4th iBook charger?! I've had it!

My 3rd iBook charger just died yesterday, rendering my iBook totally useless. I don't understand why this keeps happening, I take good care of all my chargers, I'm no rougher than the average user, but it seems that every 3-5 months it breaks.

1st charger: Started going off randomly and not charging, had to keep switching power outlets to get it to work. Then it stopped working. I think the power "brick" itself just died.

2nd Charger: This one lasted the longest I think, and also the most annoying breakage. It was one of those aftermarket 3rd party chargers, and the small metal prong at the end broke off.

3rd charger: Same as the first, it's an official Apple charger for the iBook, I found it in the back of a closet in computer class and the teacher let me have it because they had upgraded to Macbooks the year before and didn't need it anymore. I got lucky here, at least I didn't have to buy a new one.

Anyway, this charger just broke, at first it just wouldn't charge, then I found a short at the connector to the wire, and the actual charging tip, Taped it and it worked fine for a few days, then died completely.

Was there some kind of severe defect with these chargers? Is that why Apple switched to the magsafe adapters?

So, I guess I'll have to buy a new one, along with a new battery, then I'll probably be selling my iBook. The need to upgrade to a MacBook is long overdue, and I don't want to have to go through this again. ;P

I have not heard of any massive recall anyway with the later iBook chargers anyway. I have my 2005 last gen 12" and the same power adapter it came with. I am VERY CAREFUL but it's as good as new.

Not sure what to say.

The Mag Safe was not due to the iBooks being bad. The Mag Safe was to prevent pulling the machine on the floor when one tripped over the power cable or at least breaking the cable!

Not sure what to say either, maybe my luck is just awful.

I have to say that when I had iBooks I always found the chargers to be awful, and I had problems with them too. I had one snap off and others just break for no reason.
I ended up using cheaply made substitutes from eBay, which lasted ok, and cost far less than Apple's. Just make sure you get the correct voltage rating if you go that way.

MacDude121 said:

My 3rd iBook charger just died yesterday, rendering my iBook totally useless. I don't understand why this keeps happening, I take good care of all my chargers, I'm no rougher than the average user, but it seems that every 3-5 months it breaks.

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How do you know that you're "no rougher than the average user" on the iBook chargers?

I ask this in a very logical/scientific way...since how does a person know that they don't do something (anything) more or less than the "average user". Has a study of a large number of users been conducted?

I say this because it is very unusual that one person can go thru so many chargers. If three chargers have been gone thru (each 3-5 months)...this means in a 9-15 month period 3 chargers have broken (have you owned this iBook that long?).

I think that you have to consider a number of parameters:

1. It sounds like all of these chargers were used...and maybe abused before you got them.
2. If some of these chargers are 3rd party products...lower build quality & lower quality parts may have been used.
3. The 3rd charger (what sounds to be an official Apple charger)...was found in the back of a closet (who knows why it was tossed there in the first place...maybe bad in some way).

You very well may not be any rougher on the chargers than the average person...but I think that the best way to make a judgement on whether the chargers are bad or not (quality)...is to actually purchase a brand new Apple charger for your iBook (if still available)...and see how it lasts. This would be the most fair and accurate way to do it.

Of course financially this may not make sense if you've decided to get a MacBook.

I probably have at least 3-4 of these chargers (one for each of the older Powerbooks & iBooks I have)...and although they were used when I got them...they are all still working great.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

How do you know that you're "no rougher than the average user" on the iBook chargers?

I ask this in a very logical/scientific way...since how does a person know that they don't do something (anything) more or less than the "average user". Has a study of a large number of users been conducted?

I say this because it is very unusual that one person can go thru so many chargers. If three chargers have been gone thru (each 3-5 months)...this means in a 9-15 month period 3 chargers have broken (have you owned this iBook that long?).

Click to expand...

Yes, I've owned this iBook since June of 2010, so it's been a good... 17 months? I say that I'm no rougher that the average user because I'd "assume" the average user doesn't drop, snap, kick, break, or destroy their ibooks and/or chargers while using them or on a regular basis, and yet doesn't have to replace them every 3-5 moths. But I do agree, there's got to be SOME sort of a variable here that I'm missing.

pigoo3 said:

I think that you have to consider a number of parameters:

1. It sounds like all of these chargers were used...and maybe abused before you got them.
2. If some of these chargers are 3rd party products...lower build quality & lower quality parts may have been used.
3. The 3rd charger (what sounds to be an official Apple charger)...was found in the back of a closet (who knows why it was tossed there in the first place...maybe bad in some way).

You very well may not be any rougher on the chargers than the average person...but I think that the best way to make a judgement on whether the chargers are bad or not (quality)...is to actually purchase a brand new Apple charger for your iBook (if still available)...and see how it lasts. This would be the most fair and accurate way to do it.

Of course financially this may not make sense if you've decided to get a MacBook.

