this problem isn't from strain on the cord, its from something made wrong inside... i had one do this that was taken very good care of, and hadn't even been unplugged or moved in weeks, then it burnt like this from the inside out. Its NOT from someone damaging the cord, or ripping it open, they actually burn from the inside out. This was a few years ago, on my Rev A MBP, and Apple had no problem replacing it when they looked at it... the replacement has worked fine for a few years now, never happening again.... and my other 2 adapters i have for another one and a spare have also been fine. The one that burnt was an at home use only one, the one i drug around all over the place and was rougher on still is going fine 3 years later. It is a defect in some of them, but i think its a problem fixed long ago, and i doubt many people were denied a warranty replacement.
Hello everyone. It's been almost three years now since my MagSafe "event". I spent some time then posting on the Apple forum, looking for help and answers.
It became clear that some topics weren't to be discussed, quickly marked as closed. Using the "search topics" tool on the Apple forum invariably gives results precluded from my search request.
Researching your topic could be a lot easier. Especially considering the name.
Why is it so difficult to find information at Apple? The Developer pages tell a lot, but they don't explain how or why in a practical manner. Like how to secure your computer from remote access. WTF is a smart card anyway?
"Google it" a moderator replied to my question regarding my MacBook. I found what I wanted at the Apple Developer site later. All of these questions about how to use my computer should be easily available and clearly explained, without Google.
Class Action? I posted those words three years ago.
About the MagSafe now. The problem is not with the magnetic plug on the computer end of the wire, its where it leaves the white cube voltage adaptor thingy. The cube has a removable cord on it's other side which plugs into the power outlet of your room. Got it?
Why is the design poor? And what's worse?
The flimsy 14 gauge wire unplugs easily from the computer, but it's hard wired into the MagSafe. All this would've never happened if the wire unpluged from both ends. Like my Dell for instance. These MagSafe cubes can become very hot, to hot to touch. Heat from the cube gradually comprimises the insulation of the wire, because the wire is not rated for these conditions. Over time, whith NORMAL USE, the bending of the wire where it's HARD WIRED to the cube causes a short. Sparks can happen but a fire is not likely. The power adaptor is fried.
What's worse? My "event" happened with the power adaptor wire failing, but worse still it sent grounded power into my laptop, and because of this the battery will not charge or power the computer after being charged in another one. Only 14 months of use, 2 months past my warranty. Fixing the computer requires a new mother board, $500. Ouch.
Poor design? Oh yeah. A fuse is supposed to be in there Apple. To protect the motherboard. That's what Intel warns about. Read that again. The Intel site pages warn specifically about this, that the board should be protected by a fuse. All this stuff about power supply gets a bit technical, but the basic idea with faster processor speed is that more voltage helps. By using two equal currents of DC power and combining them into an OP=AMP circuit yields more voltage then the simple addition of 1+1, whatever your two batterries are. The op-amp yields an overage which is a small number exponential in value. A unity gain. This type of circuit doesn't work with a fuse. Intel says put a fuse in front so you won't fry your board.
These cables are damaged because they are removed by pulling on the cable instead of pulling on the connector.
Because the stupid connector is tiny.
The solution is simple. They need to make the connector bigger so you can grab on to it instead of having to yank the cord. they did NOT fix this with the new connector. In fact it's even HARDER to grab.
Sometimes I wonder how a company which half the time produces sometimes brilliant industrial engineering just as often produced terrible product design! (Hockey puck mouse...sharp front edge wrist rest on current laptops, Magsafe connector, case that's too thin and thus overheats ie all MBPs, the cracking white Macbook cases, changing the shape of the port from FW400 to 800, etc etc. bad choices).Then they have such good design, like the way the cord wraps up, the handles on towers, etc. Oh well.
This happened to my Magsafe 85W MBP charger a few days ago, so I did a search in the forums and found this interesting but old thread. Obviously, I wasn't the only one this seemingly freakish incident had happened to.
I don't care one bit about the class action lawsuit but was interested in seeing if people got replacement free of charge before I contacted Apple. And so it seems.
I was a bit surprised to find so many posts with accusations of victims' allegedly reduced mental capacities. A bit like someone driving around town shouting out the window and calling anyone with a limp for an idiot for not taking care of their bodies. "You shouldn't have yanked your leg in the first place, stupid!"
Says more about the accuser than the victim. But then there are idiots, and there are idiots...
Because, I have never yanked and pulled at the cord but always gripped the magnetic plug. And besides, the wire burnt through at the other end, near the white charger unit!
A-ha! So I wound the lead tightly around the charger and the wires started breaking!! I was stupid after all! Well, possibly - it certainly looks like the wires broke where the first bend of the lead would be. But my MBP has almost all the time been our desktop computer, and the charger has only been on 3?4 travels a year. So, my theory is that the lead was weak or of a bad construction in the first place.
I do look after my things. Maybe that's why the same MBP is humming along nicely after nearly five years of good usage, together with any other peripheral I have. It seems like certain Apple products tend to break down before I manage to break anything myself (crap cd-dvd superdrives, badly constructed mighty mice...).
Anyway, I phoned the local Apple store: "The charger is too old, it is out of warranty - buy a new one."
I thought, this is a safety issue, so I phoned Apple support.
