really loud. My computer got really hot and I went to turn it off. My hand grazed the charger and was burned. I still have a fairly noticeable scar. after the computer was off, I waited for it to cool and then unplugged it from the wall. Later, the cord would no longer charge my computer and was completely warped looking. I went to the apple store, and the guy was impressed with the warping, made note, and replaced the cord, no questions asked. I was pleased. He said they'd recently re-designed the charger heads with metal instead of plastic.
*
Everything was fine until a week ago, when I woke up and found my charger no longer would power my computer, or my family's macs, either. the end was extremely hot. I took my computer in again when I finally got some time to escape work. My hard drive has also been acting up.. According to the initial diagnostics they ran, my hard drive is fine. My friend who is also an apple genius said that it seems like what's connecting the hard drive isn't working. (he said this all technically. I don't remember his exact words.) he wasn't there when took the computer in. anyway. The problem I had been having was that when I would start up my computer, I'd get a really loud clicking and the folder with a question mark on the screen. This happened about once a week and also occasionally happened while I was using the computer. The screen would go black an then the noise would start.
*
I told the guy about the charger and the hard drive. He said since the hard drive was ok, it had to be software related. (how would that make the clicking noise happen?) since I also had concerns about the charger, he is keeping it over night to do hardware diagnostics.
*
*
my concern is that If everything seems ok with diagnostics, and I just get another charger, what if it does this again? I know it sounds stupid, but I'm almost afraid of it now! I don't want it to burn me again, and I'm a little afraid of it starting a fire! Of course, after they check it out, they could be like, "hey. We found something wrong that's causing the charger to melt. We're gonna fix it." but.. what if nothing comes up? my warranty runs out in November. Am I out of line for praying I get a full unit replacement?
*
other details, if it helps:
*
I'm very careful about making sure the charger is plugged in correctly, not twisted, in a ventilated area, and never "yanked" out.
my computer is always on a flat hard surface. In the even I use it while I'm sitting on my bed, I always use one of those lap table top things.
The computer has never been dropped, and is always in a protective sleeve when I put it in my bag.
It's not a faulty power supply. Other people frequent the outlet, and have had no problems.
*
the reason it took me so long to get to the apple store after the second charger died is because I work insane hours and never have a day off. in the mean time, I was mostly using just my iPad for everything, and on the rare occasion I'd have to use my computer, I use a family member's charger, while constantly checking the temperature. (they were scared of my computer killing their chargers, too.) the computer did the clicking thing again when I tried to use my computer this morning.
*
help!
