Faulty aluBook Charger Report/Rumor???

[shanshor]

Hey guys, I have had my aluminum MacBook since February, and it has been running great. The screen on it blows, however. But no complaints as it is my travel companion only... and you know those times around the house

Anyways, I read a story where some guy's charger exploded in his macbook because it was faulty and APPARENTLY it was a common issue among the chargers. They listed as a 'symptom' of the faulty chargers, that the LED in the charger would be green instead of amber, or it would be very dim, or even off when plugged in and charging.

I plugged my cord in tonight, minutes before typing this, and when I first plug it in, it turns amber, as it should, but after a bit it dimmed... oh yeah, and then it turned green. Had you not known there was a light there, you might have thought it was just a green painted dot on the end of the charger. I have seen this happen before several times, but it is also fine most of the time. So I don't know what to think anymore.

Should I be concerned for my MacBook? I don't have applecare, and didn't really intend to get it. But I may if the cord needs replaced.

Normal operating temps for my laptop are about 135 F just browsing. But it gets REALLY warm, like, up to over 155 F, when the charger is experiencing symptoms of the faulty charger. When charging correctly, the temperature doesn't change much. And the top left corner of the laptop is always the hottest in my laptop, and it almost burns your finger when the light isn't working properly. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

 

[matthewscott661]

I almost suspect that something is running in the background and using a lot of power. I know that sometimes when I play Sims 3 while the battery is not fully charged, that the power adapter has trouble powering the computer and charging the battery at the same time. When this happens, the little indicator light goes out almost completely.

Check activity monitor and see if anything is hogging your CPU.

Does your fan kick in when you feel the heat up in that corner? Because that is where the processor is and the aluminum case is just transferring the heat if the fan is off. What is the temp when the light turns off?

 

[miles01110]

Anyways, I read a story where some guy's charger exploded in his macbook because it was faulty and APPARENTLY it was a common issue among the chargers. They listed as a 'symptom' of the faulty chargers, that the LED in the charger would be green instead of amber, or it would be very dim, or even off when plugged in and charging.

It's not that common.

Should I be concerned for my MacBook? I don't have applecare, and didn't really intend to get it. But I may if the cord needs replaced.

If you think your cord is faulty, buy a new one. Odds are even with AppleCare they won't exchange it on the basis that you "think" it's faulty. If it burns, Apple will more than likely replace your charger and probably your laptop regardless of AC or not.

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

Hm...

Every now and then, the light on mine will go out while it's still pluged in to the computer. Giving it a little jiggle brings the green light right back though.