They took the issue very seriously, asked a lot of questions, I sent them some photos, and without any quibbles they are now sending me a replacement. It didn't matter that it was way beyond warranty period - it was a safety issue (just as I thought). They also said that the new Magsafe charger has an improved design of the two end-points of the ac lead and it was very unlikely that it would happen again. But it has obviously been an issue with the old ones.
So, I'm happy with the outcome. Apple support was friendly, helpful and quick to solve it. (Now I just hope the courier doesn't lose it!)
Comments
However, a few months ago (nearly 3 years after purchase, close to the end of AppleCare) I had the exact same issue with my MagSafe connector.
It became clear that some topics weren't to be discussed, quickly marked as closed. Using the "search topics" tool on the Apple forum invariably gives results precluded from my search request.
Researching your topic could be a lot easier. Especially considering the name.
Why is it so difficult to find information at Apple? The Developer pages tell a lot, but they don't explain how or why in a practical manner. Like how to secure your computer from remote access. WTF is a smart card anyway?
"Google it" a moderator replied to my question regarding my MacBook. I found what I wanted at the Apple Developer site later. All of these questions about how to use my computer should be easily available and clearly explained, without Google.
About the MagSafe now. The problem is not with the magnetic plug on the computer end of the wire, its where it leaves the white cube voltage adaptor thingy. The cube has a removable cord on it's other side which plugs into the power outlet of your room. Got it?
Why is the design poor? And what's worse?
The flimsy 14 gauge wire unplugs easily from the computer, but it's hard wired into the MagSafe. All this would've never happened if the wire unpluged from both ends. Like my Dell for instance. These MagSafe cubes can become very hot, to hot to touch. Heat from the cube gradually comprimises the insulation of the wire, because the wire is not rated for these conditions. Over time, whith NORMAL USE, the bending of the wire where it's HARD WIRED to the cube causes a short. Sparks can happen but a fire is not likely. The power adaptor is fried.
What's worse? My "event" happened with the power adaptor wire failing, but worse still it sent grounded power into my laptop, and because of this the battery will not charge or power the computer after being charged in another one. Only 14 months of use, 2 months past my warranty. Fixing the computer requires a new mother board, $500. Ouch.
Poor design? Oh yeah. A fuse is supposed to be in there Apple. To protect the motherboard. That's what Intel warns about. Read that again. The Intel site pages warn specifically about this, that the board should be protected by a fuse. All this stuff about power supply gets a bit technical, but the basic idea with faster processor speed is that more voltage helps. By using two equal currents of DC power and combining them into an OP=AMP circuit yields more voltage then the simple addition of 1+1, whatever your two batterries are. The op-amp yields an overage which is a small number exponential in value. A unity gain. This type of circuit doesn't work with a fuse. Intel says put a fuse in front so you won't fry your board.
Count me in.
These cables are damaged because they are removed by pulling on the cable instead of pulling on the connector.
Because the stupid connector is tiny.
The solution is simple. They need to make the connector bigger so you can grab on to it instead of having to yank the cord. they did NOT fix this with the new connector. In fact it's even HARDER to grab.
Sometimes I wonder how a company which half the time produces sometimes brilliant industrial engineering just as often produced terrible product design! (Hockey puck mouse...sharp front edge wrist rest on current laptops, Magsafe connector, case that's too thin and thus overheats ie all MBPs, the cracking white Macbook cases, changing the shape of the port from FW400 to 800, etc etc. bad choices).Then they have such good design, like the way the cord wraps up, the handles on towers, etc. Oh well.
I don't care one bit about the class action lawsuit but was interested in seeing if people got replacement free of charge before I contacted Apple. And so it seems.
I was a bit surprised to find so many posts with accusations of victims' allegedly reduced mental capacities. A bit like someone driving around town shouting out the window and calling anyone with a limp for an idiot for not taking care of their bodies. "You shouldn't have yanked your leg in the first place, stupid!"
Says more about the accuser than the victim. But then there are idiots, and there are idiots...
Because, I have never yanked and pulled at the cord but always gripped the magnetic plug. And besides, the wire burnt through at the other end, near the white charger unit!
A-ha! So I wound the lead tightly around the charger and the wires started breaking!! I was stupid after all! Well, possibly - it certainly looks like the wires broke where the first bend of the lead would be. But my MBP has almost all the time been our desktop computer, and the charger has only been on 3?4 travels a year. So, my theory is that the lead was weak or of a bad construction in the first place.
I do look after my things. Maybe that's why the same MBP is humming along nicely after nearly five years of good usage, together with any other peripheral I have. It seems like certain Apple products tend to break down before I manage to break anything myself (crap cd-dvd superdrives, badly constructed mighty mice...).
Anyway, I phoned the local Apple store: "The charger is too old, it is out of warranty - buy a new one."
I thought, this is a safety issue, so I phoned Apple support.
They took the issue very seriously, asked a lot of questions, I sent them some photos, and without any quibbles they are now sending me a replacement. It didn't matter that it was way beyond warranty period - it was a safety issue (just as I thought). They also said that the new Magsafe charger has an improved design of the two end-points of the ac lead and it was very unlikely that it would happen again. But it has obviously been an issue with the old ones.
So, I'm happy with the outcome. Apple support was friendly, helpful and quick to solve it. (Now I just hope the courier doesn't lose it!)