I probably have at least 3-4 of these chargers (one for each of the older Powerbooks & iBooks I have)...and although they were used when I got them...they are all still working great.

- Nick

Click to expand...

All very good points Nick, I suppose I can't put all of the blame on the chargers, it's just the fact that I've gone through so many that's the annoying part.

MacDude121 said:

I say that I'm no rougher that the average user because I'd "assume" the average user doesn't drop, snap, kick, break, or destroy their ibooks and/or chargers while using them or on a regular basis, and yet doesn't have to replace them every 3-5 moths. But I do agree, there's got to be SOME sort of a variable here that I'm missing.

Click to expand...

I think that since all of these chargers are used...that you could be starting with 2 strikes against you. Who the heck knows what sort of "life" these chargers had before you...especially if they came from an educational or business environment...where students or employees are given school or company owned computers (and chargers)...and then they sort of abuse them since they aren't personally owned. If something breaks...they just get another one.

Kind of similar to rental cars. People drive rental cars VERY abusively (hard accelerations, hard braking)...they just don't treat them like they would if they owned them...or had to pay for the repairs

So anything that you may do (accidentally or otherwise) with these chargers may have a greater impact than would otherwise happen if these chargers were brand new.

I agree...it does seem like a statistical long-shot having three chargers go bad in the period of time you mentioned. And combining this with my personal experience & what I've seen/heard on Mac-Forums...I don't really hear of that many of these chargers going bad, all on their own without some sort of harsh treatment.

This harsh treatment could come from:

- the previous "life or lives" these chargers have had
- possible rough treatment from you.

I don't mean to say that you've been "rough" with them...but some small things (that don't seem rough) may add up over time. I of course do not know what habits you have...so I can't even begin to guess what they would be.

I'm just saying that the failure rate of these chargers (that you've experienced) is certainly higher than what the average person experiences...so it can't just be the chargers themselves (unless we attribute the short life of these chargers while you've had them...to abuse they saw before you got them).

One other "common denominator"...and this could be a longshot...could be the computer itself. Maybe in some way it is contributing to things...but I'm not sure how.

Just throwing some theories your way.

- Nick

There is one thing that does not look like it has been addressed.

It may not be the charger... It may be the iBook itself. The PC's internal power may have a problem causing issues with the chargers.

Of course, "3rd party" and "found in the closet" are also suspect.


EDIT: Nick - you posted when I posted - saw you bring up the computer itself.

Deckyon said:

It may not be the charger... It may be the iBook itself. The PC's internal power may have a problem causing issues with the chargers.

EDIT: Nick - you posted when I posted - saw you bring up the computer itself.

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Ha ha...yes...I was thinking the same thing when I read your post. We were both thinking on the same path!

- Nick

Deckyon said:

There is one thing that does not look like it has been addressed.

It may not be the charger... It may be the iBook itself. The PC's internal power may have a problem causing issues with the chargers.

Of course, "3rd party" and "found in the closet" are also suspect.


EDIT: Nick - you posted when I posted - saw you bring up the computer itself.

Click to expand...

You know, that reminds me. I totally forgot until you mentioned, when I first bought this iBook, the guy that I bought it off mentioned (Somebody dropped it with the charger in and "something" snapped off, so I had to re solder it to the logic board)

Do you guys think this could be the reason why all of these chargers are dying, maybe he didn't re solder it correctly? (He sold them for a living, but I could tell he was far from a professional)

MacDude121 said:

You know, that reminds me. I totally forgot until you mentioned, when I first bought this iBook, the guy that I bought it off mentioned (Somebody dropped it with the charger in and "something" snapped off, so I had to re solder it to the logic board)

Do you guys think this could be the reason why all of these chargers are dying, maybe he didn't re solder it correctly? (He sold them for a living, but I could tell he was far from a professional)

Click to expand...

That is certainly something to consider...but I'm not exactly sure what would be going on if something was causing the chargers to go bad...other than some sort of repetitive power spikes & drops due to a bad soldering...or intermittent loss of power between the iBook & the charger. You wouldn't necessarily notice this intermittent power issue...since the iBook has a battery...you would not notice any sort of interruption in your computing experience.

I'm sure you have the power adapter that plugs in to the iBook...that has the "color ring" that changes color depending on it's status:

- yellow for charging
- green for fully charged (or plugged in)
- no color if the adapter is not plugged in

When you're using the computer (plugged in) maybe glance over at the plug...and take note of what color it is. Once it stays green...and the battery is fully charged...it should stay green...and not jump to orange/yellow...or worse...no color at all.

I also notice that the charger is warmer when it is charging the battery...and maybe when the fans are running full blast...as compared to the battery being fully charged & the fans not on full blast. This temperature difference is hard to describe...and basically something you need to determine yourself...since everyones situation is a little bit different.

The iBook is definitely the "common denominator" in this equation...so the trouble could very well be with the computer & not the chargers.

- Nick