Advice please: MacBook power light/connection

[Leia1912]

Greetings,

I have a 2007 white MacBook and it is demonstrating behavior that is making me very nervous. Please let me know if you think I should just bite the bullet and take it into the Apple store, or if I'm just being paranoid.

The situation is this: Over the last weeks, I've noticed that the computer on occasion does not recognize it is plugged into power. I've had to seat, and re-seat, the MagSafe adapter, to get the computer to recognize the cord.

Originally, I thought this was the fault of the cord, as there were times when my power adapter would be lightless, and I'd go plug and unplug the cord from the wall, and voila! I'd get light on the MagSafe again. Assuming that was the case, I called Apple and got a replacement cord.

But, here's the rub. I have had a couple issues *after* the cord replacement. Like just now, I picked up my laptop to start it up from being totally turned off, and there wasn't any light at all on the adapter; I had to seat and re-seat again the MagSafe adapter, before I got the green light on it.

These situations are tiny but now I am worrying: if the problem is with the MacBook, does that mean some kind of disaster is imminent? Can I relax, or should I assume it is time to run to the Apple Store? (Which I hate doing, since it means losing the MacBook for a couple of days when they send it out to their laptop work centers.)

Thank you for any help you can provide; I greatly appreciate it.

 

[-tWv-]

I think you should be fine. One thing that you should be doing is backing up your data some where, just in case it turns into a serious problem and you have to send it in. It is recommended to have a backup of all your data before you send your computer in because apple is not responsible for lost data. If it is just a situation where the light doesn't come on and unplugging and plugging it back in does the trick, it really isn't that big of a problem.

 

[Makosuke]

I'm going to disagree a little with touchdownjesus4. I agree that there probably isn't any disaster imminent, but that's not normal behavior so you might as well address it while it's under warranty.

If I'm reading correctly, you only replaced the cord from the brick to the wall, not the entire brick and attached cord that goes to the magsafe connector. Is that correct? If so, there's still a decent chance it's not the computer but the magsafe connector itself; Apple might just send you one, or if it happens regularly enough it should be easy enough to test at the Genius Bar with a known-good adapter.

And if a different adapter doesn't fix it, then there's got to be something wrong with the computer, so unless you really can't afford to be without it for a couple days right now, I'd say the sooner you deal with it the better. Figure you're going to need to fix it eventually, and even if a flaky connector isn't likely to cause any catastrophic problems power issues aren't something I like to ignore.

Related question: Early magsafe connectors were known for having a weak connection between the cord and the connector; mine was one such, and the wires pulled out far enough to short and actually burn through the insulation. In a less dramatic situation it could just not work some of the time. Does it feel/look solid where the cord meets the little strain relief bit connected to the magsafe block? If so, you really should get it looked at ASAP. If not, probably nothing so dramatic (and note that the replacement Apple gave me has lasted through 2 years and 7 months of daily abuse without the slightest problem, so I think newer ones are ok).

Anyway, don't panic, but don't ignore what is almost certainly a hardware problem, either.