Comments on: MacBook Magsafe Charging, But No Light?

By: Greta

Greta — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 09:27:23 +0000

Hi all,
I’ve dismantled a newer “L” style magsafe adapter today.
The root cause of my MagSafe problems are this : the cable has no protection against shorting by twisting. That means that when the cable (a simple coaxial one, by the way) is slowly twisted overtime, relative to the L plug, it will short inside the L plug and/or fray, making it useless.
So if you want your power adapter to last, take a felt tip marker and put a mark on the cord to L plug joint, and make sure it stays aligned. Half a turn of twisting is all that’s needed to kill your charger!
Next, never use the ears to roll up your cable. A coaxial cable is not meant to roll and will break in no time.
Guess what. There is even circuitry inside the charger to cut the power to the cord when the (preplanned) short circuits happen. Obsolescence by design…

By: TKS

TKS — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:04:36 +0000

Clean & straighten the pins? You found that all by yourself? F-ing brilliant…and described in the Apple support pages. So I guess this is just a spam link to your “ask skt” forum…?

By: SKT

SKT — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:09:05 +0000

Well i have had the same problem and solved it on my own looking at a real good find from one techie at forums.askskt.com under the DIY tutorials sections i got poorer by $100 for the new charger but actually got to know the root cause of the MAGSAFE adaptors going bad

By: Ricky

Ricky — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:48:15 +0000

My situation: My MacBook Pro would charge with the magsafe adapter, but inconsistently the amber light would go off, but still charge my computer. I usually would unplug it and replug it back in, and the amber light would go back on. I followed the suggestion published here. I ran the hardware diagnostics test (long version) with the adaptor plugged in It took about an hour, and it seem to have fixed the problem. Thank you, generaladam

By: ryan

ryan — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:04:17 +0000

Similar problem here, my macbook’s plug kept giving out a spark every time I plugged the 3 prong end into an electrical outlet. Then last night no spark and it would not charge I saw no light on the end that plugs into the macbook. And after walking around my apartment no other plug outlets worked with that powercord, so I tried back at the original outlet and saw a spark then the cord charged the macook and the light came back on.

So I called apple today and after 30 minutes on the phone I have a new macbook powercord coming my way free from apple.

By: tottopastime

tottopastime — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:24:39 +0000

i have the same problem with you, where i assume that the magsafe is charging but not increasing the percentage of the battery, as long as i plugged the magsafe cord my macbook will work, without it the battery stays 92%. And there's no light on the indicator light on the battery.

im gonna try this now, and hope "magic" is in my side too...

By: jt

jt — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:32:08 +0000

TOTALLY WORKED!!! this is after i repleaced BOTH the charging unit and battery through apple.… must be a software glitch. so yes, do the hardware diagnostic test it’ll fix it

By: layne_says

layne_says — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:34:51 +0000

using the mac os cd 1 and running the diagnostic test worked for me as well. thanks.

By: Brady - Mac Got Me

Brady - Mac Got Me — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:09:07 +0000

I’m going to have to go with, “The amber light burnt out”. That’s my best guess.

By: Stephen Walsh

Stephen Walsh — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:46:19 +0000

I ran the long one and it seems to have fixed the problem for now. I don’t know how long it will last. I did a clean install of the system a couple of weeks ago, but still had the some problem. Hopefully this will work. Thanks.

By: floatingbones

floatingbones — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:29:02 +0000

Generaladam: did you run the short or the long form of the diagnostics?

–phil

By: Webomatica

Webomatica — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:39:07 +0000

gerneraladam — gee, that’s an interesting fix — I’ll have to try that! Thanks for posting your information so others can benefit.

By: generaladam

generaladam — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:18:49 +0000

Good News, it turns out I didn’t have to go to the apple shop at all, heres what worked for me atleast. Try putting the Mac OS CD 1 in and rebooting your computer, while its starting up, (after the sound) press D, and it will run a hardware diagnostic test which seems to have magically solved the problem of the adapter, good luck.

By: generaladam

generaladam — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:21:23 +0000

Hmmm, the same thing just happened to me today. Went to the apple help site and tried their suggestions but nothing worked. I’m at 86% battery and right now if it stays plugged in it remains at 86%. This could be a problem as I have to take it to school everyday. So if its just the adapter it be no problem for me to get a new one, but I’m worried that it might be the charging unit on the computer itself… Again same symptoms as above though, no light when plugged in adapter seems to be ok on the outside no visible prong damage or melting. I guess I’ll just take it to the mac shop and post what they say here incase it might help anyone else. But any suggestions from folks online would be appreciated as well.

By: webomatica

webomatica — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:17:45 +0000

Them’s the breaks. With my old iBook I think I went through three chargers… the first two died because the wire frayed right before the plug.

By: executionette

executionette — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 08:18:22 +0000

I plug my charger into my laptop and no light goes on AND it doesn’t charge.
I’m at 15% battery life and as long as it stays plugged into the wall .…The % stays the same. It doesn’t go up or down. Looks like I’ll be stuck to the wall until I gather up some money to buy a new charger. So gay

By: Webomatica

Webomatica — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:42:00 +0000

Hmmm, well seeings how a replacement adapter is 80 bucks, I’m going to stick with this non-lighting variety until it really dies or explodes (obviously I’m hoping for the former).

You make me wonder if one of our cats did something to it. I have seen one of them nibbling at the end of the cord from time to time…!

By: tunequest

tunequest — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:08:05 +0000

After a run-in with one of my cats, my PowerBook’s non-mag charger does the same thing. It takes precarious positioning to actually glow, but it usually charges without problem. Of course, YMMV.