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mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
My Late 2008 MacBook Pro had been running strong for three and a half years. Then in June, I bought a new Magsafe power adapter block because I thought my old block broke (it didn't). It was used from Amazon, kind of beat up, but it worked. Anyway, I used it for 8 weeks, then my logic board failed in August. I got it fixed, then I used it for another 8 weeks and my logic board just recently failed again. Same thing, just won't turn on.

I'm not sure if this is a strange coincidence, or if the power adapter block could be faulty and causing my MacBook to fail. What do you think? I'll probably go back to my old adapter after this time.

The only odd thing I noticed was that sometimes when I would plug my MacBook in, the adapter would light up with a faint green light instead of a bright one and wouldn't charge. I would have to replug it back in to get my computer to charge. But my old block did this too.
 
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Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Used, or third party power adaptors, especially something that's come from an unknown source are a potential source of issues of all kinds. It may be a coincidence, but I'd be very suspect of that power block. Buying genuine like for like Apple replacements really is the way to go...I'd ditch the old one now.
 

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
Used, or third party power adaptors, especially something that's come from an unknown source are a potential source of issues of all kinds. It may be a coincidence, but I'd be very suspect of that power block. Buying genuine like for like Apple replacements really is the way to go...I'd ditch the old one now.

It seems like a legit one from Apple, just used.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
You said that the power brick was from Amazon and sent beat up but worked. Was it an Apple product for sure?

It sounds to me like this is no coincidence. You have a logic board failure occurring every 8 weeks since buying and using the power brick. That to me is a clear sign that the power brick could be causing a short. Even if it were a genuine product, if it was really beat up, something could be wrong. You have now spent a great deal of money on one logic board replacement and soon you'll spend more money on another (or a new computer).

I do wonder if your first power brick that you thought was broken and wasn't was a sign that the MLB was failing. In that case, I would say it were a coincidence but now with the logic board failing again, I am curious.

Who replaced the MLB?
 

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
You said that the power brick was from Amazon and sent beat up but worked. Was it an Apple product for sure?

It sounds to me like this is no coincidence. You have a logic board failure occurring every 8 weeks since buying and using the power brick. That to me is a clear sign that the power brick could be causing a short. Even if it were a genuine product, if it was really beat up, something could be wrong. You have now spent a great deal of money on one logic board replacement and soon you'll spend more money on another (or a new computer).

I do wonder if your first power brick that you thought was broken and wasn't was a sign that the MLB was failing. In that case, I would say it were a coincidence but now with the logic board failing again, I am curious.

Who replaced the MLB?

It clearly seems legit. And won't Apple repair the machine? Even though I'm out of warranty, if they repair something, then the repaired machine is under warranty for the same issues for 90 days. That's what it said on the receipt. I got the logic board repaired for $300 from the depot, so if it's a logic board failure again then they'll replace it. I have heard that the early/late 2008 MBP's have had issues with logic boards. I know someone with an early 2008 that had his fail last year and someone on the forum here had it fail earlier last year.

And it might have been. The issue was that all of a sudden it wouldn't charge. When I would plug it in, I would either get no charge light or a faint green light. I would have to try plugging it in 5-6 times just to get it to "take" the charge. The new brick had this as well, just not as much.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
It clearly seems legit. And won't Apple replace it? Even though I'm out of warranty, if they repair something, then the repaired machine is under warranty for the same issues for 90 days.

And it might have been. The issue was that it wouldn't charge. When I would plug it in, I would either get no charge light or a faint green light. The new brick had this as well, just not as much.

If Apple replaced the logic board then you absolutely need to go back to them and tell them it failed again. They should cover it.

Also, get rid of that brick, please. It is the only obvious concern of the group and if you get a brand new genuine from Apple and still experience issues, then you'll know. If Apple does declare that the MLB failed again only 8 weeks after replacement, I would see if they would be kind enough to extend a discount on a new mag safe. It is worth asking, gently.
 

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
If Apple replaced the logic board then you absolutely need to go back to them and tell them it failed again. They should cover it.

Also, get rid of that brick, please. It is the only obvious concern of the group and if you get a brand new genuine from Apple and still experience issues, then you'll know. If Apple does declare that the MLB failed again only 8 weeks after replacement, I would see if they would be kind enough to extend a discount on a new mag safe. It is worth asking, gently.

Do you think they'd consider upgrading me to a newer model? Like a 2009 model say. I'm not trying to be greedy, but logic boards are a known issue on 2008 models and I've known people that have gone through 3-4 of them.

I'm pretty sure it is the logic board. Same exact symptoms of last time. Plugs in and gets a green light, but doesn't charge and doesn't turn on with a full battery. Tried an SMC reset.
 

Asuriyan

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2013
622
23
Indiana
Do you think they'd consider upgrading me to a newer model? Like a 2009 model say. I'm not trying to be greedy, but logic boards are a known issue on 2008 models and I've known people that have gone through 3-4 of them.

If they were going to replace your computer, it would be with a new one. I've seen them do that for computers that were just out of warranty but a 5 year old machine seems like a bit of a stretch.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Do you think they'd consider upgrading me to a newer model? Like a 2009 model say. I'm not trying to be greedy, but logic boards are a known issue on 2008 models and I've known people that have gone through 3-4 of them.

I'm pretty sure it is the logic board. Same exact symptoms of last time. Plugs in and gets a green light, but doesn't charge and doesn't turn on with a full battery. Tried an SMC reset.

Dunno, you need to go to Apple.
 

mossme89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 2, 2009
596
131
Dunno, you need to go to Apple.

Just got back. Here's whats going on. They were able to get it to turn on with an SMC reset, even though I wasn't able to doing the same thing. So I took it home, but then when I tried to turn it in, it wouldn't turn on. Power switch did nothing and it wouldn't charge. I decided to try and take off the screws to get into the back. I was having issues with the screws and just gave up and put my battery back in. Now it's turning on, charging, and I'm typing from it.

Obviously, there seems to be an issue if it sporadically won't turn on, but what do you think the issue might be? Apple won't repair it if they can get it to turn on, ignoring the issue that it sporadically won't turn on.

The guy fed me some line about how I have a 2GB stick and a 4GB stick of RAM and how that could be an issue. Sounds like BS to me, it worked fine for nearly 2 months (I upgraded right after getting it back), and if there was an issue, then 1 stick would likely fail, leaving 1 other good stick.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Just got back. Here's whats going on. They were able to get it to turn on with an SMC reset, even though I wasn't able to doing the same thing. So I took it home, but then when I tried to turn it in, it wouldn't turn on. Power switch did nothing and it wouldn't charge. I decided to try and take off the screws to get into the back. I was having issues with the screws and just gave up and put my battery back in. Now it's turning on, charging, and I'm typing from it.

Obviously, there seems to be an issue if it sporadically won't turn on, but what do you think the issue might be? Apple won't repair it if they can get it to turn on, ignoring the issue that it sporadically won't turn on.

The guy fed me some line about how I have a 2GB stick and a 4GB stick of RAM and how that could be an issue. Sounds like BS to me, it worked fine for nearly 2 months (I upgraded right after getting it back), and if there was an issue, then 1 stick would likely fail, leaving 1 other good stick.

Well, he could be right. Mismatched RAM may not be okay. Check into that.

As for the logic board, I can't tell you without seeing it. Frankly, once he got it back on, I would have powered down and tried to boot. The point is to show a problem that can be repeated but not every time. I would certainly take one of those sticks of RAM out now and work from one stick for a while. See what happens.
 
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