Charging problem

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Hi, I've always had Mac computers, since the beginning of time, but I'm on my first laptop now and don't have experience with laptop charging problems. Another problem is that I'm living in Ecuador now, am low on money, and parts here cost about five times as much as they do in the states. Therefore I don't want to buy any parts that I don't need.

You all are probably really familiar with this ... anyway. My Macbook pro is about five years old now and has the original battery. I've almost always used it plugged in.

I guess the first thing I need to know is this, is this Mac laptop supposed to be able to run with a dead or no battery like some PCs do or does it have to have a live battery anyway even if it's running on the charger???

The problem is either with the charger connection to the computer or the battery, or both.

Sometimes it's very difficult to get the charger connector to light up and I have to wiggle it, unplug and replug it, and press it in to the socket to get it to light. Then sometimes, even when the light is amber, the computer won't be charging but discharging. I did find another charger cable and it seemed to work fine for awhile and now is failing like the other one so this seems to indicate a charger cable or computer connector fault, like corrosion possibly?

I'm sure it needs a battery after all these years but wonder if it's really the charger connection that is giving me the most trouble?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 

chscag

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You probably need to replace both the battery and the MagSafe Charger Adapter. You're living in a very humid climate where corrosion may have degraded the contact connector pins. And it's possible your battery has worn down even though you've used the machine on AC power.
 

pigoo3

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Just for the heck of it…try these two little things:

1. Do an SMC Reset:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

2. Clean the Mag-Safe plug on the Mag-Safe charger…and the Mag-Safe port on the computer…with a dry toothbrush (or something similar).

See if either or both of these procedures helps. If not…you made need to purchase some replacement items.

- Nick
 
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I think I'll need to hang out here more to learn more about my Mac. One thing I did earlier was to sand a microscopic amount off the end of the magsafe connector so it would plug in harder, which seemed to help a tiny bit. I wish I could get electrical contact cleaner here but if it's available I don't know where.

I'll try the toothbrush and the reset. My computer probably needs all kinds of resetting. On my first magsafe plug I sanded it and then tried cleaning the pins with a knife point, but that broke one of the pins. I also scraped the little sockets in the computer body with a knife point too.

Thank you for the answers.
 

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