MagSafe Adapter Light is Dim, Does Not Charge, and Shuts Down Sporadically

[poobarreled]

MacBook Pro, bought in April of 2007.

I've had this thing for almost three years now and I love it. It's my baby and has been with me through alot. Anyways, I've never had a problem with it before until now. Actually I take that back, the battery went ka-put about a year or so ago when it was under warranty.

Regardless, here's the problem:

The LED doesn't shine anymore. It's really dim

The battery does not charge at all, it's stuck at 0%, so right now I'm stuck w a really cool desktop.

When I play music from my computer on my stereo, the line out feed has alot of static interference, like theres a ground or something in the metal casing of the computer.

The computer randomly shuts down. I've come to notice it normallly does this when it is under "too much" stress. (ie: too many windows or applications open) I use quotations because I bought it w the 3gb upgrade and it never has problems w RAM, so for it to be shutting down the computer when only 4 safari windows or tabs are open is bull..



I saw a post on another thread that said to take the casing off the bottom and check the logic board to see if theres corrosion on the, magsafe adapter--->logic board, connection.

Anybody have any suggestions before I put on the rubber gloves and call myself a surgeon?

I'm def gonna take it to apple, but I wanna see if this will fix it. It's def. not under warranty anymore so they're going to rape me. And if they're going to charge me an outrageous amount to "replace the logic board", when all they do is clean it, I'm going to be pissed.

Any help will do, thanks guys.

 

[miles01110]

Have you tried a different battery and a different Magsafe?

 

[iMav]

I'd definitely try another MagSafe charger if you have access to one.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

First, your computer is out of warranty? If not, just give it to Apple to deal with. If it is... damn. I had the same computer (late 2006 model I think, the C2D with ATI graphics) and it had the same problem with the power light. In the end, Apple replaced my battery and power charger before the light worked reliably. This is without the computer randomly shutting down.

My best guess is that the charger is bad.

If the charger is not charging the battery when the computer comes under heavy load, normally it would pull extra power from the battery. But since the battery is dead, the computer doesn't have enough power and turns off.

Go to an Apple store, and try to charge your MBP with one of their power cords. If the battery starts to charge, it's your power cable. If not, it might be the battery. If it's not the battery, it could be a wire inside the case... have you ever opened the case?

sorry this is a lot of ramble, but hopefully just replacing the power cable works!

 

[m85476585]

Try cleaning the Magsafe connector on the computer and on the Magsafe. Make sure there is no dirt on the contacts, and that none of the spring-loaded pins on the Magsafe are stuck. The contacts should be gold and shiny. The best way to clean it is probably the microfiber cloth that came with the computer, used dry. The magnetic part of the Magsafe is on the computer, so make sure that hasn't accumulated metal particles. If cleaning doesn't help, it is probably a bad Magsafe, charging circuit, or battery. In System Profiler, what does it say under Power->Battery Health Information and Power->AC Charger Information?

 

[tivoboy]

me too

Just this past few days, I am having the same thing with a 1 yr old mbp previous version. Macsafe connector was "dim", but unplug and plug in and it went back to orange. Then, last night I had it plugged in all night and when I started this AM, it was orange still. And, the battery appeared to be dead. If I unplugged it went to "you must charge now" and I unplugged, plugged in and it went to charging. It has been that way for the past hour or more, SEEMS to be charging, but not sure what is going on.