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Magsafe adapter

A

alanlindsay

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 4, 2008
99
0
Recently ordered my first apple ( base MBP w/7200 rpm ) and am so excited about it arriving that I seem to spend all my time reading forums and websites in anticipation of its arrival. I'm a bit concerned about this yellowing problem especially since I have BTO and no close Apple store but more worrying is the terrible write up people are giving the power adapter:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...shop_mac/mac_accessories/power&nplm=MA938LL/A

A lot of people have had them go on fire while they're charging them overnight and melting seems like a common problem too. All in all it seems like a rather dangerous piece of kit. What's the consensus on them here?
 
Ive had my MBP for ages now,its plugged in 24/7 and my house is not a pile of ashes
( no burnt wires etc ) oh and reading forums is a bad idea as people post problems
your not going to find to many ''oh im so happy my house has'nt burned down'' posts and think about how many people own Mac's
 
alanlindsay said:
A lot of people have had them go on fire while they're charging them overnight
Click to expand...

A "lot"? Source?

I know of one incident that got lots of coverage. But it wasn't the AC adapter's fault. I used to have an original MBP with a faulty logic board that wouldn't sleep properly - instead of sleeping all the way, it would lock up just before sleep - so the CPUs would be stuck at 100%. Meanwhile you've closed the lid and stuck it on the floor or wherever. So in addition to the unit running at full load, with the screen closed, the battery starts charging. That is a fire waiting to happen and I'm surprised it didn't happen more, but obviously this was a rare problem. Still, I'm 100% sure that's what caused the problem, not the AC adapter.

Relax, you've got nothing to worry about. I have never heard of this problem with current (or even 2nd gen) units.
 
alanlindsay said:
A lot of people have had them go on fire while they're charging them overnight and melting seems like a common problem too. All in all it seems like a rather dangerous piece of kit. What's the consensus on them here?
Click to expand...

Source(s) for this "lot of people" please?????
 
neil321 said:
Thats a drop in a very big ocean, if you worried about everything,getting mugged being run over
etc etc, you would end up a nervous reck sitting in a cupboard and being to afraid to step out the
front door
Click to expand...

This is why I never, EVER, go outside.

I just might get hurt, you know.
 
Written by JW

January 11, 2008

Much like everyone else here, my chord melted where it meets with the computer, Luckily it was in use and I noticed the sparking that may have caused a fire otherwise.
I like the computer, but this is ridiculous, I cannot even use it because of the power issue, and now i need to spend 80 dollars for a new chord? How long before I have to again?


Written by ND

October 29, 2007

This expensive power adaptor is useless. After 14 months of normal usage, right after the warranty ended, I smelled smoke and when I located the source, the wires from the power adaptor fried and melted the cable. Everyone should be cautioned from plugging this in at night, especially if you have children in the house, because I can see it easily catching fire if it were on the carpet or any other flammable material. Haven't talked to Apple yet because they're closed, but it seems like the only way they'll help me is if I fork out $80.
 
alanlindsay said:
Written by JW

January 11, 2008

Much like everyone else here, my chord melted where it meets with the computer, Luckily it was in use and I noticed the sparking that may have caused a fire otherwise.
I like the computer, but this is ridiculous, I cannot even use it because of the power issue, and now i need to spend 80 dollars for a new chord? How long before I have to again?


Written by ND

October 29, 2007

This expensive power adaptor is useless. After 14 months of normal usage, right after the warranty ended, I smelled smoke and when I located the source, the wires from the power adaptor fried and melted the cable. Everyone should be cautioned from plugging this in at night, especially if you have children in the house, because I can see it easily catching fire if it were on the carpet or any other flammable material. Haven't talked to Apple yet because they're closed, but it seems like the only way they'll help me is if I fork out $80.
Click to expand...

You are stating two cases, out of god knows how many of those power adaptor things there are loose on this world. Your probably got more chance of a flying elephant landing on your head than a adaptor catching fire
 
Like any forums, product review pages will act as a black hole of negative stories.

Sure, there will be problems with any product and some more than others. The magsafe adapter has a higher rate of failure but I think that it is due to people not being as careful with it as they say they are (bending unnecessarily, wrapping too tight, etc.). Just be careful and make sure to inspect it every now and again so that little crack in the insulation won't become a flaming wire.
 
neil321 said:
if you worried about everything,getting mugged ,being run over etc etc you would end up a nervous
reck sitting in a cupboard and being to afraid to step out the house

Forgive me if im wrong,but i cant find any cases of the power adaptor catching fire in the link you posted
Click to expand...

Harsh?

The guy was just checking up before he made his purchase. Chill.

I've never had a problem with mine, though it does get pretty hot.
 
neil321 said:
Your probably got more chance of a flying elephant landing on your head than a adaptor catching fire
Click to expand...

Good. I was just surprised to see so many negative reviews of the item so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knew more.
 
