2011 Air won't turn on when charging

[grantjd]

Hi all-

A few weeks ago, my macbook went completely black while i was using it, not connected to the charger. As far as i remember, it was not anywhere near 0% battery. I didnt receive any low battery warnings, I have no idea what happened. I tried to restart the computer a number of times to no success. I then connected the charger, tried again and nothing. Even waiting several hours, all the way until the charger light was solid green, it wouldnt start.

I am currently traveling through central america, so i thought my computer was completely dead. Initially, my plan was to take it to a repair or Apple store in Costa Rica once i arrive there, i was able to find several online.

In searching around the internet trying to determine a way to wake this thing up (using my traveling partners computer), I pulled out the air, and without plugging it into the wall pressed the power button- to my great satisfaction, it booted right up. I then began searching around the various outlets on the internet trying to determine any ways to solve my issue- at that point all i could really verbalize was "macbook air is acting weird"

After a few hours of using the computer, i plugged it back into the charger. It appears to charge just fine. It is still acting a bit odd though, when i close the lid it would shut itself down instead of sleeping, appears to run hotter, and seemed to have trouble starting.

Since the computer was showing symptoms of needing an SMC reset, i attempted to do so. Problem is, one must have the charger connected to the computer to perform this task, and this air will not power up when connected to the charger. I can remove the charger and shutdown & restart the computer without fail - tried 3x in a row. If it is charging, it will not turn on.

I havent been able to find anyone with similar issues in a fairly extensive search. Does it sound like the SMC could be the culprit? If so, is there an alternative way to reset it? I read disconnecting the battery will do so, and I can have that done once i make it to Costa Rica (no tools here in Nicaragua).

Thanks in advance.

 

[motrek]

Don't know, sounds like a tough problem.

Since something is clearly going on with the charger-computer interaction, one thing you might be able to try is a different charger? I doubt that's causing the problems but if it's easy to check, might as well.

 

[grantjd]

Hopefully i will run into another traveler with the same charger and Ill give that a try.

Would power at 50Hz cause any issues like this? I dont know about C.A. but im aware that many other places outside the US use dont use 60 Hz. I'd imagine the power supply would mmore than handle that though..

 

[skinny*k]

...
Would power at 50Hz cause any issues like this? I dont know about C.A. but im aware that many other places outside the US use dont use 60 Hz. I'd imagine the power supply would mmore than handle that though..

How does the charger’s LED behave? What happens when you turn it on and then attach the charger? Can you do the SMC Reset then?

I think that all of the Americas use 60Hz, but it doesn’t matter; Apple’s power supplies are all 50/60Hz, and the only differences for different countries are the mains plugs and cords.