Magsafe 2 85W overheating extremely hot and extremely quickly

[r0lyat]

As the title says, my magsafe 2 85W charger is getting crazy hot where it is burning me within an instances touch, and it will do this after about a minute of charging.

Im using a late 2013 15" macbook pro.

I only bought this charger about a month ago when my previous one had a similar issue after using it for a few weeks, which actually short circuited and seared my laptop a little as well as melting the charger, thankfully it hasnt happened with my current one, however my current one is getting hotter than the previous one. Both of these chargers were purchased from the same shop - not one of those fancy white overpriced brand name apple shops, but more of a jack-of-trades computing repair shop. I was assured that all products are the same as sold elsewhere, so unless I am being lied to, that is not the issue. However, the charger that i had before going to this store worked fine.

After looking at some other peoples complaints on this 'known issue' I checked my activity monitor and found that while firefox is second highest in average (although not all my commonly used programs are showing..) energy impact of 20, another program (multimc, is used to play modded minecraft - which is quite cpu intensive) has an avg energy impact of 290. Now im not very tech savvy so I dont understand if these numbers are significant but just thought it might be useful for someone who knows more than me.

so yeah, halp

 

[GGJstudios]

As the title says, my magsafe 2 85W charger is getting crazy hot where it is burning me within an instances touch, and it will do this after about a minute of charging.

Im using a late 2013 15" macbook pro.

I only bought this charger about a month ago when my previous one had a similar issue after using it for a few weeks. Both of these chargers were purchased from the same shop - not one of those fancy white overpriced brand name apple shops, but more of a jack-of-trades computing repair shop. I was assured that all products are the same as sold elsewhere, so unless I am being lied to, that is not the issue.

It's not uncommon for a MagSafe adapter to become very hot to the touch when charging. That being said, I'd make sure you have genuine Apple MagSafe adapters, and not some "knockoff", as knockoffs have a history of problems.

I wouldn't trust or recommend any non-Apple battery or adapter, due to the number of problems reported with "knockoffs". Also, there is no assurance that knockoff batteries or adapters have the same charging technology that Apple uses, involving the battery, the MagSafe adapter and the Mac's logic board. To me, it's not worth risking your $2000 Mac to save a few dollars on a replacement battery or adapter, but the choice is yours.

​

Battery Service and Recycling
Apple Portables: Troubleshooting MagSafe adapters

​

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions, including tips for maximizing battery performance. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[Mr Rabbit]

Can you post pictures of the charger? Did it come in a box similar to one of these?

Apple does not license the MagSafe design to third party manufacturers. What this means is that if your chargers are not actual Apple products then they are likely using a MagSafe connection that has been connected to a possibly (probably) substandard charger.

 

[r0lyat]

It came in a plain brown cardboard box. Although to be fair, so was every other product in the shop.

On the receipt it says magsafe 2 85w, and on a small label it says AC and some numbers... then a couple asian characters. Does that mean it is not genuine, how do I find that out?

Here i was thinking I was smart paying only $40 and not $100 :/

 

[GGJstudios]

It came in a plain brown cardboard box. Although to be fair, so was every other product in the shop.

On the receipt it says magsafe 2 85w, and on a small label it says AC and some numbers... then a couple asian characters. Does that mean it is not genuine, how do I find that out?

Here i was thinking I was smart paying only $40 and not $100 :/

If it was that much less, I'd be very suspicious. You know the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true..."

 

[r0lyat]

If it was that much less, I'd be very suspicious. You know the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true..."

I figured mac stores overpriced everything because they know they can get away with it lol. ok tyvm

 

[cjmillsnun]

I'm 99% certain it's a fake.

You got an 85w MagSafe 2. That tells me it's a 15" rMBP.

These are not cheap computers by any means, and you've already had one with a serious fault, and this one appears to be worse.

Genuine chargers get hot, but generally won't short out.

Fake chargers are made down to a price, often missing components compared to a genuine charger (protection circuitry and chokes that make the supplied power "clean"), and also quite often have insufficient creepage gaps between the high voltage and low voltage circuits. This can have devastating effects, one of which is potentially putting mains voltage (120V or 240v depending on where you are) into your notebook. I need not tell you that this will fry your computer, but more seriously MBPs are made of aluminium and if you are not using a earthed (grounded) connection back to your socket outlet, it could potentially complete the circuit back through you.

Do yourself and your computer a favour. Go and pay the hundred bucks and get a genuine Apple charger. Or if you want a slightly cheaper one, get it from somewhere reputable like OWC.

 

[b0fh666]

$40 magsafes are not genuine, just (kinda good) counterfeit ones.

I have one of them, works fine but the green led stopped working after some months, just the orange works. still powers fine tough.

you get what you pay for I guess

 

[cjmillsnun]

$40 magsafes are not genuine, just (kinda good) counterfeit ones.

I have one of them, works fine but the green led stopped working after some months, just the orange works. still powers fine tough.

I wouldn't trust a 40 buck power supply with my $3200 Mac.

It might "work fine" now, but is it really? Is it supplying clean power, are the correct protection devices there. Are you putting your Mac or worse still your life at risk.

I might get one and a new genuine one, and do a teardown of the counterfeit and my old genuine one.

you get what you pay for I guess

Never a truer word said. And $80 is a small price to pay to protect my investment.

EDIT:

This video says it. It's much lighter than the original. Why? missing components in comparison

EDIT: ignore the bit about the UK plug, the new style is the thinner one.

 

[Ipadilac]

I had a knockoff magsafe 1, it got really hot when charging my macbook pro. But the biggest difference that stood out to me right away was, the actual Apple charger has an Apple Logo embossed into the side of it, and the knockoff didn't. Not sure if this is the case with all of them though?

 

[Nabooly]

My MagSafe that came with my 2014 MBP gets really hot as well.....this usually only happens when flashfplayer is in use (damn, it's way too CPU intensive). I make sure it's not surrounded by anything such as my bed sheets. My late 2008 MagSafe overheated that way and died as a result. It was so hot the colors from my comforter transferred onto the MagSafe (no lie!).

 

[mojolicious]

MagSafes are the *one* peripheral/component that I'd always buy from Apple. I'd reconsider that if Apple licensed them to third parties, obviously.

the new style is the thinner one.

I had to replace a 60W MagSafe a couple of months ago and got the skinny UK plug. It looks very nice, but it can be hard work getting it out of a socket. Form, function, etc etc etc...

 

[cjmillsnun]

MagSafes are the *one* peripheral/component that I'd always buy from Apple. I'd reconsider that if Apple licensed them to third parties, obviously.

Agreed, as any magsafes manufactured under licence would likely comply with all relevant standards for safety.

I had to replace a 60W MagSafe a couple of months ago and got the skinny UK plug. It looks very nice, but it can be hard work getting it out of a socket. Form, function, etc etc etc...

Yeah tell me about it. I have a couple of old duckheads and an extension that are the old style. They're the ones that get used. The skinny UK plugs are a PITA.

 

[joe-h2o]

Agreed, as any magsafes manufactured under licence would likely comply with all relevant standards for safety.



Yeah tell me about it. I have a couple of old duckheads and an extension that are the old style. They're the ones that get used. The skinny UK plugs are a PITA.

I agree - the skinnier UK plug is much more difficult to remove because it fits so tightly into the socket. I think it's a combination of making it thinner (so less to grip onto) and having the pins rigidly conform to the UK spec, so they are very snug.

As far as the original poster is concerned, it is almost certain he has a fake charger.