You MUST be right. What were we ALL thinking! (slaps forehead!) I should take heed to these "lots of people" and not use my Mac. I guess it's not safe, guys. Stop typing, log out, shut down, unplug. Make sure you put a HUGE post on all the forums NOT TO BUY APPLE PRODUCTS before you log off though!
Tell you what mate, you go do that.
Meanwhile, I'll keep typing away on this MacBook and then later, I might leave it plugged in while I go outside and cross the street, walk across a freshly mopped grocery store floor, grab some potato chips and soda, pay for them with my Visa Check Card, walk across the street again, and sit out on my deck enjoying the nice weather while I have my snacks, and then fall asleep on my couch.
Then again, I might not because I could....
get hit by a truck,
get mugged,
slip and break my neck,
have my identity stolen,
get hit by another truck,
get mugged again,
get skin cancer from too much sun on my deck,
catch West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite,
get heart disease from high cholesterol (chips),
get kidney stones from sodium in the soda,
get cancer from the sugar-free agent in the soda,
get a blood clot from sleeping in the same position all the time,
and then wake up, trapped in an blazing inferno only to die a horrific death....

All because I charged my Mac computer.
Cheers! :cool:
 
MacFanBoyIIe said:
You MUST be right. What were we ALL thinking! (slaps forehead!) I should take heed to these "lots of people" and not use my Mac. I guess it's not safe, guys. Stop typing, log out, shut down, unplug. Make sure you put a HUGE post on all the forums NOT TO BUY APPLE PRODUCTS before you log off though!
Tell you what mate, you go do that.
Meanwhile, I'll keep typing away on this MacBook and then later, I might leave it plugged in while I go outside and cross the street, walk across a freshly mopped grocery store floor, grab some potato chips and soda, pay for them with my Visa Check Card, walk across the street again, and sit out on my deck enjoying the nice weather while I have my snacks, and then fall asleep on my couch.
Then again, I might not because I could....
get hit by a truck,
get mugged,
slip and break my neck,
have my identity stolen,
get hit by another truck,
get mugged again,
get skin cancer from too much sun on my deck,
catch West Nile Virus from a mosquito bite,
get heart disease from high cholesterol (chips),
get kidney stones from sodium in the soda,
get cancer from the sugar-free agent in the soda,
get a blood clot from sleeping in the same position all the time,
and then wake up, trapped in an blazing inferno only to die a horrific death....

All because I charged my Mac computer.
Cheers! :cool:
Click to expand...

What is up with all the hating? The guy was just asking a question based on some reviews he read. DANG.
 
alanlindsay said:
Good. I was just surprised to see so many negative reviews of the item so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knew more.
Click to expand...

Sure; there are several threads in this forum by people with melted adapters; there's at least one with pictures about an adapter that went all the way (fire-wise). The adapter is defective; it's not a matter of if one will fail, but when. Keep an eye on it.

And to the person who referred to review sites as black holes of information: that argument doesn't work, as you can find several objects in the Apple store with hundreds of (avg.) four+ star reviews. The fact is that there are certain products Apple makes that are notoriously flawed but as yet unaddressed by Apple. The current MB/P batteries are an example. The Magsafe is another.
 
neil321 said:
if you worried about everything you would probably end up being sectioned under the mental health act
Click to expand...

It wasn't my intention to come across as so neurotic. I'm not really worried just surprised that a fairly standard piece of kit has such a high failure rate.
 
The standard piece of kit is out there in hundreds of thousands. You can't judge by a few isolated incidents. I've had at least five magsafes in various denominations and not a problem w. a single one since they were introduced.
 
alanlindsay said:
It wasn't my intention to come across as so neurotic. I'm not really worried just surprised that a fairly standard piece of kit has such a high failure rate.
Click to expand...

Honestly dont worry about it,like one member posted just give it the once over every now
& again,and your'll be fine.Yes they seem to have a high failure rate but its all about
perspective,think of how many of those adaptors there are plugged into Mac's around the
world at this very minute.Those quotes are a tiny tiny amount to how many are in use
 
neil321 said:
...those quotes you found are a tiny tiny amount to how many there are plugged into Mac's around the world,look at it that way
Click to expand...

Agreed. I've never had a problem with any adaptors. And guess what, I've never gone onto the Apple online store and reviewed my adaptors raving about how they have never melted or burst into flames. It's usually only the people with problems that post reviews. :apple:
 
Please, don't be a nervous wreck. It is essentially, (like the above people stated), "Oh i don't want to buy a car, because I've heard that so many people have problems with them." It does get a little hot, but just keep it in a ventilated area.
 
Magsafe adapter

I've had my Macbook Pro, 2.16 GHz 1GB RAM,100GB 7200 RPM HDD, for quite a while and haven't had any problem. The computer is plugged in 24/7 and shows no signs of any problems at all.
 
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