Mid 2012 MBP (Retina) stopped charging ( PLEASE HELP )

Mid 2012 MBP (Retina) stopped charging after weeks of Magsafe 2 acting weird (PLEASE HELP)

Very frustrated after days looking for a solution online, hope this forum can help me out...

So almost a month ago, the magsafe 2 light on my mid 2012 MBP (retina) starting acting weird, switching from amber to green light for no reason ... that was all the issue in the beginning. It wasn't really affecting anything... except some random restarts from time to time.

But, last week my computer starting to run out of battery fast and shutting off while it was still plugged in!

It mainly started happening every time I started rendering videos, which I know it uses a lot of resources and electricity.

I tried resetting SMC many times (Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time, waited 5 to 10 seconds and let go). I did see the light change from amber to green after releasing the keys. Of course after a few minutes started to act up again and switching from green to amber.

So, little by little this started to happen more and more often until my computer would no longer charge while it was in use. It would ONLY charge if the computer was shut off. Let me remind you that it was still switching from green to amber light for no reason. However, I noticed that it was staying "mostly" amber while charging .. and then stayed "mostly" green while the battery reached 100% charge. At this point it was taking 8 to 9 hours to fully charge the battery while the computer was shut downed.

Well, a few days ago, it stopped charging completely! Not even when the computer is off. Also, no light was coming out at all, of any color. I tried resetting the SMC again, with no response at all!

Now all I get when I plugged the magsafe cord in, is static noises inside the computer (very low volume noises that kind of sounds like electricity maybe? very hard to hear unless you get your ear right next to the keyboard). I still have 70% battery left on my MBP since the last time I was able to charge it a few days ago (I'm being very careful and use it only when I need to). The computer seems to be working fine without the cord, and "seems" to be holding charge "normally". The computer itself seems to be working normally.

I just order a new cord, but I really have no idea what the problem could be. Specially since I'm getting weird noises when I plugged the cord into my laptop.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. I work at home (freelancer) so I'm kind of stuck now and it is hurting my business. Very stressful situation.

This is my latest power report I got from my laptop a few minutes ago... (cord unplugged since I don't know if it is actually hurting my computer by plugging it in)...

Battery Information:

Model Information:
Serial Number: D86235537FUDNMGA9
Manufacturer: SMP
Device Name: bq20z451
Pack Lot Code: 0
PCB Lot Code: 0
Firmware Version: 511
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 1150
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 4963
Fully Charged: No
Charging: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 7245
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 346
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1647
Voltage (mV): 11339

System Power Settings:

AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake on LAN: Yes
AutoPowerOff Delay: 14400
AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1
DarkWakeBackgroundTasks: 1
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
GPUSwitch: 2
Hibernate Mode: 3
PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep: 0
Standby Delay: 4200
Standby Enabled: 1
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 15
Wake on AC Change: No
Wake on Clamshell Open: Yes
AutoPowerOff Delay: 14400
AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1
Current Power Source: Yes
DarkWakeBackgroundTasks: 0
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
GPUSwitch: 2
Hibernate Mode: 3
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Standby Delay: 4200
Standby Enabled: 1

Hardware Configuration:

UPS Installed: No

AC Charger Information:

Connected: No
Charging: No



THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP!

Welcome to the forum.

I would suspect, as you have summarized, that it is either the charger assemble (cable and block) or something internal to the unit. You say you have a new cable on order, so when that comes it, you can determine if that's the cause.

But if this is your work machine, you seriously need to be ready to replace it soon. It's now going on 7 years old and you are going to start seeing more issues with it. And sooner or later it will no longer be supported by Apple, and as a business machine, you probably don't want to go there.

One other thing you can look at is the MagSafe connectors. The little pins in the connector might be a bit dirty. You can use a can of air to clean out any dust in both the cable plus and the socket in the MBP, and a cotton swab might be safe to use to gently, very gently, remove more debris.

Finally, it could also be the batteries headed south. If that battery is the original, it's getting pretty old, even if you have been gentle on it. You can check on ifixit.com on the process to replace the battery, and with macsales.com (OWC) for a replacement battery if it turns out to be the battery. You can use something like coconutbattery to assess the battery condition.